"About Rebecca Schreiner, OS's childhood, her writing" Read the full letter
| Letter Reference | T120 (M722): W.T. Stead Papers/49- pages 192-196 & 226 |
| Archive | National Archives Depot, Pretoria |
| Epistolary Type | Letter |
| Letter Date | July 1891 |
| Address From | 57 Grove Street, Gardens, Cape Town, Western Cape |
| Address To | |
| Who To | William Thomas Stead |
| Other Versions | Rive 1987: 193-4 |
| Permissions | Please read before using or citing this transcription |
| Legend |
The Project is grateful to the National Archives Repository, Pretoria, for kindly allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of its Micofilm Collections. Schreiner stayed in Grove Street in July 1891, thus the dating of this letter.
|
157 Grove Street
2Cape Town
3
4My dear Friend
5
6By a mistake instead of my real article about South Africa my rough notes
7with pages left out were sent to England & have been published in the
8Fortnightly.
9
10I send you the real article which I have asked them to republish. I
11don't know if they will. If you should wish to quote from the article
12in next month's Rev of Rev=, would you quote from the copy I send you,
13& kindly explain that it was by mistake that the other came to be
14printed in place of this.
15
16I am always going to write that long letter on the sex question, but I
17think my next novel will be the best explanation of my views. I think
18they are too complex to be stated shortly.
19
20I have not seen Rhodes for a long time. I think all goes well with his
21great plans here; better even than could have been hoped. More & more
22people are going up to Zambesia.
23
24I will send you from here early copies of the other articles that are
25to appear in the Fortnightly.
26
27This first, is merely an introduction & very uninteresting. Please The
28rest will be much better.
29
30Please forgive me for troubling you. I’m going to send you my likeness
31next week.
32
33Yours always with respect & affection however we may differ on small
34grounds
35Olive Schreiner
36
2Cape Town
3
4My dear Friend
5
6By a mistake instead of my real article about South Africa my rough notes
7with pages left out were sent to England & have been published in the
8Fortnightly.
9
10I send you the real article which I have asked them to republish. I
11don't know if they will. If you should wish to quote from the article
12in next month's Rev of Rev=, would you quote from the copy I send you,
13& kindly explain that it was by mistake that the other came to be
14printed in place of this.
15
16I am always going to write that long letter on the sex question, but I
17think my next novel will be the best explanation of my views. I think
18they are too complex to be stated shortly.
19
20I have not seen Rhodes for a long time. I think all goes well with his
21great plans here; better even than could have been hoped. More & more
22people are going up to Zambesia.
23
24I will send you from here early copies of the other articles that are
25to appear in the Fortnightly.
26
27This first, is merely an introduction & very uninteresting. Please The
28rest will be much better.
29
30Please forgive me for troubling you. I’m going to send you my likeness
31next week.
32
33Yours always with respect & affection however we may differ on small
34grounds
35Olive Schreiner
36
Notation
The ‘real article’ refers to the first of Schreiner’s ‘A Returned South African’ essays, originally published in a range of magazines and intended to be reworked in book form, as Stray Thoughts on South Africa. A dispute with a publisher and then the outbreak of the South African War (1899-1902) prevented this, and they were in the event with some additional essays published posthumously as Thoughts on South Africa. The ‘long letter on the sex question’ concerns one of the various incarnations of what started out as Schreiner’s planned introduction to a new edition of Mary Wollstonecraft’s (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (London: J. Johnson) took. The ‘next novel’, given Schreiner’s comment about ‘the sex question’, most likely refers to From Man to Man. Rive’s (1987) version omits part of this letter, mis-addresses it as from ‘Grave Street’ and is incorrect in minor respects.
The ‘real article’ refers to the first of Schreiner’s ‘A Returned South African’ essays, originally published in a range of magazines and intended to be reworked in book form, as Stray Thoughts on South Africa. A dispute with a publisher and then the outbreak of the South African War (1899-1902) prevented this, and they were in the event with some additional essays published posthumously as Thoughts on South Africa. The ‘long letter on the sex question’ concerns one of the various incarnations of what started out as Schreiner’s planned introduction to a new edition of Mary Wollstonecraft’s (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (London: J. Johnson) took. The ‘next novel’, given Schreiner’s comment about ‘the sex question’, most likely refers to From Man to Man. Rive’s (1987) version omits part of this letter, mis-addresses it as from ‘Grave Street’ and is incorrect in minor respects.