"The old world is cracking, Mrs Partington & her broom" Read the full letter

*New letters

Since The Olive Schreiner Letters Online was first published, a number of smaller collections - and one much larger one - of Olive Schreiner letters have come to attention and they can be accessed from this page - just click on the links provided. As further Schreiner letters come to attention, they are added as soon as possible.

Alas, the 'New Letters' will not show up via using the 'Search' page, because enabling this would require an expensive and time-consuming process of 'tagging' all letters with relevant search terms. However, as funding for the project ended some years ago this has not been possible. However, they CAN still be read and enjoyed, and we are extremely grateful for permissions for them to appear, noted below.

NEW War Emergency Workers National Committee: The War Emergency Workers National Committee was formed by a range of British labour organisations during the Great War. It became concerned with pay and equality issues in circumstances of war emergency, and in particular that women occupying jobs formerly done by men might be paid less and that these lower rates would prevail post-war when men returned from war service. In July 1915 its committee decided that an Appeal to women workers doing war-work should be made, to encourage them to protect pay levels. Schreiner wrote a brief letter in support of the Appeal, and her name appeared, with others, on its printed versions. Her letter appears here with the kind permission of the People's History Museum, Manchester. 

NEW Allen & Unwin: Two letters from the files, the first to a woman republishing some of Schreiner's  work and the second explaining Schreiner's mistake about the 1918 Club. They appear here with the kind permission of the University of Reading.

Margaret MacDonald: An extremely interesting letter to Margaret MacDonald has come to attention, and is part of the extremely large Ramsay MacDonald Collection in the National Archives UK. It appears here with kind permission under its Open Government copyright arrangements. It concerns Schreiner's attempts to gain a measure of justice for some Hanover men executed for train-wrecking through false evidence given against them. 

Gregg Collection: Lyndall Schreiner, later Gregg. An exciting new development as of February 2016 is that a previously unknown collection of Schreiner letters has now become available. This consists of well over 200 previously unknown letters to Schreiner's favourite niece, Lyndall Schreiner, later Gregg. Work on the collection has only just started, and bulletins about progress in making it available will appear on this website - please click on the tab for this collection for more detail.

Winifred de Villiers Collection: Two interesting Schreiner letters on Women's Enfranchisement matters appear in the Winifred de Villiers Collection, JS Gericke Library, University of Stellenbosch. With thanks to the Gerlicke Library and University for kind permission to appear here, and also to Helen Dampier for information about this collection. 

Diamond Fields Advertiser : Two important letters from Schreiner providing her cogent criticisms of comments made erroneously by Frederick Selous appeared in the Diamond Fields Advertiser in 1896, following its publication of an interview with Selous.

Henderson Cory : Two previously unrecorded letters by Olive Schreiner to James Henderson appear here. Henderson was Principal of Lovedale and also a key figure in the General Missionary Commission's investigation of the 'so-called "black peril"', and Schreiner's other letters to him, in the Cory Collections, are concerned with this topic. They appear here with the kind permission of the Cory Library.

Kimberley Africana Library : This small collection consists of Schreiner's handwritten copy of a letter she sent to T. Fisher Unwin, and also a striking letter published in the Diamond Fields Advertiser. The kind permission of the Kimberley Africana Library is greatefully acknowledged.

Koranta ea Becoana: A single letter from Schreiner published in the Koranta newsaper published by Solomon Plaatje. The OSLO is extremely grateful to Brian Willan for drawing this letter to attention.

Levine Sauer Collection : The Project is grateful to Ronald Levine for kindly allowing us to transcribe these nine Olive Schreiner letters to Mary Sauer. These are a new addition to the wider Levine Collection (see the smaller collections pages) and indicate a continuing friendship between Schreiner and Sauer through to 1913. 

Molly Earle Collection, UCT Manuscripts & Archives : This small collection was donated to UCT by Prof Jane Carruthers and is now part of the Molly Earle collection. It appears here with the kind permisson of UCT.

Purves Collection, NLS : This National Library of Scotland collection consists of three Olive Schreiner letters vigorously protesting at the persoanlising and trivialising in an article about her which had appeared in the South African Bookman. The kind permission of the NLS is gratefully acknowledged. 

Last updated: 28 March 2018