"Everything so dark & mysterious, going to be a great European war" Read the full letter
| Letter Reference | HRC/UNCAT/OS-134 |
| Archive | Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| Epistolary Type | Letter |
| Letter Date | 8 December 1889 |
| Address From | Mount Vernon, Gardens, Cape Town, Western Cape |
| Address To | |
| Who To | Havelock Ellis |
| Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 172-3; Draznin 1992: 454-5 |
| Permissions | Please read before using or citing this transcription |
| Legend |
The Project is grateful to the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, the University of Texas at Austin, for kindly allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of its Manuscript Collections. The end of this letter seems to be missing.
|
1Mount Vernon
2Cape Town
3Dec 8 / 89
4
5Private
6
7I’m glad your work gets on so I would give any thing to see you You
8are the only one of my English friends I am always longing for. I want
9to talk with you. I am so torpid, but I yet want to see you I wish you
10were coming out here. I’m very unreadable You know I want to hear
11from you every week.
12
13The Sex book is good. I wish I hadn’t thrown away all my life on sex
14work. I have worked & thought so hard & I have nothing to show have
15done no one any good by it, any more than I have in expending all my
16practical energies over other peoples lives I’ve got nothing to show
17for it no one’s the happier. If I could think anyone was the better
18for these ten years of wasted life.
19
20I am going out to Vis-chhoek on Monday If I can’t breath I shall
21come back here There’s a great dam just up behind the house where I
22can go & walk up & down there are pine woods all about [page/s missing]
23
2Cape Town
3Dec 8 / 89
4
5Private
6
7I’m glad your work gets on so I would give any thing to see you You
8are the only one of my English friends I am always longing for. I want
9to talk with you. I am so torpid, but I yet want to see you I wish you
10were coming out here. I’m very unreadable You know I want to hear
11from you every week.
12
13The Sex book is good. I wish I hadn’t thrown away all my life on sex
14work. I have worked & thought so hard & I have nothing to show have
15done no one any good by it, any more than I have in expending all my
16practical energies over other peoples lives I’ve got nothing to show
17for it no one’s the happier. If I could think anyone was the better
18for these ten years of wasted life.
19
20I am going out to Vis-chhoek on Monday If I can’t breath I shall
21come back here There’s a great dam just up behind the house where I
22can go & walk up & down there are pine woods all about [page/s missing]
23
Notation
The sex book Schreiner mentions is Patrick Geddes and J. Authur Thompson (1889) The Evolution of Sex London: Walter Scott Publishing Co. Draznin's (1992) version of this letter is in some respects different from our transcription. Cronwright-Schreiner's (1924) extract is incorrect in various ways.
The sex book Schreiner mentions is Patrick Geddes and J. Authur Thompson (1889) The Evolution of Sex London: Walter Scott Publishing Co. Draznin's (1992) version of this letter is in some respects different from our transcription. Cronwright-Schreiner's (1924) extract is incorrect in various ways.