Olive Schreiner Letters Online

Letter Reference	View Colenso Papers, MSS. Afr. s. 1293/8, 1-3
Archive	Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford
Epistolary Type	Letter
Letter Date	23 September 1908
Address From	De Aar, Northern Cape
Address To
Who To	Francis (Frank) Ernest Colenso
Other Versions

The manuscript of this letter by Olive Schreiner belongs to the Archive referenced above; its ownership of the original should be acknowledged by referencing the letter as indicated: Copyright transcription: © Olive Schreiner Letters Project. This transcription can be freely used as long as copyright is acknowledged and it is referenced using the following citation: ‘Olive Schreiner to Francis (Frank) Ernest Colenso, 23 September 1908, Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford, Olive Schreiner Letters Project transcription’. Please also supply letter line numbers for specific quotations.

Legend
The Project is grateful to the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, for allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of their Special Collections. The name of the addressee of the letter has been provided by archival reference. The content of the letter, with phrases such as 'you & my brother', suggests that Harriet Colenso, working in close association with Will Schreiner, on the defence of Dinizulu in 1908, could have been its recipient, while its provenance in the Frank and Sophia Colenso papers in Oxford support this being Frank, who although resident in Britain remained very involved in South African matters. The letter is a copy of Schreiner’s original written out in an unknown hand, and is marked ‘copy’.

1:  de Aar
2:  Sept 23rd Sept 1908
3: 
4:  My dear Friend
5: 
6:  Thank you for your letter.
7: 
8:  I don’t think you can dream how my thoughts are with you in this
9:  matter. If ever you & my brother think I could be of any use by
10:  writing anything please let me know. It has been rather hard for my
11:  brother to give up the conference, & I feel deeply that we need at
12:  least one man there whose strength as well as his good intentions will
13:  tend towards justice to our dark races. But undoubtedly at this moment
14:  the trial comes comes first: & whatever the result we shall all feel
15:  that whatever could be done was done. I cannot understand their not
16:  being willing to let Dinuzulu remain longer in the hospital, there is
17:  no possibility or danger of his escaping. But perhaps there are some
18:  who would not grieve if he quietly passed out of the way.
19: 
20:  I am feeling very very anxious about this Convention. I believe the
21:  darkest times South Africa has yet seen lie yet before us. If with so
22:  much else to think of, you could send me the papers now & then when
23:  this trial is on I should be so glad. I doubt much whether the Cape
24:  papers will report fully. Judging from my terrible experience at a
25:  trial of a so called rebel after the Boer War, I should strongly
26:  advise you to have your own verbatim reporter in court, & one on whom
27:  you can depend. I got a man up from Capetown on purpose, & at the last
28:  moment he was “got at” & refused to report. So no account of the trial
29:  is in existence, but the shamefully lying reports wilfully mistaken by
30:  the ordinary newspaper reporters. We may need in future to refer to
31:  what took place at the trial.
32: 
33:  It is such a comfort to me that you have my brother, & that I know all
34:  that can be done will be.
35: 
36:  Yours ever with warmest sympathy
37:  Olive Schreiner
38: 

Notation
A comment in an unknown hand has been written at the end of the letter as follows: ‘We must not publish Olive Schreiner without her brother’s sanction in the circumstances, but shew her letter to me (enclosed) to e.g. Miss Browne, Porchester Terrace.’

Letter Reference	View Colenso Papers, MSS. Afr. s. 1293/8, 4-5
Archive	Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford
Epistolary Type	Letter
Letter Date	After Start: Saturday October 1914 ; Before End: December 1914
Address From	Kensington Palace Mansions, De Vere Gardens, Kensington, London
Address To
Who To	Sophie Colenso nee Frankland (m.1880)
Other Versions

The manuscript of this letter by Olive Schreiner belongs to the Archive referenced above; its ownership of the original should be acknowledged by referencing the letter as indicated: Copyright transcription: © Olive Schreiner Letters Project. This transcription can be freely used as long as copyright is acknowledged and it is referenced using the following citation: ‘Olive Schreiner to Sophie Colenso nee Frankland (m.1880), October 1914, Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford, Olive Schreiner Letters Project transcription’. Please also supply letter line numbers for specific quotations.

Legend
The Project is grateful to the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, for allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of their Special Collections. The year has been written on the letter in an unknown hand. Schreiner was resident at Kensington Palace Mansions from late October 1914 to late July 1915. The letter is on printed headed notepaper.

1:  Kensington Palace Mansions & Hotel
2:  De Vere Gardens, W.
3:  Telephone: 3675 Kensington. Telegram: Apartment, London
4: 
5:  Saturday
6: 
7:  Dear Mrs Colenso
8: 
9:  Thank you for your letter. I should much like to come out & see you
10:  some day, but I could not stay the night as I find the country too wet
11:  in winter.
12: 
13:  My heart feels much draw to all people who are pacifists in this
14:  terrible time. Worse than any of the physical suffering, is the hate &
15:  the complex moral evils which come from war.
16: 
17:  I hope I shall be able to come & see you some day soon.
18: 
19:  Yours very sincerely,
20:  Olive Schreiner
21: 
22:  I did not have the pleasure of seeing your dear sister in law before I
23:  left South Africa as I live in such a far distant part. She is
24:  certainly one of the greatest women South Africa possesses.
25: 

Notation

Letter Reference	View Colenso Papers, MSS. Afr. s. 1293/8, 6
Archive	Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford
Epistolary Type	Letter
Letter Date	After Start: October 1914 ; Before End: December 1914
Address From	Kensington Palace Mansions, De Vere Gardens, Kensington, London
Address To
Who To	Sophie Colenso nee Frankland (m.1880)
Other Versions

The manuscript of this letter by Olive Schreiner belongs to the Archive referenced above; its ownership of the original should be acknowledged by referencing the letter as indicated: Copyright transcription: © Olive Schreiner Letters Project. This transcription can be freely used as long as copyright is acknowledged and it is referenced using the following citation: ‘Olive Schreiner to Sophie Colenso nee Frankland (m.1880), October 1914, Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford, Olive Schreiner Letters Project transcription’. Please also supply letter line numbers for specific quotations.

Legend
The Project is grateful to the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, for allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of their Special Collections. The year has been written on the letter in an unknown hand. Schreiner was resident at Kensington Palace Mansions from late October 1914 to late July 1915. The letter is on printed headed notepaper.

1:  Kensington Palace Mansions & Hotel
2:  De Vere Gardens, W.
3:  Telephone: 3675 Kensington. Telegram: Apartment, London
4: 
5:  Dear Mrs Colenso
6: 
7:  I got your wire & note this morning. But I had an engagement I had to
8:  keep & could not telephone to you as you gave no address But I shall
9:  try to be back by four, a little before, I hope. If I don’t come don’t
10:  wait. I shall be so sorry if I miss you. I shall surely be in at 5.
11: 
12:  Yours sincerely
13:  Olive Schreiner
14: 

Notation

Letter Reference	View Colenso Papers, MSS. Afr. s. 1293/8, 7-9
Archive	Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford
Epistolary Type	Letter
Letter Date	After Start: October 1914 ; Before End: December 1914
Address From	Kensington Palace Mansions, De Vere Gardens, Kensington, London
Address To
Who To	Sophie Colenso nee Frankland (m.1880)
Other Versions

The manuscript of this letter by Olive Schreiner belongs to the Archive referenced above; its ownership of the original should be acknowledged by referencing the letter as indicated: Copyright transcription: © Olive Schreiner Letters Project. This transcription can be freely used as long as copyright is acknowledged and it is referenced using the following citation: ‘Olive Schreiner to Sophie Colenso nee Frankland (m.1880), October 1914, Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford, Olive Schreiner Letters Project transcription’. Please also supply letter line numbers for specific quotations.

Legend
The Project is grateful to the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, for allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of their Special Collections. The year has been written on the letter in an unknown hand. Schreiner was resident at Kensington Palace Mansions from late October 1914 to late July 1915. The letter is on printed headed notepaper.

1:  Kensington Palace Mansions & Hotel
2:  De Vere Gardens, W.
3:  Telephone: 3675 Kensington. Telegram: Apartment, London
4: 
5:  Dear Mrs Colenso
6: 
7:  I fear neither I nor my brother could do anything about the matter you
8:  wrote of. South Africa has no connection with that part, & if I were
9:  in Africa & wanted to get news of any one there, I should write to the
10:  military authorities here, in London. They are the only people who
11:  could allow news to get through. I feel much for the poor mother.
12:  Uncertainty is more killing than any knowledge. I do wish I could help her.
13: 
14:  I shall be so glad to see you if ever you can come. I am out every day
15:  from 2 to nearly four, but otherwise I never go out. I should always
16:  be in after 4 o’clock
17: 
18:  Yours very sincerely
19:  Olive Schreiner
20: 
21:  Yes, indeed, one is very lonely here now. Even in the Boer war one was
22:  not so lonely because though one was divided from one’s own old
23:  friends & relations, one had the Boers. I cannot glory in any war. It
24:  is always to me a crime.
25: 

Notation

Letter Reference	View Colenso Papers, MSS. Afr. s. 1293/8, 10
Archive	Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford
Epistolary Type
Letter Date	28 December 1914
Address From	Kensington Palace Mansions, De Vere Gardens, Kensington, London
Address To	1 Marina, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex
Who To	Sophie Colenso nee Frankland (m.1880)
Other Versions

The manuscript of this letter by Olive Schreiner belongs to the Archive referenced above; its ownership of the original should be acknowledged by referencing the letter as indicated: Copyright transcription: © Olive Schreiner Letters Project. This transcription can be freely used as long as copyright is acknowledged and it is referenced using the following citation: ‘Olive Schreiner to Sophie Colenso nee Frankland (m.1880), 28 December 1914, Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford, Olive Schreiner Letters Project transcription’. Please also supply letter line numbers for specific quotations.

Legend
The Project is grateful to the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, for allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner postcard, which is part of their Special Collections. The date has been derived from the postmark on the postcard. Schreiner was resident at Kensington Palace Mansions from late October 1914 to late July 1915.

1:  Dear Mrs Colenso
2: 
3:  I hope you got my letter explaining my being out when you came. They
4:  told me ^you^ I had hardly gone when I returned. I hope I shall see you
5:  soon. When the weather is better I should like to come & see you.
6: 
7:  Yours ever
8:  Olive Schreiner
9: 

Notation

Letter Reference	View Colenso Papers, MSS. Afr. s. 1293/8, 11-12
Archive	Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford
Epistolary Type	Letter
Letter Date	After Start: October 1914 ; Before End: December 1914
Address From	Kensington Palace Mansions, De Vere Gardens, Kensington, London
Address To
Who To	Sophie Colenso nee Frankland (m.1880)
Other Versions

The manuscript of this letter by Olive Schreiner belongs to the Archive referenced above; its ownership of the original should be acknowledged by referencing the letter as indicated: Copyright transcription: © Olive Schreiner Letters Project. This transcription can be freely used as long as copyright is acknowledged and it is referenced using the following citation: ‘Olive Schreiner to Sophie Colenso nee Frankland (m.1880), October 1914, Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford, Olive Schreiner Letters Project transcription’. Please also supply letter line numbers for specific quotations.

Legend
The Project is grateful to the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, for allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of their Special Collections. The year has been written on the letter in an unknown hand. Schreiner was resident at Kensington Palace Mansions from late October 1914 to late July 1915. The letter is on printed headed notepaper.

1:  Kensington Palace Mansions & Hotel
2:  De Vere Gardens, W.
3:  Telephone: 3675 Kensington. Telegram: Apartment, London
4: 
5:  Dear Mrs Colenso
6: 
7:  Yes, that is my brother, there are only 3 of us left.
8: 
9:  Thank you so much but I am too ill to go out any where. I do wish you
10:  lived somewhere near here. I should so like to see more of you & your
11:  dear daughter who attracted me so much.
12: 
13:  If ever you are in town & could spare time to some & see me & would
14:  not mind coming up to my room I should so like to see you.
15: 
16:  Yours most sincerely
17:  Olive Schreiner
18: 
19:  PS
20:  If ever you should be coming please let me know before hand if
21:  possible. I am never out but when I go to get some electric heart
22:  treatment but it might just happen I was out there when you came & I
23:  would be so sorry to miss you.
24: 

Notation

Letter Reference	View Colenso Papers, MSS. Afr. s. 1293/8, 13
Archive	Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford
Epistolary Type
Letter Date	1 March 1915
Address From	Kensington Palace Mansions, De Vere Gardens, Kensington, London
Address To	Elangeni, Amersham, Buckinghamshire
Who To	Sophie Colenso nee Frankland (m.1880)
Other Versions

The manuscript of this letter by Olive Schreiner belongs to the Archive referenced above; its ownership of the original should be acknowledged by referencing the letter as indicated: Copyright transcription: © Olive Schreiner Letters Project. This transcription can be freely used as long as copyright is acknowledged and it is referenced using the following citation: ‘Olive Schreiner to Sophie Colenso nee Frankland (m.1880), 1 March 1915, Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford, Olive Schreiner Letters Project transcription’. Please also supply letter line numbers for specific quotations.

Legend
The Project is grateful to the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, for allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner postcard, which is part of their Special Collections. The date of the postcard is provided by the postmark and the address it was sent to is on its front. Schreiner was resident at Kensington Palace Mansions from late October 1914 to late July 1915.

1:  Dear Mrs Colenso
2: 
3:  I am so sorry I gave away all the copies of Colonal Maudes article. It
4:  was in the Evening Standard a short time after the air raide on
5:  Scarborough. About 4 or five days after. I should have answered you at
6:  once but I have been laid up for ten day.
7: 
8:  Yours with warm greetings
9:  Olive Schreiner
10: 

Notation
An article by Colonel Maude in the Evening Standard at around the date of this postcard cannot be established.

Letter Reference	View Colenso Papers, MSS. Afr. s. 1293/8, 14
Archive	Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford
Epistolary Type
Letter Date	Sunday 15 March 1915
Address From	Kensington Palace Mansions, De Vere Gardens, Kensington, London
Address To	Elangeni, Amersham, Buckinghamshire
Who To	Sophie Colenso nee Frankland (m.1880)
Other Versions

The manuscript of this letter by Olive Schreiner belongs to the Archive referenced above; its ownership of the original should be acknowledged by referencing the letter as indicated: Copyright transcription: © Olive Schreiner Letters Project. This transcription can be freely used as long as copyright is acknowledged and it is referenced using the following citation: ‘Olive Schreiner to Sophie Colenso nee Frankland (m.1880), 15 March 1915, Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford, Olive Schreiner Letters Project transcription’. Please also supply letter line numbers for specific quotations.

Legend
The Project is grateful to the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, for allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner postcard, which is part of their Special Collections.

1:  I shall be very glad to see you at 4 on Thursday I don’t generally
2:  leave my room till after one as I’m not very well. I shall be very
3:  glad to see you.
4: 
5:  Olive Schreiner
6:  Sunday
7: 

Notation
The date is provided by the postmark on this postcard and the address it was sent to is on its front. Schreiner was resident at Kensington Palace Mansions from late October 1914 to late July 1915.

Letter Reference	View Colenso Papers, MSS. Afr. s. 1293/8, 16-17
Archive	Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford
Epistolary Type	Letter
Letter Date	1 April 1919
Address From	9 Porchester Place, Edgware Road, Westminster, London
Address To
Who To	Sophie Colenso nee Frankland (m.1880)
Other Versions

The manuscript of this letter by Olive Schreiner belongs to the Archive referenced above; its ownership of the original should be acknowledged by referencing the letter as indicated: Copyright transcription: © Olive Schreiner Letters Project. This transcription can be freely used as long as copyright is acknowledged and it is referenced using the following citation: ‘Olive Schreiner to Sophie Colenso nee Frankland (m.1880), 1 April 1919, Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford, Olive Schreiner Letters Project transcription’. Please also supply letter line numbers for specific quotations.

Legend
The Project is grateful to the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, for allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of their Special Collections.

1:  9 Porchester Place
2:  Edgeware Rd
3:  ^London^
4:  April 1st 1919
5: 
6:  Dear Mrs Colenso
7: 
8:  It is ages since I had any news of any of you. I often have wondered
9:  how the world went with you. I hope if ever you are coming to town I
10:  may see you.
11: 
12:  I am writing to ask a favour of you. I have a little niece, Mrs Scott
13:  lately married to a Dr in the who’s been in the army. She is expecting
14:  her first little baby next June & longs to get out of London for a
15:  month or six weeks to a quiet country place, to rest. She wants much a
16:  tiny cottage I have been trying to find her one every where, but tiny
17:  country cottages seem almost impossible to get near London Do you
18:  perhaps, by any chance know of one in or near Amersham? Or is there a
19:  quiet country fied hotel there where she might get quarters. It would
20:  be no use her going to a noisy town hotel, but sometimes little Inn’s
21:  in a village are quite nice & restful.
22: 
23:  Please forgive my troubling you, but I know you won’t mind telling me
24:  if you know of one.
25: 
26:  Give my kindest greetings to your daughters. I should so much like to
27:  know how the world has gone with you all.
28: 
29:  Yours ever
30:  Olive Schreiner

Notation

Letter Reference	View Colenso Papers, MSS. Afr. s. 1293/8, 18
Archive	Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford
Epistolary Type	Letter
Letter Date	After Start: Monday 1914 ; Before End: 1916
Address From	30 St Mary Abbotts Terrace, Kensington, London
Address To
Who To	Sophie Colenso nee Frankland (m.1880)
Other Versions

The manuscript of this letter by Olive Schreiner belongs to the Archive referenced above; its ownership of the original should be acknowledged by referencing the letter as indicated: Copyright transcription: © Olive Schreiner Letters Project. This transcription can be freely used as long as copyright is acknowledged and it is referenced using the following citation: ‘Olive Schreiner to Sophie Colenso nee Frankland (m.1880), 1914, Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford, Olive Schreiner Letters Project transcription’. Please also supply letter line numbers for specific quotations.

Legend
The Project is grateful to the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, for allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of their Special Collections. The letter has been dated approximately by reference to the period over which Schreiner lived intermittently at St Mary Abbotts Terrace.

1:  30 St Mary Abbotts Terrace
2:  Kensington
3:  London W
4:  Tuesday Monday
5: 
6:  Dear Mrs Colenso
7: 
8:  I return the cards.
9: 
10:  I am glad to have news of you. I shall be so glad to see you if you
11:  come to town. I have only a bedroom here, but if you don’t mind
12:  climbing three flights of stairs, I’ll be very glad to see you if ever
13:  you come to Town.
14: 
15:  I hope your daughter has had good news of her friend.
16: 
17:  Good bye, with
18:  best wishes
19:  Olive Schreiner
20: 
21:  Can you send me Mrs
22: 

Notation

Letter Reference	View Milner Papers, dep. 209, ff. 278-280
Archive	Special Collections, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
Epistolary Type	Letter
Letter Date	30 May 1899
Address From	Johannesburg, Transvaal
Address To
Who To	Alfred Milner
Other Versions	Rive 1987: 354

The manuscript of this letter by Olive Schreiner belongs to the Archive referenced above; its ownership of the original should be acknowledged by referencing the letter as indicated: Copyright transcription: © Olive Schreiner Letters Project. This transcription can be freely used as long as copyright is acknowledged and it is referenced using the following citation: ‘Olive Schreiner to Alfred Milner, 30 May 1899, Special Collections, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, Olive Schreiner Letters Project transcription’. Please also supply letter line numbers for specific quotations.

Legend
The Project is grateful to the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, and the Warden and Scholars of New College, Oxford, for permission to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of their Special Collections.

1:  Box 406
2:  Johannesburg
3:  May 30th 1899
4: 
5:  Dear Sir Alfred Milner,
6: 
7:  I have much wished to see you or to write to you. I have tried to
8:  write many times during the last three days, but I am not able, my
9:  health prevents it. May I beg of you, please to read my article, & ill
10:  expressed as it is, to consider whether no truth lies in it.
11: 
12:  I do not ask you to forgive my writing to you because there are times
13:  when a man has a right to do almost anything.
14: 
15:  Yours sincerely,
16:  Olive Schreiner
17: 
18:  I have much wished to see you apart from all political considerations.
19:  Many of my friends in England are those who know and value^d^ you: &
20:  life in Africa is a little lonely to those who have spent their
21:  forming years in England.
22: 
23:  Can you understand my position - it is that of many others? We are
24:  like a man born in a log cabin, who afterwards goes to live in a
25:  palace, & all his affections & interest centre in the palace. But one
26:  day he finds the the palace is beginning to oppress the cabin, & then
27:  he says, “I belong to the cabin.” – but he loves the palace still.
28: 

Notation
The article which Schreiner ‘begs’ Milner to read is likely to be the newspaper article that became An English South African’s View of the Situation. This was originally published in the South African News over three successive days; see 'Words in Season. An English South African's View of the Situation' South African News 1 June 1899 (p.8), 2 June 1899 (p.8) and 3 June 1899 (also p.8). It was also reprinted in a number of other newspapers. It then was published as a pamphlet, then as a book. A second edition of the book was ready but withdrawn from publication by Schreiner when the South African War started in October 1899, so as not to profit from this. Rive’s (1987) version of this letter is incorrect in minor ways.

Letter Reference	View Milner Papers, dep. 210, ff. 396-7
Archive	Special Collections, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
Epistolary Type	Letter
Letter Date	10 July 1899
Address From	Johannesburg, Transvaal
Address To
Who To	Alfred Milner
Other Versions	Rive 1987: 368

The manuscript of this letter by Olive Schreiner belongs to the Archive referenced above; its ownership of the original should be acknowledged by referencing the letter as indicated: Copyright transcription: © Olive Schreiner Letters Project. This transcription can be freely used as long as copyright is acknowledged and it is referenced using the following citation: ‘Olive Schreiner to Alfred Milner, 10 July 1899, Special Collections, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, Olive Schreiner Letters Project transcription’. Please also supply letter line numbers for specific quotations.

Legend
The Project is grateful to the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, and the Warden and Scholars of New College, Oxford, for permission to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of their Special Collections.

1:  Box 406
2:  Johannesburg
3: 
4:  Dear Sir Alfred Milner
5: 
6:  I wrote you a letter of 16 sheets yesterday, but thinking it over it
7:  seems, why should I send it?
8: 
9:  I would have answered your kind note from Bloemfontein, but I have put
10:  it of continually meaning to write a long letter & never been able.
11:  Have you read the new life of Sir George Grey? If you have not I
12:  should like to send you my copy to read, if you would care to. You
13:  know we all met you with open arms & open hearts in South Africa
14:  saying, “Here is our new Sir George Grey.” We would all have loved you
15:  so if you would have let us.
16: 
17:  Yours very sincerely
18:  Olive Schreiner
19: 
20:  July 10 / 99
21: 

Notation
The ‘new life’ of Grey referred to is likely to be: James Milne (1899) The Romance of a Pro-Consul: Being the Personal Life and Memoirs of the Right Hon Sir George Grey London: Chatto & Windus. Rive’s (1987) version of this letter is incorrect in minor ways.

Letter Reference	View Milner Papers, dep. 213, ff. 288-290
Archive	Special Collections, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
Epistolary Type	Letter
Letter Date	23 May 1900
Address From	Wagenaars Kraal, Three Sisters, Northern Cape
Address To
Who To	Alfred Milner
Other Versions

The manuscript of this letter by Olive Schreiner belongs to the Archive referenced above; its ownership of the original should be acknowledged by referencing the letter as indicated: Copyright transcription: © Olive Schreiner Letters Project. This transcription can be freely used as long as copyright is acknowledged and it is referenced using the following citation: ‘Olive Schreiner to Alfred Milner, 23 May 1900, Special Collections, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, Olive Schreiner Letters Project transcription’. Please also supply letter line numbers for specific quotations.

Legend
The Project is grateful to the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, and the Warden and Scholars of New College, Oxford, for permission to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of their Special Collections.

1:  Wagenaar’s Kraal
2:  Three Sisters
3:  May 23 / 00
4: 
5:  Dear Sir Alfred Milner
6: 
7:  You will no doubt be surprised at my writing to you, especially as it
8:  is to ask a favour, but it is not a favour for myself.
9: 
10:  There is a delicate young Doctor staying here; he is he is consumptive.
11:  He lived for a year in Reddersburg in the FreeState, but left before
12:  the war broke out leaving all his medical books instruments &
13:  household goods there, as he is strongly opposed to the Boers & did
14:  not wish to stay. He is now very anxious to get back to fetch his
15:  instruments &c & see how it goes with his household effects. He says
16:  he has written several times, but has not been able to get a pass, as
17:  many other people have been able to do. I have thought it was just
18:  possible that if I wrote & told you he was a violent Jingo (I know you
19:  will believe me as I should you) it might help him to get a pass, as
20:  the authorities may be withholding it not knowing his views. He and I
21:  are so opposed in politics that we never refer to them.
22: 
23:  I enclose his application. He has only been a few years in this
24:  country.
25: 
26:  You will perhaps be surprised at an enemy’s asking a favour of you,
27:  even for another person; but I am not your enemy if only you knew it!
28:  One day you will discover that the Uitlander knot were your enemies, &
29:  that I, if you would have allowed me would have pe been your loyal
30:  friend, tried to be.
31: 
32:  Yours faithfully,
33:  Olive Schreiner
34: 
35:  Do unreadable
36: 

Notation

Letter Reference	View Milner Papers, dep. 46, ff. 183-184
Archive	Special Collections, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
Epistolary Type	Letter
Letter Date	3 July 1919
Address From	9 Porchester Place, Edgware Road, Westminster, London
Address To
Who To	Alfred Milner
Other Versions

The manuscript of this letter by Olive Schreiner belongs to the Archive referenced above; its ownership of the original should be acknowledged by referencing the letter as indicated: Copyright transcription: © Olive Schreiner Letters Project. This transcription can be freely used as long as copyright is acknowledged and it is referenced using the following citation: ‘Olive Schreiner to Alfred Milner, 3 July 1919, Special Collections, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, Olive Schreiner Letters Project transcription’. Please also supply letter line numbers for specific quotations.

Legend
The Project is grateful to the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, and the Warden and Scholars of New College, Oxford, for permission to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of their Special Collections.

1:  9 Porchester Place
2:  Edgware Rd
3:  W.
4:  July 3rd 1919
5: 
6:  Dear Lord Milner
7: 
8:  My sister-law showed me your note to her. I valued it more than all
9:  the hundreds of letters we got from people who had always agreed with
10:  him. It was beautiful to me that you have always realized his
11:  singleness of aim, & the absolute absence of self-seeking in his
12:  nature.
13: 
14:  I suppose no two human beings differ more widely in their view as to
15:  what the supreme ends of human life on earth are, than you & I. But I
16:  have always believed in your absolute sincerity & faithfulness to your
17:  own sense of duty. As one nears the end of the passage, one feels more
18:  & more that nothing else matters in the characters of men & women.
19: 
20:  Yours very sincerely
21:  Olive Schreiner
22: 

Notation

Letter Reference	View Rhodes Papers, MSS. Afr. s. 228, C28 (5-6) 40
Archive	Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford
Epistolary Type	Letter
Letter Date	15 November 1890
Address From	na
Address To
Who To	Cecil John Rhodes
Other Versions

The manuscript of this letter by Olive Schreiner belongs to the Archive referenced above; its ownership of the original should be acknowledged by referencing the letter as indicated: Copyright transcription: © Olive Schreiner Letters Project. This transcription can be freely used as long as copyright is acknowledged and it is referenced using the following citation: ‘Olive Schreiner to Cecil John Rhodes, 15 November 1890, Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford, Olive Schreiner Letters Project transcription’. Please also supply letter line numbers for specific quotations.

Legend
The Project is grateful to the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, for allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of their Special Collections.

1:  Dear Mr Rhodes
2: 
3:  I am afraid to speak to you so I must write this line to tell you how
4:  very sorry I was I troubled you with that letter. The train had not
5:  left five minutes when I wanted it back, & I have suffered the agony
6:  of a lost spirit about it ever since. Please forgive me, & don’t
7:  mention it to me.
8: 
9:  I am very grateful to you, though I have not shown it, for the
10:  sympathys you expressed with my work the other night. No one has ever
11:  done so in just the same way. I am very thankful to you for having
12:  told me it helps me to unreadable.
13: 
14:  You have never felt the same sympathy with my work that I have with
15:  yours. It is just as creative, only you have to realize your
16:  imaginations in things, which which more permanent.
17: 
18:  Yours faithfully
19:  Olive Schreiner
20: 

Notation
The date has been written on this letter in an unknown hand.

Letter Reference	View Rhodes Papers, MSS. Afr. s. 228, C27 (142) 12
Archive	Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford
Epistolary Type	Letter
Letter Date	August 1891
Address From	International Hotel, Gardens, Cape Town, Western Cape
Address To
Who To	Cecil John Rhodes
Other Versions	Rive 1987: 192

The manuscript of this letter by Olive Schreiner belongs to the Archive referenced above; its ownership of the original should be acknowledged by referencing the letter as indicated: Copyright transcription: © Olive Schreiner Letters Project. This transcription can be freely used as long as copyright is acknowledged and it is referenced using the following citation: ‘Olive Schreiner to Cecil John Rhodes, August 1891, Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies, Rhodes House, University of Oxford, Olive Schreiner Letters Project transcription’. Please also supply letter line numbers for specific quotations.

Legend
The ‘three articles’ which Schreiner refers to in an excision are likely to be her ‘Returned South African’ ones, indicating a probable date of 1891 for this letter. She stayed in O’Callaghan’s International Hotel for part of August 1891, thus the dating of the letter.

1:  Dear Mr Rhodes
2: 
3:  I shall be leaving Cape Town in about a fortnight. I want to have a
4:  talk with you before I go, as I may not have a chance of meeting you
5:  again before I leave Africa. Will you, if ever you have an hour to
6:  spare, come & see me? I tell you frankly, it will be a favour to me &
7:  help me in my work; but you must not allow this to influence you, if
8:  you are not inclined to come, or feel the conventionalities of Cape
9:  Town life make it fe difficult for a man to visit a woman as he would
10:  another man. I have lived so long in a larger atmosphere that they
11:  have almost lost this hold on me, & I am no judge in such matters.
12: 
13:  I should like to show you three articles I have I am often at the
14:  library & Botanical Gardens in the morning; if it would be more
15:  convenient for you to call there than to come up here. Don’t think I
16:  have anything interesting or important to tell you, because I want to
17:  have your opinion on some points rather than to give you mine.
18: 
19:  This note is for yourself; alone, not even for your secretary. You are
20:  the only man in South Africa I would ask to come & see me, because I
21:  think you are large enough to take me impersonally. If you don’t want
22:  to come, simply don’t write. It will be all right.
23: 
24:  Yours faithfully,
25:  Olive Schreiner
26: 

Notation
Rive’s (1987) version of this letter is incorrect in minor ways.