"Nasty blow, political instinct" Read the full letter
| Letter Reference | Letters/133 |
| Archive | |
| Epistolary Type | |
| Letter Date | 3 November 1885 |
| Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
| Address To | |
| Who To | Havelock Ellis |
| Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 85 |
| Permissions | Please read before using or citing this transcription |
| Legend |
When Cronwright-Schreiner prepared The Letters of Olive Schreiner, with few exceptions he then destroyed her originals. However, some people gave him copies and kept the originals or demanded the return of these; and when actual Schreiner letters can be compared with his versions, his have omissions, distortions and bowdlerisations. Where Schreiner originals have survived, these will be found in the relevant collections across the OSLO website. There is however a residue of some 587 items in The Letters for which no originals are extant. They are included here for sake of completeness. However, their relationship to Schreiners actual letters cannot now be gauged, and so they should be read with caution for the reasons given.
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1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 3rd Nov.
3
4I felt so sad last night, my comrade, I haven’t felt that kind of
5blank despairful feeling for almost a year. I feel the noise of the
6streets and to see those sad women, and I felt as if you were so sad
7and far away from me, and everything sad. I'm better now. ... I read
8the whole of that novel last night, fairly good, better, of course,
9than novels of the English school, but it no more comes near Bret
10Harte! - or even Cape Cod Folks. That was a work of genius. ... I feel
11such horror of the people coming this afternoon. I long only for quiet.
12 I wish for the next six. months someone would treat me like a baby
13and feed me and clothe me, and let me just lie and think.
14
216, Portsea Place, 3rd Nov.
3
4I felt so sad last night, my comrade, I haven’t felt that kind of
5blank despairful feeling for almost a year. I feel the noise of the
6streets and to see those sad women, and I felt as if you were so sad
7and far away from me, and everything sad. I'm better now. ... I read
8the whole of that novel last night, fairly good, better, of course,
9than novels of the English school, but it no more comes near Bret
10Harte! - or even Cape Cod Folks. That was a work of genius. ... I feel
11such horror of the people coming this afternoon. I long only for quiet.
12 I wish for the next six. months someone would treat me like a baby
13and feed me and clothe me, and let me just lie and think.
14