"Rhodes system, the matrix, fruits of native policy" Read the full letter
Letter Reference | Letters/1 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 5 May 1876 |
Address From | Victoria Hotel, Cradock, Eastern Cape |
Address To | |
Who To | Erilda Cawood nee Buckley |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 1 |
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 Mrs. R. Cawood.
2Victoria Hotel, Cradock, 5th May.
3
4I don't know when I felt more lonely in my life. I wish you were here
5my dear old friend. I don't think you can understand how much you have
6brightened and gladdened the year I have past at Ganna Hoek. Give my
7love to the dear little people.
8
2Victoria Hotel, Cradock, 5th May.
3
4I don't know when I felt more lonely in my life. I wish you were here
5my dear old friend. I don't think you can understand how much you have
6brightened and gladdened the year I have past at Ganna Hoek. Give my
7love to the dear little people.
8
Letter Reference | Life/4 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | May 1896 |
Address From | na |
Address To | |
Who To | Rebecca Schreiner nee Lyndall |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner (1924) The Life…: 278-82 |
Permissions | Please read before using or citing this transcription |
Legend |
When Cronwright-Schreiner wrote The Life of Olive Schreiner, he included a small number of largely complete letters which do not appear in The Letters, then destroyed them. They are included here for sake of completeness. However, when Schreiner’s originals can be compared against his versions, his have omissions, distortions and bowdlerisations. Consequently the relationship of these letters embedded in The Life... to what Schreiner originally wrote cannot be gauged, and they should therefore be read with caution. The month and year of this letter is implied by content. The beginning of the letter is not provided.
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1During the last six weeks I have been very unhappy, not knowing
2whether to answer your letters on political matters or not. Would it
3not, my dear little Mother, be much better to drop all references
4direct or indirect with regard to politics between us? During the last
5fifteen years, both in England and here, my work and my interest in
6life have been mainly political, yet I do not think six times, I have,
7in all these years, mentioned politics to you, because I felt you were
8not sympathetic to my view; and I believe that where, with regard to
9either religion or politics, parents and children, or even brothers
10and sisters, are not agreed, they should avoid these subjects. I have
11held this all my life. The tender love existing between mother and
12child and brother and sister need surely never be ruffled by these
13things.
14
15The news of the Jameson Raid reach Cron and myself the first morning
16after we got to the Kowie. Cron has never seen you since, and I only
17saw you for a few minutes, and then, though you and Lily were
18discussing political news, I said not one word. When I got to
19Middelburg I sent you my usual daily line referring to nothing
20political, and Cron did not write to you at all as he was too busy.
21You then wrote me three letters on politics. I took no notice of the
22first three, as I was determined not to discuss politics with any
23private individual. Apart from anything else I have no time for it:
24but in your third letter you said (I quote from your letter), speaking
25of Jameson’s Raid, “there are even some wretches here who say that
26Will and Rhodes knew of it, and had to do with it” - and you went on
27to write as though Will were being attacked as being against the
28Transvaal - and you added that “he, Laing and Frost - a noble three”
29would stand by Rhodes.
30
31Now I had not heard from Will for some months at that time. But from
32private information from people in Cape Town, and from much personal
33intercourse with many Boers and bitter opponents of Rhodes, and above
34all from Will’s letter in the paper, I knew that no one was blaming
35Will, or thinking that he knew anything of the attack by the Chartered
36Company on the Transvaal, and I had been told by those who ought to
37know that most probably would be asked to be Prime Minister when
38Parliament met.
39
40I wrote telling you this, and asked you to send my letter to Will, as
41I never like discussing members of my own family even with others of
42the family unless they know what I say, and I wanted Will to know how
43full of admiration I was at his not entering the new Ministry. I wrote
44this letter in the tenderness of my heart to comfort you. You wrote of
45his sacrificing the “emoluments of office” by standing with Rhodes and
46I told you that, so far from the “emoluments of office” being a gain
47to Will, it was a monetary loss to him, and a heavy one, to be in the
48Ministry.
49
50I thought I should get a letter full of joy and tenderness in a few
51days. To my astonishment I received a long letter in which you asked
52me how I dared to insinuate that Will was on the side of that wretch
53Hofmeyr. To this letter I never replied, nor to any of your other
54letters on politics.
55
56Dear Mother, I have no time for long political discussion; can they be
57of any use when we are at the opposite extreme in regard to our views
58of what is for the true good of the country? You must not feel pained
59if I do not take notice of what you say.
60
61A few days after you wrote a letter to Cron about Hofmeyr and wrote on
62the outside do not answer. I told Cron it would be best to take no
63notice, but he said he thought he ought to answer it as you had begged
64him to He and I have not once written to you on political matters, not once.
65
66Dear little Mother, are not there hundreds of fair and beautiful
67things we can write of, leaving politics out? I have surely as much
68right to be on the side of the Transvaal Government as you have to be
69on that of Rhodes: have I not, little Mother?
70
71I used to feel it so bitterly when people would insist upon attacking
72you on your change of religion, but surely, surely, politics need far
73less to divide a mother and daughter.
74
75You have said in your two letters that I was allowing Cron to warp my
76mind and degrade my character. I can only think that you refer to the
77fact I am in politics opposed to Rhodes. Now, dear little mother, I
78will just shortly tell you the whole story of my relation with Rhodes.
79
80Six years ago in England I first heard much of him from two intimate
81friends of his. He had just given £10, 000 to the Irish cause. He was
82represented to me as a millionaire who was going to devote his life to
83the freeing of the Irish peasant from the landlord, to the education
84and development of the Native races of South Africa, and to the
85benefit of all poor and down-trodden people generally! As painted to
86me, he seemed the ideal of human greatness and one of my great wishes
87was to meet him. Living quietly at Matjesfontein, I had been in Africa
88nearly a year before I met him. It was the beginning of the
89disappointment. As long as he and I talked of books and scenery we
90were very happy, but, when he began on politics and social questions,
91I found out to my astonishment that he had been misrepresented to me;
92especially when we got on the Native Question, we ended by having a
93big fight, and Rhodes getting very angry. All our subsequent meetings
94were of the same kind. I think Rhodes liked me for the same reason
95that I liked him, because of his life and energy, but we never once
96met without a royal fight. I have copies of all the letters I ever
97wrote him, and they are one long passionate endeavour to save him from
98what seemed to me the downward course. I have felt so terribly about
99him, when he was acting in a course that seemed to me most
100disastrously wrong - I have gone out of the House of Parliament when
101he was speaking, and written a note and hired a boy to take it over,
102imploring him to abstain from damning his own soul as it seemed to me
103he was doing. With all his genius, with all his beautiful wonderful
104gifts, to see it going so!
105
106A little time after this I gave up all political hope of Rhodes. It
107was an affair with Logan and Sivewright and Government ground and
108other public matters, and it would take too long to explain, but there
109came a day when Rhodes and Sivewright were on the Matjesfontein
110railway station; we had a talk, and my disappointment at Rhodes’
111action was so great that when both he and Sivewright came forward to
112shake hands, I turned on my heel and went to my house. Some days after,
113 Rhodes passed and called as usual to see me. I heard him knocking at
114the door but did not open it. Some time after, ^This is four years ago now^
115I went to Town and he invited me to dinner but I declined. He then
116gave Mr. Sauer (who was then his closest friend and who used to drive
117home with him in his trap every night) a message to me, asking me what
118was the matter. I told Sauer to tell him that in political matters I
119was absolutely opposed to him, and was going to fight him on every
120point. He twice invited me to his house again, but I refused both
121invitations. I have never seen him to speak to since, and only bowed
122to him last year when he and Will were in Kimberley.
123
124Now, dear little Mother, this all happened long before I ever met Cron
125or knew that such a person existed: how then can he have had anything
126to do with my political opposition to Rhodes?
127
128So far from my having opposed Rhodes more since I was married, it is
129only the last two years that I have taken no part or interest in
130political life, and, except that one little pamphlet on the political
131situation, I have not touched politics. Four years ago I did all that
132lay in my power to induce Sauer and Innes to leave Rhodes and come out
133of the Ministry. I was most active in my opposition to him then; since
134I was married I have said or done nothing with, regard to Rhodes.
135Since Jameson’s Raid I have had letters from papers asking me to write
136and send wires containing my views, I could have made much money, of
137which I am in need. But I attacked Rhodes frankly and fearlessly and
138endlessly when he was in power, and therefore I can afford to be quiet
139now. So far from hating Rhodes I have the greatest sympathy with him
140in many directions. With regard to religion and many other matters I
141am deeply in accord with him, while, with regard to politics and
142public life generally, I am as absolutely opposed to him, and
143therefore must always combat him; and I believe that Rhodes recognizes
144the sincerity of my attitude towards him. In the last week of this
145December he sent a message to me through Mr. Sauer, that when he was
146in Kimberley he had ridden past my house, and wanted to come and see
147me, but he felt he would not be welcome. So far from my having hatred
148towards him, there are few men in the world for whom I have such
149intense sympathy. Surely, my dear little Mother, you can distinguish
150between personal feeling and political opinions. Have they anything to
151do with each other?
152
153As far as Cron goes, how can he be actuated by personal feelings, when
154he has never even been introduced to Rhodes, and knows nothing of him
155but his political career?
156
157I have never read to Cron the things you have said of him in your
158letters to me. He has loved you so whole-heartedly and loyally that I
159couldn’t wound him so. Never in one instance has he said one little
160disloyal or unloving word of kith or kin of mine. He still feels anger
161against a woman because she dared to discuss Will personally in his
162presence. And for you he has a curious veneration and love. When Miss
163Molteno went to see you she wrote: “Your little mother is just as
164beautiful and geniusful as your husband described her.” If he had ever
165said one little word or done one little thing ungenerous towards you I
166could tell him what you say of him, but I can’t wound another person
167so. Whatever your views with regard to politics or religion, it would
168make no atom of difference to us. Cron’s favourite brother is strongly
169against the Transvaal Government and for the Chartered Company, but do
170you think that makes any difference in our feeling towards him? Do you
171think that I could love you one dot more if you were on our side in
172this matter? Do you think I would ever care one straw what your
173political opinions were?
174
175I have written this long letter, my little Mother, because I want you
176to know that at least on my side the political views of my friends
177make no difference! One of my dearest friends is a niece of an Irish
178landowner. She says she wishes Ireland could be put under the sea and
179all the Irish drowned; I would give my life for the Irish peasants! Is
180the fact that we differ so bitterly on this one point any reason why
181we should not be close friends on the number of subjects on which we
182do agree? Need we always bring up the Irish Question? Life to me would
183not be worth living it I felt my love grow less to my friends on
184account of their views with regard to public persons and political
185situations. Because I know my dear old Theo is on the other side I am
186careful never to mention politics when I write to him, just as I avoid
187religion with friends who do not share my religious views.
188
189Goodbye, my own little Mothie. You must not mind if I don’t refer to
190politics again.
191
192Your little daughter,
193Olive.
194
2whether to answer your letters on political matters or not. Would it
3not, my dear little Mother, be much better to drop all references
4direct or indirect with regard to politics between us? During the last
5fifteen years, both in England and here, my work and my interest in
6life have been mainly political, yet I do not think six times, I have,
7in all these years, mentioned politics to you, because I felt you were
8not sympathetic to my view; and I believe that where, with regard to
9either religion or politics, parents and children, or even brothers
10and sisters, are not agreed, they should avoid these subjects. I have
11held this all my life. The tender love existing between mother and
12child and brother and sister need surely never be ruffled by these
13things.
14
15The news of the Jameson Raid reach Cron and myself the first morning
16after we got to the Kowie. Cron has never seen you since, and I only
17saw you for a few minutes, and then, though you and Lily were
18discussing political news, I said not one word. When I got to
19Middelburg I sent you my usual daily line referring to nothing
20political, and Cron did not write to you at all as he was too busy.
21You then wrote me three letters on politics. I took no notice of the
22first three, as I was determined not to discuss politics with any
23private individual. Apart from anything else I have no time for it:
24but in your third letter you said (I quote from your letter), speaking
25of Jameson’s Raid, “there are even some wretches here who say that
26Will and Rhodes knew of it, and had to do with it” - and you went on
27to write as though Will were being attacked as being against the
28Transvaal - and you added that “he, Laing and Frost - a noble three”
29would stand by Rhodes.
30
31Now I had not heard from Will for some months at that time. But from
32private information from people in Cape Town, and from much personal
33intercourse with many Boers and bitter opponents of Rhodes, and above
34all from Will’s letter in the paper, I knew that no one was blaming
35Will, or thinking that he knew anything of the attack by the Chartered
36Company on the Transvaal, and I had been told by those who ought to
37know that most probably would be asked to be Prime Minister when
38Parliament met.
39
40I wrote telling you this, and asked you to send my letter to Will, as
41I never like discussing members of my own family even with others of
42the family unless they know what I say, and I wanted Will to know how
43full of admiration I was at his not entering the new Ministry. I wrote
44this letter in the tenderness of my heart to comfort you. You wrote of
45his sacrificing the “emoluments of office” by standing with Rhodes and
46I told you that, so far from the “emoluments of office” being a gain
47to Will, it was a monetary loss to him, and a heavy one, to be in the
48Ministry.
49
50I thought I should get a letter full of joy and tenderness in a few
51days. To my astonishment I received a long letter in which you asked
52me how I dared to insinuate that Will was on the side of that wretch
53Hofmeyr. To this letter I never replied, nor to any of your other
54letters on politics.
55
56Dear Mother, I have no time for long political discussion; can they be
57of any use when we are at the opposite extreme in regard to our views
58of what is for the true good of the country? You must not feel pained
59if I do not take notice of what you say.
60
61A few days after you wrote a letter to Cron about Hofmeyr and wrote on
62the outside do not answer. I told Cron it would be best to take no
63notice, but he said he thought he ought to answer it as you had begged
64him to He and I have not once written to you on political matters, not once.
65
66Dear little Mother, are not there hundreds of fair and beautiful
67things we can write of, leaving politics out? I have surely as much
68right to be on the side of the Transvaal Government as you have to be
69on that of Rhodes: have I not, little Mother?
70
71I used to feel it so bitterly when people would insist upon attacking
72you on your change of religion, but surely, surely, politics need far
73less to divide a mother and daughter.
74
75You have said in your two letters that I was allowing Cron to warp my
76mind and degrade my character. I can only think that you refer to the
77fact I am in politics opposed to Rhodes. Now, dear little mother, I
78will just shortly tell you the whole story of my relation with Rhodes.
79
80Six years ago in England I first heard much of him from two intimate
81friends of his. He had just given £10, 000 to the Irish cause. He was
82represented to me as a millionaire who was going to devote his life to
83the freeing of the Irish peasant from the landlord, to the education
84and development of the Native races of South Africa, and to the
85benefit of all poor and down-trodden people generally! As painted to
86me, he seemed the ideal of human greatness and one of my great wishes
87was to meet him. Living quietly at Matjesfontein, I had been in Africa
88nearly a year before I met him. It was the beginning of the
89disappointment. As long as he and I talked of books and scenery we
90were very happy, but, when he began on politics and social questions,
91I found out to my astonishment that he had been misrepresented to me;
92especially when we got on the Native Question, we ended by having a
93big fight, and Rhodes getting very angry. All our subsequent meetings
94were of the same kind. I think Rhodes liked me for the same reason
95that I liked him, because of his life and energy, but we never once
96met without a royal fight. I have copies of all the letters I ever
97wrote him, and they are one long passionate endeavour to save him from
98what seemed to me the downward course. I have felt so terribly about
99him, when he was acting in a course that seemed to me most
100disastrously wrong - I have gone out of the House of Parliament when
101he was speaking, and written a note and hired a boy to take it over,
102imploring him to abstain from damning his own soul as it seemed to me
103he was doing. With all his genius, with all his beautiful wonderful
104gifts, to see it going so!
105
106A little time after this I gave up all political hope of Rhodes. It
107was an affair with Logan and Sivewright and Government ground and
108other public matters, and it would take too long to explain, but there
109came a day when Rhodes and Sivewright were on the Matjesfontein
110railway station; we had a talk, and my disappointment at Rhodes’
111action was so great that when both he and Sivewright came forward to
112shake hands, I turned on my heel and went to my house. Some days after,
113 Rhodes passed and called as usual to see me. I heard him knocking at
114the door but did not open it. Some time after, ^This is four years ago now^
115I went to Town and he invited me to dinner but I declined. He then
116gave Mr. Sauer (who was then his closest friend and who used to drive
117home with him in his trap every night) a message to me, asking me what
118was the matter. I told Sauer to tell him that in political matters I
119was absolutely opposed to him, and was going to fight him on every
120point. He twice invited me to his house again, but I refused both
121invitations. I have never seen him to speak to since, and only bowed
122to him last year when he and Will were in Kimberley.
123
124Now, dear little Mother, this all happened long before I ever met Cron
125or knew that such a person existed: how then can he have had anything
126to do with my political opposition to Rhodes?
127
128So far from my having opposed Rhodes more since I was married, it is
129only the last two years that I have taken no part or interest in
130political life, and, except that one little pamphlet on the political
131situation, I have not touched politics. Four years ago I did all that
132lay in my power to induce Sauer and Innes to leave Rhodes and come out
133of the Ministry. I was most active in my opposition to him then; since
134I was married I have said or done nothing with, regard to Rhodes.
135Since Jameson’s Raid I have had letters from papers asking me to write
136and send wires containing my views, I could have made much money, of
137which I am in need. But I attacked Rhodes frankly and fearlessly and
138endlessly when he was in power, and therefore I can afford to be quiet
139now. So far from hating Rhodes I have the greatest sympathy with him
140in many directions. With regard to religion and many other matters I
141am deeply in accord with him, while, with regard to politics and
142public life generally, I am as absolutely opposed to him, and
143therefore must always combat him; and I believe that Rhodes recognizes
144the sincerity of my attitude towards him. In the last week of this
145December he sent a message to me through Mr. Sauer, that when he was
146in Kimberley he had ridden past my house, and wanted to come and see
147me, but he felt he would not be welcome. So far from my having hatred
148towards him, there are few men in the world for whom I have such
149intense sympathy. Surely, my dear little Mother, you can distinguish
150between personal feeling and political opinions. Have they anything to
151do with each other?
152
153As far as Cron goes, how can he be actuated by personal feelings, when
154he has never even been introduced to Rhodes, and knows nothing of him
155but his political career?
156
157I have never read to Cron the things you have said of him in your
158letters to me. He has loved you so whole-heartedly and loyally that I
159couldn’t wound him so. Never in one instance has he said one little
160disloyal or unloving word of kith or kin of mine. He still feels anger
161against a woman because she dared to discuss Will personally in his
162presence. And for you he has a curious veneration and love. When Miss
163Molteno went to see you she wrote: “Your little mother is just as
164beautiful and geniusful as your husband described her.” If he had ever
165said one little word or done one little thing ungenerous towards you I
166could tell him what you say of him, but I can’t wound another person
167so. Whatever your views with regard to politics or religion, it would
168make no atom of difference to us. Cron’s favourite brother is strongly
169against the Transvaal Government and for the Chartered Company, but do
170you think that makes any difference in our feeling towards him? Do you
171think that I could love you one dot more if you were on our side in
172this matter? Do you think I would ever care one straw what your
173political opinions were?
174
175I have written this long letter, my little Mother, because I want you
176to know that at least on my side the political views of my friends
177make no difference! One of my dearest friends is a niece of an Irish
178landowner. She says she wishes Ireland could be put under the sea and
179all the Irish drowned; I would give my life for the Irish peasants! Is
180the fact that we differ so bitterly on this one point any reason why
181we should not be close friends on the number of subjects on which we
182do agree? Need we always bring up the Irish Question? Life to me would
183not be worth living it I felt my love grow less to my friends on
184account of their views with regard to public persons and political
185situations. Because I know my dear old Theo is on the other side I am
186careful never to mention politics when I write to him, just as I avoid
187religion with friends who do not share my religious views.
188
189Goodbye, my own little Mothie. You must not mind if I don’t refer to
190politics again.
191
192Your little daughter,
193Olive.
194
Notation
Although in Olive Schreiner's hand-writing, this letter is in fact a copy of a letter she sent to Rebecca Schreiner, which she made because of the family controversies concerned. Orignally, it was in an envelope with, on its front, also in Schreiner's hand-writing, 'Letters to Ettie & Mother about Rhodes'. The companion letter-copy is a letter to Ettie Stakesby-Lewsis of 25 May 1896 - see Life/5.
Although in Olive Schreiner's hand-writing, this letter is in fact a copy of a letter she sent to Rebecca Schreiner, which she made because of the family controversies concerned. Orignally, it was in an envelope with, on its front, also in Schreiner's hand-writing, 'Letters to Ettie & Mother about Rhodes'. The companion letter-copy is a letter to Ettie Stakesby-Lewsis of 25 May 1896 - see Life/5.
Letter Reference | Life/3 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 5 November 1909 |
Address From | na |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner (1924) The Life…: 156 |
Permissions | Please read before using or citing this transcription |
Legend |
When Cronwright-Schreiner wrote The Life of Olive Schreiner, he included a small number of largely complete letters which do not appear in The Letters, then destroyed them. They are included here for sake of completeness. However, when Schreiner’s originals can be compared against his versions, his have omissions, distortions and bowdlerisations. Consequently the relationship of these letters embedded in The Life... to what Schreiner originally wrote cannot be gauged, and they should therefore be read with caution. Cronwright-Schreiner provides the date of this letter and the name of its addressee, while its beginning and end are not provided.
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1Yes, Chapman & Hall did send my MS. back to me, and Chapman asked me
2to call and see him. When I came he said he wanted to publish the book,
3 but he wanted me to make an alteration in it, just to put in a few
4sentences saying that Lyndall was really secretly married to that man,
5as if she wasn’t married to him the British public would think it
6wicked, and Smiths, the railway booksellers, would not put it on their
7stalls! Of course I got in a rage and told him he could leave the book
8alone, and I would take it elsewhere. He climbed down at once, and
9said it was only out of consideration for me; I was young, and people
10would think I was not respectable if I wrote such a book, but of
11course if I insisted on saying she was not married to him it must be
12so. He certainly never mentioned his reader in this matter; and I
13can’t believe Meredith, who was an artist, would ever have made the
14suggestion to Chapman.
15
2to call and see him. When I came he said he wanted to publish the book,
3 but he wanted me to make an alteration in it, just to put in a few
4sentences saying that Lyndall was really secretly married to that man,
5as if she wasn’t married to him the British public would think it
6wicked, and Smiths, the railway booksellers, would not put it on their
7stalls! Of course I got in a rage and told him he could leave the book
8alone, and I would take it elsewhere. He climbed down at once, and
9said it was only out of consideration for me; I was young, and people
10would think I was not respectable if I wrote such a book, but of
11course if I insisted on saying she was not married to him it must be
12so. He certainly never mentioned his reader in this matter; and I
13can’t believe Meredith, who was an artist, would ever have made the
14suggestion to Chapman.
15
Notation
The manuscript referred to concerns The Story of An African Farm.
The manuscript referred to concerns The Story of An African Farm.
Letter Reference | Life/2 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 1909 |
Address From | na |
Address To | |
Who To | Westminster Gazette |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner (1924) The Life…: 155-6 |
Permissions | Please read before using or citing this transcription |
Legend |
When Cronwright-Schreiner wrote The Life of Olive Schreiner, he included a small number of largely complete letters which do not appear in The Letters, then destroyed them. They are included here for sake of completeness. However, when Schreiner’s originals can be compared against his versions, his have omissions, distortions and bowdlerisations. Consequently the relationship of these letters embedded in The Life... to what Schreiner originally wrote cannot be gauged, and they should therefore be read with caution. Cronwright-Schreiner provides the date of this open letter and the name of its addressee. The beginning and end of this letter have not been provided.
|
1May I state there is no foundation for this statement. I only had the
2honour of meeting Mr. George Meredith once for four or six minutes
3while I was waiting in a publisher’s waiting-room to see the publisher.
4 The person who showed me up said the gentleman there was Mr. George
5Meredith, the firm’s reader. On the table when I went in was an open
6illustrated paper with pictures of the Boer and British Amajuba
7troubles in the Transvaal. As I stood at the table looking at the
8picture the gentleman made some remark to me about it. I was at that
9time feeling very hotly on the matter, and stated my opinion that the
10Boers were a noble race, and had been most unjustly treated by us. To
11my astonishment the gentleman entirely agreed with me, and spoke even
12more warmly than I had done.
13
14When in a few moments a messenger came to tell me the publisher was
15ready to see me, he looked very intently at me and said that he
16presumed that I was a young writer, and that there was one piece of
17advice he always felt compelled to give to young authors - never to
18make any agreement with a publisher without putting down everything in
19black and white, and always to get some friend who was a competent
20business man to make the arrangements for them. I then went out to the
21publishers’ office and never saw Mr. Meredith again. I was unable to
22act on his very valuable advice, as all my business arrangements with
23the publishers were then already completed and the book in their hands.
24
25Not only was my book not mentioned between us, but we referred to no
26literary topic - at that time I knew him only as a publisher’s reader;
27and it was only some time after, when a friend sent me a book of his
28poems, that I found out that he also was a writer. Not only did Mr.
29Meredith not write to me, but I have never seen his handwriting, nor
30has any communication, directly or indirectly, ever passed between us
31except for those few moments.
32
33My book (the original of which I still have) had been so carefully
34prepared by me, before I sent it up to London for the publishers to
35see, that it was published without the omission or addition of one
36sentence, or, I think, of one word or stop.
37
2honour of meeting Mr. George Meredith once for four or six minutes
3while I was waiting in a publisher’s waiting-room to see the publisher.
4 The person who showed me up said the gentleman there was Mr. George
5Meredith, the firm’s reader. On the table when I went in was an open
6illustrated paper with pictures of the Boer and British Amajuba
7troubles in the Transvaal. As I stood at the table looking at the
8picture the gentleman made some remark to me about it. I was at that
9time feeling very hotly on the matter, and stated my opinion that the
10Boers were a noble race, and had been most unjustly treated by us. To
11my astonishment the gentleman entirely agreed with me, and spoke even
12more warmly than I had done.
13
14When in a few moments a messenger came to tell me the publisher was
15ready to see me, he looked very intently at me and said that he
16presumed that I was a young writer, and that there was one piece of
17advice he always felt compelled to give to young authors - never to
18make any agreement with a publisher without putting down everything in
19black and white, and always to get some friend who was a competent
20business man to make the arrangements for them. I then went out to the
21publishers’ office and never saw Mr. Meredith again. I was unable to
22act on his very valuable advice, as all my business arrangements with
23the publishers were then already completed and the book in their hands.
24
25Not only was my book not mentioned between us, but we referred to no
26literary topic - at that time I knew him only as a publisher’s reader;
27and it was only some time after, when a friend sent me a book of his
28poems, that I found out that he also was a writer. Not only did Mr.
29Meredith not write to me, but I have never seen his handwriting, nor
30has any communication, directly or indirectly, ever passed between us
31except for those few moments.
32
33My book (the original of which I still have) had been so carefully
34prepared by me, before I sent it up to London for the publishers to
35see, that it was published without the omission or addition of one
36sentence, or, I think, of one word or stop.
37
Notation
The book referred to is The Story of An African Farm.
The book referred to is The Story of An African Farm.
Letter Reference | Life/1 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 29 September 1879 |
Address From | Lelie Kloof, Eastern Cape |
Address To | |
Who To | Erilda Cawood nee Buckley |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner (1924) The Life…: 137 |
Permissions | Please read before using or citing this transcription |
Legend |
When Cronwright-Schreiner wrote The Life of Olive Schreiner, he included a small number of largely complete letters which do not appear in The Letters, then destroyed them. They are included here for sake of completeness. However, when Schreiner’s originals can be compared against his versions, his have omissions, distortions and bowdlerisations. Consequently the relationship of these letters embedded in The Life... to what Schreiner originally wrote cannot be gauged, and they should therefore be read with caution.
|
1My dear Mrs Cawood,
2
3I have got your letter with the stamps. I wanted you never, never to
4pay for the books; but, as you would not like that now, I will keep
5the money, and when Juta sends the account I will pay for them.
6
7I got a letter from Annie. I did not know whether it would be right to
8answer her: at last I decided not to write, but to send her my
9likeness: I knew you would not like her to be pained; and I do not
10think I did wrong.
11
12I do not at all blame you for not loving me any more. We cannot help
13love’s going, any more than we can help its coming; and when it is
14gone, it is better to say so.
15
16For myself, I have always liked you not for anything you were to me,
17but what you were in yourself, and I feel to you as I have felt from
18the beginning.
19
20Therefore, believe me to remain, if not your friend, one who loves you,
21Olive Schreiner.
22
2
3I have got your letter with the stamps. I wanted you never, never to
4pay for the books; but, as you would not like that now, I will keep
5the money, and when Juta sends the account I will pay for them.
6
7I got a letter from Annie. I did not know whether it would be right to
8answer her: at last I decided not to write, but to send her my
9likeness: I knew you would not like her to be pained; and I do not
10think I did wrong.
11
12I do not at all blame you for not loving me any more. We cannot help
13love’s going, any more than we can help its coming; and when it is
14gone, it is better to say so.
15
16For myself, I have always liked you not for anything you were to me,
17but what you were in yourself, and I feel to you as I have felt from
18the beginning.
19
20Therefore, believe me to remain, if not your friend, one who loves you,
21Olive Schreiner.
22
Notation
Cronwright-Schreiner provides the date of the letter and the address it was sent from. This letter was written in response to the following from Erilda Cawood, dated 25 July 1879 (Cronwright-Schreiner (1924) The Life...: 136-7):
My dear Olive,
I have the less reluctance to write as I now do; because I think, from what you know of me, you are quite prepared for what I have to say. I no longer love you, and cannot act hypocritically. If you needed friends, I could not have allowed my heart to turn against you. You are rich in intellectual, influential friends. And I am quite sure you only valued my acquaintance because you thought I loved you. And I have loved you, at times with an almost idolatrous love. I have sometimes felt it in my heart to say, Olive Schreiner I love you so, that for your sake I could become anything. That is why God in His goodness and wisdom used you as a means to show me what an awful soul-destroying thing freethinking is. You know, I have often told you I can only learn through my affections.
I must tell you I am not alone in what I now feel. Richard and I have both, while pointing out to the children that they owe you gratitude, told them that you are God’s enemy and that they cannot love God and you at the same time. I tell you this, so that you shall be spared the pain and humiliation of expecting more from them, than they have been taught to give.
You know Olive, if I were a free thinker I should be a much prouder one than you are. I would never be able to accept hospitality and kindness from Christians, knowing, that if they knew me as I really was, they would fly from me, affrighted. You will say, why did I accept help and friendship and kindness from you, then? The reason is I really did not know what freethinking was till you taught me.
Yours truly,
Erilda Cawood
Cronwright-Schreiner provides the date of the letter and the address it was sent from. This letter was written in response to the following from Erilda Cawood, dated 25 July 1879 (Cronwright-Schreiner (1924) The Life...: 136-7):
My dear Olive,
I have the less reluctance to write as I now do; because I think, from what you know of me, you are quite prepared for what I have to say. I no longer love you, and cannot act hypocritically. If you needed friends, I could not have allowed my heart to turn against you. You are rich in intellectual, influential friends. And I am quite sure you only valued my acquaintance because you thought I loved you. And I have loved you, at times with an almost idolatrous love. I have sometimes felt it in my heart to say, Olive Schreiner I love you so, that for your sake I could become anything. That is why God in His goodness and wisdom used you as a means to show me what an awful soul-destroying thing freethinking is. You know, I have often told you I can only learn through my affections.
I must tell you I am not alone in what I now feel. Richard and I have both, while pointing out to the children that they owe you gratitude, told them that you are God’s enemy and that they cannot love God and you at the same time. I tell you this, so that you shall be spared the pain and humiliation of expecting more from them, than they have been taught to give.
You know Olive, if I were a free thinker I should be a much prouder one than you are. I would never be able to accept hospitality and kindness from Christians, knowing, that if they knew me as I really was, they would fly from me, affrighted. You will say, why did I accept help and friendship and kindness from you, then? The reason is I really did not know what freethinking was till you taught me.
Yours truly,
Erilda Cawood
Letter Reference | Letters/340 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 14 February 1889 |
Address From | Mentone, France |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 155 |
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.
2Mentone, 14th Feb.
3
4I often - no, I don't often, but I did just now - wonder what all my
5work would be like when it is done. It's funny how one works on
6blindly in the dark, following an instinct, never knowing what one's
7work will be like. It's really not stranger than when bees make their
8nests; it's exactly the same thing. ... I am going to dedicate my sex
9growth book to you, I think. I'll never leave off loving you.
10
2Mentone, 14th Feb.
3
4I often - no, I don't often, but I did just now - wonder what all my
5work would be like when it is done. It's funny how one works on
6blindly in the dark, following an instinct, never knowing what one's
7work will be like. It's really not stranger than when bees make their
8nests; it's exactly the same thing. ... I am going to dedicate my sex
9growth book to you, I think. I'll never leave off loving you.
10
Notation
The ‘sex growth book’ was never completed as such, but finally eventuated in Woman and Labour.
The ‘sex growth book’ was never completed as such, but finally eventuated in Woman and Labour.
Letter Reference | Letters/339 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 10 February 1889 |
Address From | Mentone, France |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 155 |
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.
2Mentone, 10th Feb.
3
4I am getting strong like I used to be at the Cape. I am somewhat
5curious to know if I could keep it up in England, or if the first
6twenty-four hours there will reduce me to my maudlin sympathetic
7condition. It's easy to be strong when there's no one you think it
8your duty to love.
9
2Mentone, 10th Feb.
3
4I am getting strong like I used to be at the Cape. I am somewhat
5curious to know if I could keep it up in England, or if the first
6twenty-four hours there will reduce me to my maudlin sympathetic
7condition. It's easy to be strong when there's no one you think it
8your duty to love.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/338 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 9 February 1889 |
Address From | Mentone, France |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 154-5 |
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.
2Mentone, 9th Feb.
3
4I've a little Dream about Poet and Thinker. It's good, at least true. .
5.. This house is full of prostitutes. No one talks anything but French
6at the table and the conversation is too awful for words. I profess
7not to understand, and I don't when people talk in such a way, but I
8can gather what it is. Something like in the worst of Zola's novels.
9The woman who sits next to me is a very pretty woman of thirty. I
10fancy I might get a little power over her at last; at first she made
11fun of me and made all the men say rude things to me; now, according
12to her orders, they all bow to me, and she's always trying to please
13me. I feel affectionate to her. She's just about the same kind as Nana,
14 but I see what old Zola couldn't see, that she's yet a woman. This is
15a low hotel; no respectable people come here, and no English. Don't
16say much about it in your letters because they might open them, and
17then come up and murder me. I'm at the very top of the house.
18
2Mentone, 9th Feb.
3
4I've a little Dream about Poet and Thinker. It's good, at least true. .
5.. This house is full of prostitutes. No one talks anything but French
6at the table and the conversation is too awful for words. I profess
7not to understand, and I don't when people talk in such a way, but I
8can gather what it is. Something like in the worst of Zola's novels.
9The woman who sits next to me is a very pretty woman of thirty. I
10fancy I might get a little power over her at last; at first she made
11fun of me and made all the men say rude things to me; now, according
12to her orders, they all bow to me, and she's always trying to please
13me. I feel affectionate to her. She's just about the same kind as Nana,
14 but I see what old Zola couldn't see, that she's yet a woman. This is
15a low hotel; no respectable people come here, and no English. Don't
16say much about it in your letters because they might open them, and
17then come up and murder me. I'm at the very top of the house.
18
Notation
The ‘little Dream’ about the 'Poet and Thinker' appears as 'They heard...' in Stories, Dreams and Allegories.
The ‘little Dream’ about the 'Poet and Thinker' appears as 'They heard...' in Stories, Dreams and Allegories.
Letter Reference | Letters/337 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 5 February 1889 |
Address From | Mentone, France |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 154; Rive 1987: 150 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Mentone, 5th Feb.
3
4Harry Boy, it's a lovely morning, I'm going to work, but am shuffling
5out of it for a few minutes by writing to you. I'm in a hurry for your
6Criminal book to be done. Yesterday I was reading in my Zoology (that
7fertile source of ideas) and looking at the diagram of the nervous
8system in vertebrates and invertebrates. Well - a new definition of
9genius, artistic genius at least. People of genius are those
10individuals in whom the sympathetic or instinctive nervous system is
11particularly well developed, or, rather, combined with that
12intellectual cerebro-spinal system peculiar to the higher vertebrate
13in a peculiar way. They are both highly developed and both strongly
14act on one another in case of artistic, and, I think, all genius. The
15man in whom the brain system alone is great and active is a man of
16talent, a thinker but not an artist. The man in whom the sensory
17automatic sympathetic system of abdominal nerves alone is highly
18developed and active is a fool. In the great artist his brain governs
19but his sympathetic system does the work, artistic work. This is why,
20after artistic or in any way creative work, your back gets tired, not
21your head - Don't you see, the sympathetic system has to pass through
22all the stages that your brain, which. has the power of overlooking
23them, may become cognisant of them. The brain seizes and guides. and
24chronicles the sympathetic system for its own purposes, as an artist.
25But it can't guide more than a very little way; it mustn't interfere
26when the thing is working; or it spoils all. What is called
27inspiration is somehow explainable in this direction. I haven't got
28the true theory, but I know I don't do any of my best work in my brain,
29 by the process that is called thinking. It is as little thinking as
30your pinching my finger and my feeling it is thinking. I have millions
31of ideas always coming into my head that I would like to brood over
32and work out if life were longer.
33
2Mentone, 5th Feb.
3
4Harry Boy, it's a lovely morning, I'm going to work, but am shuffling
5out of it for a few minutes by writing to you. I'm in a hurry for your
6Criminal book to be done. Yesterday I was reading in my Zoology (that
7fertile source of ideas) and looking at the diagram of the nervous
8system in vertebrates and invertebrates. Well - a new definition of
9genius, artistic genius at least. People of genius are those
10individuals in whom the sympathetic or instinctive nervous system is
11particularly well developed, or, rather, combined with that
12intellectual cerebro-spinal system peculiar to the higher vertebrate
13in a peculiar way. They are both highly developed and both strongly
14act on one another in case of artistic, and, I think, all genius. The
15man in whom the brain system alone is great and active is a man of
16talent, a thinker but not an artist. The man in whom the sensory
17automatic sympathetic system of abdominal nerves alone is highly
18developed and active is a fool. In the great artist his brain governs
19but his sympathetic system does the work, artistic work. This is why,
20after artistic or in any way creative work, your back gets tired, not
21your head - Don't you see, the sympathetic system has to pass through
22all the stages that your brain, which. has the power of overlooking
23them, may become cognisant of them. The brain seizes and guides. and
24chronicles the sympathetic system for its own purposes, as an artist.
25But it can't guide more than a very little way; it mustn't interfere
26when the thing is working; or it spoils all. What is called
27inspiration is somehow explainable in this direction. I haven't got
28the true theory, but I know I don't do any of my best work in my brain,
29 by the process that is called thinking. It is as little thinking as
30your pinching my finger and my feeling it is thinking. I have millions
31of ideas always coming into my head that I would like to brood over
32and work out if life were longer.
33
Letter Reference | Letters/336 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 1 February 1889 |
Address From | Mentone, France |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 153 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Mentone, 1st Feb.
3
4Havelock, I am so well and happy I can't understand it. It feels as if
5I don't mind anything; not anything anyone could say or do. I suppose
6it's my work makes me so happy. You know there's one little line in my
7Prelude, not in what you saw, that I love so. When you read it you
8must guess which it is. If you don't find out I shan't ever love you
9because it is the most beautiful thing I ever saw. It surprised me so
10when I saw it. It's a tiny thing. ... I wanted so much to get into the
11Endell Hospital, but they don't answer me.
12
2Mentone, 1st Feb.
3
4Havelock, I am so well and happy I can't understand it. It feels as if
5I don't mind anything; not anything anyone could say or do. I suppose
6it's my work makes me so happy. You know there's one little line in my
7Prelude, not in what you saw, that I love so. When you read it you
8must guess which it is. If you don't find out I shan't ever love you
9because it is the most beautiful thing I ever saw. It surprised me so
10when I saw it. It's a tiny thing. ... I wanted so much to get into the
11Endell Hospital, but they don't answer me.
12
Notation
The 'Prelude' is to From Man to Man.
The 'Prelude' is to From Man to Man.
Letter Reference | Letters/335 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 19 January 1889 |
Address From | Mentone, France |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 152-3 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Mentone, 19th Jan.
3
4My Havelock, I am writing to you from simple outgoing of the heart
5this afternoon. It's a perfect day, the first like this we've had for
6a long time. I've not been working. I've had too much pain and
7headache, but I'm better this evening. ... I think no one would ever
8understand what I have suffered from my periods the last two years and
9a half. The only time I have quite escaped the agony was when I took
10that opium pill you sent, but I suppose that was chance. You must
11study this matter of women's suffering some day. Something ought to be
12done for us. ... Yes, it's best I go to the Cape, dear. Then after 5
13or 6 years I may come back to Europe. ... Harry, one does get to a
14kind of Heaven at last, a Heaven where one doesn't care.
15
2Mentone, 19th Jan.
3
4My Havelock, I am writing to you from simple outgoing of the heart
5this afternoon. It's a perfect day, the first like this we've had for
6a long time. I've not been working. I've had too much pain and
7headache, but I'm better this evening. ... I think no one would ever
8understand what I have suffered from my periods the last two years and
9a half. The only time I have quite escaped the agony was when I took
10that opium pill you sent, but I suppose that was chance. You must
11study this matter of women's suffering some day. Something ought to be
12done for us. ... Yes, it's best I go to the Cape, dear. Then after 5
13or 6 years I may come back to Europe. ... Harry, one does get to a
14kind of Heaven at last, a Heaven where one doesn't care.
15
Letter Reference | Letters/334 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 7 January 1889 |
Address From | Mentone, France |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 152 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Mentone, 7th Jan.
3
4Is it you putting old Stead up to say I'm like Tolstoy! It's an
5extraordinary thing when there's no man in Europe I hate so much.
6
2Mentone, 7th Jan.
3
4Is it you putting old Stead up to say I'm like Tolstoy! It's an
5extraordinary thing when there's no man in Europe I hate so much.
6
Letter Reference | Letters/333 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 4 January 1889 |
Address From | Mentone, France |
Address To | |
Who To | Isaline Philpot |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 152 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. J. H. Philpot.
2Mentone, 4th Jan.
3
4I've had such a happy day, working all the time. People think I have a
5sad, lonely life, but I believe I'm the happiest person in the world;
6whether my work is artistic or scientific, I feel as if I were in
7Heaven when once I am absolutely in it. The terrible part is to think
8I will ever have to publish it.
9
2Mentone, 4th Jan.
3
4I've had such a happy day, working all the time. People think I have a
5sad, lonely life, but I believe I'm the happiest person in the world;
6whether my work is artistic or scientific, I feel as if I were in
7Heaven when once I am absolutely in it. The terrible part is to think
8I will ever have to publish it.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/332 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 1889 |
Address From | Mentone, France |
Address To | |
Who To | Mary King Roberts |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 151-2; Rive 1987: 145 |
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. Cronwright-Schreiner has provided the year the letter was written in.
|
1To Mrs. Mary King Roberts.
2Mentone.
3
4With regard to my view of the marriage question, it is very simple and
5just what it always has been since I was thirteen and began to form a
6view at all. The one and only ideal is the perfect mental and physical
7life-long union of one man with one woman. That is the only thing
8which for highly developed intellectual natures can consolidate
9marriage. All short of this is more or less a failure, and no legal
10marriage can make a relationship other than impure in which there
11isn’t this union. How we should arrange that this great pure form of
12marriage may be oftenest and most perfectly reached seems to me a
13great problem.
14
2Mentone.
3
4With regard to my view of the marriage question, it is very simple and
5just what it always has been since I was thirteen and began to form a
6view at all. The one and only ideal is the perfect mental and physical
7life-long union of one man with one woman. That is the only thing
8which for highly developed intellectual natures can consolidate
9marriage. All short of this is more or less a failure, and no legal
10marriage can make a relationship other than impure in which there
11isn’t this union. How we should arrange that this great pure form of
12marriage may be oftenest and most perfectly reached seems to me a
13great problem.
14
Letter Reference | Letters/331 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 1889 |
Address From | Mentone, France |
Address To | |
Who To | Mary King Roberts |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 151; Rive 1987: 145 |
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. Cronwright-Schreiner has provided the year the letter was written in.
|
1To Mrs. Mary King Roberts.
2Mentone.
3
4Our first duty is to develop ourselves. Then you are ready for any
5kind of work that comes. The woman who does this is doing more to do
6away with prostitution and the inequalities between man and woman, and
7to make possible a nobler race of human beings, than by all the
8talking and vituperation possible. It is not against man we have to
9fight but-against ourselves within ourselves. We have to rise. ... It
10seems to me you and Dr. Roberts have such an ideally beautiful life
11with one another; there is so much you can give him, and so much he
12can give you. I think marriage is much the highest condition
13physically and mentally, though it is not attainable by many of us in
14the present condition of society. ... To help any woman to be
15independent, that is the real Secret of Freedom. Please don't give up
16your longing to be materially independent because your husband is
17noble and generous; you must be lovers and friends and companions
18right on to the end of your lives, and not sink into the sad old
19groove. It is this which matters, not whether one signs one's name in
20a register or not. ... Please don't mind all I've said in this letter.
21
2Mentone.
3
4Our first duty is to develop ourselves. Then you are ready for any
5kind of work that comes. The woman who does this is doing more to do
6away with prostitution and the inequalities between man and woman, and
7to make possible a nobler race of human beings, than by all the
8talking and vituperation possible. It is not against man we have to
9fight but-against ourselves within ourselves. We have to rise. ... It
10seems to me you and Dr. Roberts have such an ideally beautiful life
11with one another; there is so much you can give him, and so much he
12can give you. I think marriage is much the highest condition
13physically and mentally, though it is not attainable by many of us in
14the present condition of society. ... To help any woman to be
15independent, that is the real Secret of Freedom. Please don't give up
16your longing to be materially independent because your husband is
17noble and generous; you must be lovers and friends and companions
18right on to the end of your lives, and not sink into the sad old
19groove. It is this which matters, not whether one signs one's name in
20a register or not. ... Please don't mind all I've said in this letter.
21
Letter Reference | Letters/330 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 23 December 1888 |
Address From | Mentone, France |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 150 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Mentone, 23rd Dec.
3
4The enclosed is from the Swede. I value the love of people who don't
5know who I am and love me just in an instinctive way because they
6can't help it. ... You will see shortly in the Pall Mall Gazette how I
7do the "damned fine horse"! But you are not to "let on" to anyone that
8it's me.
9
2Mentone, 23rd Dec.
3
4The enclosed is from the Swede. I value the love of people who don't
5know who I am and love me just in an instinctive way because they
6can't help it. ... You will see shortly in the Pall Mall Gazette how I
7do the "damned fine horse"! But you are not to "let on" to anyone that
8it's me.
9
Notation
Schreiner doing 'the damned fine horse' (that is, listing a horse's faults, but then saying it was still damned fine) was her anonymously published review of Pearson's The Ethic of Free Thought. See: "Professor Pearson on the woman's question" Pall Mall Gazette 29 January 1889, p.8; and Karl Pearson (1888) The Ethic of Free Thought and Other Essays London: T. Fisher Unwin.
Schreiner doing 'the damned fine horse' (that is, listing a horse's faults, but then saying it was still damned fine) was her anonymously published review of Pearson's The Ethic of Free Thought. See: "Professor Pearson on the woman's question" Pall Mall Gazette 29 January 1889, p.8; and Karl Pearson (1888) The Ethic of Free Thought and Other Essays London: T. Fisher Unwin.
Letter Reference | Letters/329 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 22 December 1888 |
Address From | Mentone, France |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 149 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Mentone, 22nd Dec.
3
4Don't speak about those Dreams to me. I'm mad enough about it, as it
5is. I wrote the last down dash in a hurry one night, and told Miss
6Müller to send it back to me in proof to re-write. Instead of that she
7prints it just as it is - perfect nonsense - and old Stead takes it
8over! She writes to say she couldn't wait for my proof. Ah, well, the
9will of the gods be done!
10
2Mentone, 22nd Dec.
3
4Don't speak about those Dreams to me. I'm mad enough about it, as it
5is. I wrote the last down dash in a hurry one night, and told Miss
6Müller to send it back to me in proof to re-write. Instead of that she
7prints it just as it is - perfect nonsense - and old Stead takes it
8over! She writes to say she couldn't wait for my proof. Ah, well, the
9will of the gods be done!
10
Notation
The ‘last’ dream in the Woman’s Penny Paper referred to is: "I Thought I Stood" Women's Penny Paper vol 1 no 7, 8 December 1888, p.1; "Once More I Stood" Women's Penny Paper vol 1 no 8, 15 December 1888, p1.
The ‘last’ dream in the Woman’s Penny Paper referred to is: "I Thought I Stood" Women's Penny Paper vol 1 no 7, 8 December 1888, p.1; "Once More I Stood" Women's Penny Paper vol 1 no 8, 15 December 1888, p1.
Letter Reference | Letters/328 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 18 December 1888 |
Address From | Mentone, France |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 149 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Mentone, 18th Dec.
3
4I have quite made up my mind to go to the Cape next winter, but don't
5talk of it; things are never done that are talked of…. I can
6understand everything people say in French now, even when they talk
7fast. Do you know any good natural history books and travels? Those
8are the only two things I like.
9
2Mentone, 18th Dec.
3
4I have quite made up my mind to go to the Cape next winter, but don't
5talk of it; things are never done that are talked of…. I can
6understand everything people say in French now, even when they talk
7fast. Do you know any good natural history books and travels? Those
8are the only two things I like.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/327 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 14 December 1888 |
Address From | Mentone, France |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 149 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Mentone, 14th Dec.
3
4Havelock, don't you know of anything I could take to strengthen my
5nerves? It's no good taking bromide; it simple weakens one yet further.
6 What is given for hysteria? (Awful sensitiveness in lower part of
7body.) Isn't valerian a good thing? ... If I tell you something you
8are not to talk of it to anyone. I'm coming to the Endell Street
9Hospital in May for three months. I must get some hard work which will
10not allow of my thinking or feeling.
11
2Mentone, 14th Dec.
3
4Havelock, don't you know of anything I could take to strengthen my
5nerves? It's no good taking bromide; it simple weakens one yet further.
6 What is given for hysteria? (Awful sensitiveness in lower part of
7body.) Isn't valerian a good thing? ... If I tell you something you
8are not to talk of it to anyone. I'm coming to the Endell Street
9Hospital in May for three months. I must get some hard work which will
10not allow of my thinking or feeling.
11
Letter Reference | Letters/326 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 10 December 1888 |
Address From | Mentone, France |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 149 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Mentone, 10th Dec.
3
4There's a Swede at this hotel who is in love with me. He puts little
5flowers by my plate every day. He's like one of Ibsen s characters. He
6is always talking of the “ideal marriage” and the “ideal wife." He has
7all but proposed to me, and so I am keeping out of his way. He has
8such a beautiful childlike nature. Even a German isn't like that.
9
2Mentone, 10th Dec.
3
4There's a Swede at this hotel who is in love with me. He puts little
5flowers by my plate every day. He's like one of Ibsen s characters. He
6is always talking of the “ideal marriage” and the “ideal wife." He has
7all but proposed to me, and so I am keeping out of his way. He has
8such a beautiful childlike nature. Even a German isn't like that.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/325 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 8 December 1888 |
Address From | Mentone, France |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 148-9 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Mentone, 8th Dec.
3
4It's such a beautiful day here, quite perfect. I wish I could work. I
5ought to, but I have no nerve power. So stupid people always feel. We
6just sit and look in front of us and see nothing, and feel quite happy.
7 ... I went such a superb walk last night up among the olive trees
8beyond the house, and when you get to the top such a view, Monte Carlo
9and Monaco and the great still bay, I watched the sun set behind
10Monaco. Do you remember that poem you sent me? It just expresses what
11Mentone is: “To-day there falls the dear surprise of peace.” Alassio
12is quiet but not peaceful. It's the perfect motionlessness of the sea
13here that gives this wonderful sense of calm. Goodbye, dear. Tell
14Symons I'm going to write him a long letter about his poems, they are
15too good, that is the fault I have to find with them, too much thought,
16 too little feeling, too perfect in form. They are wonderful for so
17young a man. He may be a great writer and a great man, but he will
18never be a great poet. You can tell him this, as I mayn’t be able to
19write for sometime.
20
2Mentone, 8th Dec.
3
4It's such a beautiful day here, quite perfect. I wish I could work. I
5ought to, but I have no nerve power. So stupid people always feel. We
6just sit and look in front of us and see nothing, and feel quite happy.
7 ... I went such a superb walk last night up among the olive trees
8beyond the house, and when you get to the top such a view, Monte Carlo
9and Monaco and the great still bay, I watched the sun set behind
10Monaco. Do you remember that poem you sent me? It just expresses what
11Mentone is: “To-day there falls the dear surprise of peace.” Alassio
12is quiet but not peaceful. It's the perfect motionlessness of the sea
13here that gives this wonderful sense of calm. Goodbye, dear. Tell
14Symons I'm going to write him a long letter about his poems, they are
15too good, that is the fault I have to find with them, too much thought,
16 too little feeling, too perfect in form. They are wonderful for so
17young a man. He may be a great writer and a great man, but he will
18never be a great poet. You can tell him this, as I mayn’t be able to
19write for sometime.
20
Letter Reference | Letters/324 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 29 November 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 148 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 29th Nov.
3
4This house is unhealthy, the doctor says. How splendid it would be to
5have Louie with me for a week, and you. I have been ten days lying
6here, without seeing a human creature whom one could speak to really,
7unable to work, without anything to read - think, think, think. Do, do,
8 do send me something to read. If I could afford to go to one of the
9larger hotels I should soon be well. It was really the house and the
10good food that kept me well at Alassio before.
11
2Alassio, 29th Nov.
3
4This house is unhealthy, the doctor says. How splendid it would be to
5have Louie with me for a week, and you. I have been ten days lying
6here, without seeing a human creature whom one could speak to really,
7unable to work, without anything to read - think, think, think. Do, do,
8 do send me something to read. If I could afford to go to one of the
9larger hotels I should soon be well. It was really the house and the
10good food that kept me well at Alassio before.
11
Letter Reference | Letters/323 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 17 November 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 147-8 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 17th Nov.
3
4I made a little Dream to-day, which I've sent to Miss Muller for her
5paper. Shall send it you. I've got such a curious agony of loneliness
6on me this evening, though I'm writing, as if something terrible were
7hanging over me.
8
2Alassio, 17th Nov.
3
4I made a little Dream to-day, which I've sent to Miss Muller for her
5paper. Shall send it you. I've got such a curious agony of loneliness
6on me this evening, though I'm writing, as if something terrible were
7hanging over me.
8
Notation
The ‘little Dream’ referred to is: "I Thought I Stood" Women's Penny Paper vol 1 no 7, 8 December 1888, p.1; "Once More I Stood" Women's Penny Paper vol 1 no 8, 15 December 1888, p1.
The ‘little Dream’ referred to is: "I Thought I Stood" Women's Penny Paper vol 1 no 7, 8 December 1888, p.1; "Once More I Stood" Women's Penny Paper vol 1 no 8, 15 December 1888, p1.
Letter Reference | Letters/322 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 15 November 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 147 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 15th Nov.
3
4Yes, I get plenty to eat, etc. Yet I stop weak. ... You know either my
5Mary Wollstonecraft is very, very bad or very, very good. I don't know
6which. My story work I always know exactly the value of. You don't
7know what it is I am feeling after and will grasp at last. I'm going
8to think the matter out to myself and then turn it into allegories and
9stories. ... I have had a crime story, two, in my mind for years. In
10one the woman - oh, there's the lunch bell, and I'm so hungry.
11
2Alassio, 15th Nov.
3
4Yes, I get plenty to eat, etc. Yet I stop weak. ... You know either my
5Mary Wollstonecraft is very, very bad or very, very good. I don't know
6which. My story work I always know exactly the value of. You don't
7know what it is I am feeling after and will grasp at last. I'm going
8to think the matter out to myself and then turn it into allegories and
9stories. ... I have had a crime story, two, in my mind for years. In
10one the woman - oh, there's the lunch bell, and I'm so hungry.
11
Notation
‘My Mary Wollstonecraft’ refers to an ‘Introduction’ to a new edition of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Schreiner agreed to write, but which was never completed. A very early draft fragment of it appears in Carolyn Burdett (1994) History Workshop Journal 37: 189-93. See also: Mary Wollstoncraft (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman London: J. Johnson.
‘My Mary Wollstonecraft’ refers to an ‘Introduction’ to a new edition of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Schreiner agreed to write, but which was never completed. A very early draft fragment of it appears in Carolyn Burdett (1994) History Workshop Journal 37: 189-93. See also: Mary Wollstoncraft (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman London: J. Johnson.
Letter Reference | Letters/321 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | November 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Isaline Philpot |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 147 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. J. H. Philpot.
2Alassio (about same time).
3
4When I've finished this book and the next, I'm going to sit on the
5seashore day after day and play with the sand and do nothing else.
6
2Alassio (about same time).
3
4When I've finished this book and the next, I'm going to sit on the
5seashore day after day and play with the sand and do nothing else.
6
Notation
‘This book’ refers to From Man to Man while ‘the next’ cannot be firmly identified because Schreiner had a number of writing plans at this time.
‘This book’ refers to From Man to Man while ‘the next’ cannot be firmly identified because Schreiner had a number of writing plans at this time.
Letter Reference | Letters/320 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 15 November 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Isaline Philpot |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 147 |
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.
|
1To Mrs J. H. Philpot.
2Alassio, 15th Nov.
3
4I wish I could be as well anywhere in England as I am anywhere out of
5it. I was quite well when I lived with my brother in his great warm
6comfortable house, but when I live by myself I seem to break down. I
7can't make it out. ... It's not raining to-day, and I'm going to rush
8about on the sand on the seashore a little. There are no respectable
9people here, it doesn't matter how one dresses; it’s delightful! (My
10bill is only 35s. a week, everything included.)
11
2Alassio, 15th Nov.
3
4I wish I could be as well anywhere in England as I am anywhere out of
5it. I was quite well when I lived with my brother in his great warm
6comfortable house, but when I live by myself I seem to break down. I
7can't make it out. ... It's not raining to-day, and I'm going to rush
8about on the sand on the seashore a little. There are no respectable
9people here, it doesn't matter how one dresses; it’s delightful! (My
10bill is only 35s. a week, everything included.)
11
Letter Reference | Letters/318 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 9 November 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 146 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 9th Nov.
3
4My whole theory is Crime is disease, treat it as disease.
5
2Alassio, 9th Nov.
3
4My whole theory is Crime is disease, treat it as disease.
5
Letter Reference | Letters/319 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 11 November 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 146-7; Rive 1987: 143 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 11th Nov.
3
4I've been working hard at my Mary Wollstonecraft all day. What
5troubles me is that I have too many ideas. You say, why do I spend so
6much time over it? How can I do otherwise? Whatever I write, it must
7be the best I can write, given that time and these circumstances. When
8I die the angel of death will find quite pure in me the power of
9thinking and of seeking that was born in me. I have not once defiled
10it. If I was writing for ten thousand pounds or for three and sixpence,
11 my work would be just the same. Perhaps when it's done you'll wonder
12that it took so long and see nothing in it, but I see. I expect when
13it is done I'll throw it in the fire.
14
2Alassio, 11th Nov.
3
4I've been working hard at my Mary Wollstonecraft all day. What
5troubles me is that I have too many ideas. You say, why do I spend so
6much time over it? How can I do otherwise? Whatever I write, it must
7be the best I can write, given that time and these circumstances. When
8I die the angel of death will find quite pure in me the power of
9thinking and of seeking that was born in me. I have not once defiled
10it. If I was writing for ten thousand pounds or for three and sixpence,
11 my work would be just the same. Perhaps when it's done you'll wonder
12that it took so long and see nothing in it, but I see. I expect when
13it is done I'll throw it in the fire.
14
Notation
‘My Mary Wollstonecraft’ refers to an ‘Introduction’ to a new edition of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Schreiner agreed to write, but which was never completed. A very early draft fragment of it appears in Carolyn Burdett (1994) History Workshop Journal 37: 189-93. See also: Mary Wollstoncraft (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman London: J. Johnson.
‘My Mary Wollstonecraft’ refers to an ‘Introduction’ to a new edition of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Schreiner agreed to write, but which was never completed. A very early draft fragment of it appears in Carolyn Burdett (1994) History Workshop Journal 37: 189-93. See also: Mary Wollstoncraft (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman London: J. Johnson.
Letter Reference | Letters/317 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 7 November 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 146 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 7th Nov.
3
4How splendid your Ibsen Introduction is! The only bad line is about
5Congreve, and I believe it gave you more satisfaction to write than
6all the rest. You simply grunted with satisfaction. ... I feel so
7loving to everyone. I love Mrs. - . I'm going to begin loving everyone
8again. That's the worst of me.
9
2Alassio, 7th Nov.
3
4How splendid your Ibsen Introduction is! The only bad line is about
5Congreve, and I believe it gave you more satisfaction to write than
6all the rest. You simply grunted with satisfaction. ... I feel so
7loving to everyone. I love Mrs. - . I'm going to begin loving everyone
8again. That's the worst of me.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/316 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 2 November 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 144-5; Rive 1987: 142 |
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. Cronwright-Schreiner comments that Olive Schreiner began ‘Ganna’ in the final sentence with an ‘L’, which suggests she was going to write ‘Lelie Kloof’.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 2nd Nov. (second letter).
3
4Please order for me a copy of your Ibsen and send it to my brother
5Fred in time to reach him on the morning of the 7th which is his
6birthday. If you have one of Zola’s novel in French you might send it
7me. I read only to deaden myself and stop myself from thinking;
8puzzling over a difficult French book could not do that. But I must
9learn more French because I am probably going to Paris next year; so
10please send it. … My Mary Wollstonecraft is going on. It is all poetry
11from the first to the last, except a few sentences. There are six or
12seven allegories in it; I’ve tried to keep them out, but I can't. I
13have come to the conclusion that only poetry is truth. That other
14forms are parts of truth, but as soon as a representation has all
15parts, then it is poetry. As soon as there is the form and the spirit,
16the passion and the thought, then there is poetry, or the living
17reality. I don't mean that I attain to true poetry - all I mean is
18that what makes a man strive after and seek to see the thing in that
19way is that it is the reality. It's the other that's fancy and fiction,
20 and this that is real. It's so easy for a mind like mine to produce
21long logical arguments, or strings of assertions, but when I have done
22it I feel, such a “valch” against it: that is only the material; it
23has to be combined and made alive. I know I shall die a beggar in my
24old age. You will have to support me. I shall write slower and slower.
25... I am very happy, as happy quite as I used to be in Ganna Hoek.
26
2Alassio, 2nd Nov. (second letter).
3
4Please order for me a copy of your Ibsen and send it to my brother
5Fred in time to reach him on the morning of the 7th which is his
6birthday. If you have one of Zola’s novel in French you might send it
7me. I read only to deaden myself and stop myself from thinking;
8puzzling over a difficult French book could not do that. But I must
9learn more French because I am probably going to Paris next year; so
10please send it. … My Mary Wollstonecraft is going on. It is all poetry
11from the first to the last, except a few sentences. There are six or
12seven allegories in it; I’ve tried to keep them out, but I can't. I
13have come to the conclusion that only poetry is truth. That other
14forms are parts of truth, but as soon as a representation has all
15parts, then it is poetry. As soon as there is the form and the spirit,
16the passion and the thought, then there is poetry, or the living
17reality. I don't mean that I attain to true poetry - all I mean is
18that what makes a man strive after and seek to see the thing in that
19way is that it is the reality. It's the other that's fancy and fiction,
20 and this that is real. It's so easy for a mind like mine to produce
21long logical arguments, or strings of assertions, but when I have done
22it I feel, such a “valch” against it: that is only the material; it
23has to be combined and made alive. I know I shall die a beggar in my
24old age. You will have to support me. I shall write slower and slower.
25... I am very happy, as happy quite as I used to be in Ganna Hoek.
26
Notation
‘My Mary Wollstonecraft’ refers to an ‘Introduction’ to a new edition of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman which Schreiner agreed to write, but which was never completed. A very early draft fragment of it appears in Carolyn Burdett (1994) History Workshop Journal 37: 189-93. See also: Mary Wollstoncraft (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman London: J. Johnson.
‘My Mary Wollstonecraft’ refers to an ‘Introduction’ to a new edition of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman which Schreiner agreed to write, but which was never completed. A very early draft fragment of it appears in Carolyn Burdett (1994) History Workshop Journal 37: 189-93. See also: Mary Wollstoncraft (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman London: J. Johnson.
Letter Reference | Letters/315 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 2 November 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 144 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 2nd Nov.
3
4I am well and working, don't sometimes remember for two days who I am.
5The being able to breathe makes all the difference. The Kaffir woman
6said God couldn't be good because he made women, but I say because he
7made asthma.
8
2Alassio, 2nd Nov.
3
4I am well and working, don't sometimes remember for two days who I am.
5The being able to breathe makes all the difference. The Kaffir woman
6said God couldn't be good because he made women, but I say because he
7made asthma.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/314 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | October 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Isaline Philpot |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 144 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. J. H. Philpot.
2Alassio, Oct.
3
4All goes splendidly with me. I am working hard and very happy. Nothing
5but work makes life beautiful. I am staying at a cheap little
6out-of-the-way Italian hotel. No English here!! And the servants can't
7even talk French. There's a big neglected garden where I can walk
8about and write. It's much nicer than the other semi-civilised end of
9Alassio. We are quite wild here.
10
2Alassio, Oct.
3
4All goes splendidly with me. I am working hard and very happy. Nothing
5but work makes life beautiful. I am staying at a cheap little
6out-of-the-way Italian hotel. No English here!! And the servants can't
7even talk French. There's a big neglected garden where I can walk
8about and write. It's much nicer than the other semi-civilised end of
9Alassio. We are quite wild here.
10
Letter Reference | Letters/313 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 28 October 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 144 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 28th Oct.
3
4I am very happy and peaceful here. This relief from physical agony is
5so glorious. It's so funny to think you can, all of you, open your
6eyes wide in England and lie down at night just as I can here. Oh, I
7should like to show you Alassio. ... I always knew you would be
8successful, and, success is the one thing you needed. You need a great
9deal of it. It will help you, not hinder, as it does certain meaner
10natures.
11
2Alassio, 28th Oct.
3
4I am very happy and peaceful here. This relief from physical agony is
5so glorious. It's so funny to think you can, all of you, open your
6eyes wide in England and lie down at night just as I can here. Oh, I
7should like to show you Alassio. ... I always knew you would be
8successful, and, success is the one thing you needed. You need a great
9deal of it. It will help you, not hinder, as it does certain meaner
10natures.
11
Letter Reference | Letters/312 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 26 October 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 144 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 26th Oct.
3
4I am working, so of course quite happy.
5
2Alassio, 26th Oct.
3
4I am working, so of course quite happy.
5
Letter Reference | Letters/311 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 22 October 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 143-4 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 22nd Oct.
3
4Mrs. Bland (“E. Nesbit”) was so kind to me before I left London. I
5don’t think I should have got away without her. She came the last
6morning to finish packing my things and see me off. Do you know, she's
7one of the noblest women? I can't tell you about her life, because I
8mustn't, but it's grand. The last night she lay by me on the bed and
9drew me very close to her and pressed her face against mine, and, do
10you know, I have felt it ever since. I am going to get better. ...
11Canon MacColl has written to say Gladstone wants very much to know me.
12
2Alassio, 22nd Oct.
3
4Mrs. Bland (“E. Nesbit”) was so kind to me before I left London. I
5don’t think I should have got away without her. She came the last
6morning to finish packing my things and see me off. Do you know, she's
7one of the noblest women? I can't tell you about her life, because I
8mustn't, but it's grand. The last night she lay by me on the bed and
9drew me very close to her and pressed her face against mine, and, do
10you know, I have felt it ever since. I am going to get better. ...
11Canon MacColl has written to say Gladstone wants very much to know me.
12
Letter Reference | Letters/310 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 18 October 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 143 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 18th Oct.
3
4Dear Havelock boy, I am very loving to you. Please write and tell me
5about work and books and so on, when you have time, and the names of
6really good books when you come across them. ... I have been very ill
7since I left London, but this evening the cough is better and the
8tiredness. You would like this hotel, it is uncivilised and wild. ...
9Harry, isn't it funny to grow old, and have all your life passed,
10nothing in the future?
11
2Alassio, 18th Oct.
3
4Dear Havelock boy, I am very loving to you. Please write and tell me
5about work and books and so on, when you have time, and the names of
6really good books when you come across them. ... I have been very ill
7since I left London, but this evening the cough is better and the
8tiredness. You would like this hotel, it is uncivilised and wild. ...
9Harry, isn't it funny to grow old, and have all your life passed,
10nothing in the future?
11
Letter Reference | Letters/309 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | October 1888 |
Address From | St Albans, Hertfordshire |
Address To | |
Who To | Isaline Philpot |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 142 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. J. H. Philpot.
2St. Albans, Oct.
3
4My chest has been much worse this time in England than it ever was
5before. … I got an old woman at Harpenden to pack my things, but it
6ended in my giving them nearly all to her!
7
8A friend came and brought me here. I don’t know what I should have
9done without her. It’s terrible to think of all the people who must
10die in England this winter because they can’t get away.
11
2St. Albans, Oct.
3
4My chest has been much worse this time in England than it ever was
5before. … I got an old woman at Harpenden to pack my things, but it
6ended in my giving them nearly all to her!
7
8A friend came and brought me here. I don’t know what I should have
9done without her. It’s terrible to think of all the people who must
10die in England this winter because they can’t get away.
11
Letter Reference | Letters/308 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 7 October 1888 |
Address From | 25 Montagu Street, Camden, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 142 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
225, Montagu St., W.C., 7th Oct.
3
4You know I love you, but my power of expressing any feeling but pity
5is gone. There isn’t one human being to whom I feel that tender
6outflowing of love I used to feel to all the world. If you can come on
7Wednesday afternoon we can have a nice cosy talk before the fire, and
8tea, and, if you like, I’ll ask Alice Corthorn, and, if you like,
9Louie can come too, it would be nice to have a long talk together.
10It’s just possible I may start Wednesday morning.
11
225, Montagu St., W.C., 7th Oct.
3
4You know I love you, but my power of expressing any feeling but pity
5is gone. There isn’t one human being to whom I feel that tender
6outflowing of love I used to feel to all the world. If you can come on
7Wednesday afternoon we can have a nice cosy talk before the fire, and
8tea, and, if you like, I’ll ask Alice Corthorn, and, if you like,
9Louie can come too, it would be nice to have a long talk together.
10It’s just possible I may start Wednesday morning.
11
Letter Reference | Letters/307 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 5 October 1888 |
Address From | Harpenden, Hertfordshire |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 142 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harpenden, 5th Oct.
3
4Louie was, as she always is, so splendid, and I was so horrid. Come
5and see me early in the morning. I feel so loving to you, I wish you
6would all come and live in town.
7
2Harpenden, 5th Oct.
3
4Louie was, as she always is, so splendid, and I was so horrid. Come
5and see me early in the morning. I feel so loving to you, I wish you
6would all come and live in town.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/306 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 3 October 1888 |
Address From | Harpenden, Hertfordshire |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 142 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harpenden, 3rd Oct. (second letter).
3
4Oh, it is awful to be a woman. These women are killing me. Give my
5love to Louie, but I don’t want to see her or any other woman. I want
6to live alone, alone, alone. I don’t say the fault is not in myself,
7but they are doing it all the same. When I am in Italy I needn’t open
8any letters they write me, eh? Old Chapman has offered me £100 for
9African Farm for two and a half years. I must take it to escape abroad.
10 I wonder if I shall ever come back to England among these women again.
11 One must die at last, eh Harry? Oh, please see that they bury me in a
12place where there are no women. I’ve not been a woman really, though
13I’ve seemed like one.
14
2Harpenden, 3rd Oct. (second letter).
3
4Oh, it is awful to be a woman. These women are killing me. Give my
5love to Louie, but I don’t want to see her or any other woman. I want
6to live alone, alone, alone. I don’t say the fault is not in myself,
7but they are doing it all the same. When I am in Italy I needn’t open
8any letters they write me, eh? Old Chapman has offered me £100 for
9African Farm for two and a half years. I must take it to escape abroad.
10 I wonder if I shall ever come back to England among these women again.
11 One must die at last, eh Harry? Oh, please see that they bury me in a
12place where there are no women. I’ve not been a woman really, though
13I’ve seemed like one.
14
Letter Reference | Letters/305 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 3 October 1888 |
Address From | Harpenden, Hertfordshire |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 141 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harpenden, 3rd Oct.
3
4I have bronchitis. I am very ill. If I am not better to-morrow I must
5get someone from London to take care of me and help me pack. Would
6Louie or Laura care to come? Wire reply, and I will wire whether I am
7better or not. You will promise me not to press it. I can get a nurse,
8and there is an old woman here will do all the real work, but I feel
9helpless. Wire to Symons can’t come to-morrow.
10
2Harpenden, 3rd Oct.
3
4I have bronchitis. I am very ill. If I am not better to-morrow I must
5get someone from London to take care of me and help me pack. Would
6Louie or Laura care to come? Wire reply, and I will wire whether I am
7better or not. You will promise me not to press it. I can get a nurse,
8and there is an old woman here will do all the real work, but I feel
9helpless. Wire to Symons can’t come to-morrow.
10
Letter Reference | Letters/304 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 14 September 1888 |
Address From | Harpenden, Hertfordshire |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 141 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harpenden, 14th Sept.
3
4My sex book would do for your Science Series. It is a purely
5scientific collection of facts. But it can't be done for two years
6more, at least. I think it will be very good. ... Will you send me all
7Heine's poems? I will take care of them. I love them so. You must read
8Scherer's History of German Literature, most fascinating.
9
2Harpenden, 14th Sept.
3
4My sex book would do for your Science Series. It is a purely
5scientific collection of facts. But it can't be done for two years
6more, at least. I think it will be very good. ... Will you send me all
7Heine's poems? I will take care of them. I love them so. You must read
8Scherer's History of German Literature, most fascinating.
9
Notation
The ‘sex book’ finally eventuated as Woman and Labour.
The ‘sex book’ finally eventuated as Woman and Labour.
Letter Reference | Letters/303 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 13 September 1888 |
Address From | Harpenden, Hertfordshire |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 141 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harpenden, 13th Sept.
3
4You can come and see me if ever you feel inclined. Tell me the day
5before, so that we can have a nice duck. ... I am working hard. When I
6die you can have a post-mortem and open my brain, and then you'll see
7how I’ve suffered all these years.
8
2Harpenden, 13th Sept.
3
4You can come and see me if ever you feel inclined. Tell me the day
5before, so that we can have a nice duck. ... I am working hard. When I
6die you can have a post-mortem and open my brain, and then you'll see
7how I’ve suffered all these years.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/302 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 13 September 1888 |
Address From | Harpenden, Hertfordshire |
Address To | |
Who To | Isaline Philpot |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 141 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. J. H. Philpot.
2Harpenden, 13th Sept.
3
4Don't trouble about it at all, dear friend. I am perhaps morbidly
5sensitive about saying anything of anyone else. It is perhaps because
6I myself suffer so much; I don't I think others do suffer so, because
7their natures often show them to justify themselves when mine does not.
8
2Harpenden, 13th Sept.
3
4Don't trouble about it at all, dear friend. I am perhaps morbidly
5sensitive about saying anything of anyone else. It is perhaps because
6I myself suffer so much; I don't I think others do suffer so, because
7their natures often show them to justify themselves when mine does not.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/301 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 9 September 1888 |
Address From | Harpenden, Hertfordshire |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 141 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harpenden, 9th Sept.
3
4Will you please send one copy of The Woman's World, with my thing
5marked, to Stead at the Pall Mall office, writing on the outside “From
6Olive Schreiner"?
7
2Harpenden, 9th Sept.
3
4Will you please send one copy of The Woman's World, with my thing
5marked, to Stead at the Pall Mall office, writing on the outside “From
6Olive Schreiner"?
7
Notation
‘My thing’ in the Woman’s World is likely to be: "I Thought I Stood" Women's Penny Paper vol 1 no 7, 8 December 1888, p.1; "Once More I Stood" Women's Penny Paper vol 1 no 8, 15 December 1888, p1.
‘My thing’ in the Woman’s World is likely to be: "I Thought I Stood" Women's Penny Paper vol 1 no 7, 8 December 1888, p.1; "Once More I Stood" Women's Penny Paper vol 1 no 8, 15 December 1888, p1.
Letter Reference | Letters/300 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 5 September 1888 |
Address From | Harpenden, Hertfordshire |
Address To | |
Who To | Isaline Philpot |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 140 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. J. H. Philpot.
2Harpenden, 5th Sept.
3
4How stupid people are that they can't understand that, just because
5one feels that that complete union of mind and body, one man to one
6woman, is the only ideally perfect thing, therefore one hates all that
7is false and like such union only in seeming.
8
2Harpenden, 5th Sept.
3
4How stupid people are that they can't understand that, just because
5one feels that that complete union of mind and body, one man to one
6woman, is the only ideally perfect thing, therefore one hates all that
7is false and like such union only in seeming.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/299 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 2 September 1888 |
Address From | London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 140 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2London, 2nd Sept.
3
4I've come in to get books and see Dr. Wilks but he's out of town. ...
5I've been reading Madame Bovary; I detest it, beautifully as it is
6written.
7
2London, 2nd Sept.
3
4I've come in to get books and see Dr. Wilks but he's out of town. ...
5I've been reading Madame Bovary; I detest it, beautifully as it is
6written.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/298 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | August 1888 |
Address From | London Institution, Finsbury Circus, City, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Isaline Philpot |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 140 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. J. H. Philpot.
2London Institution, Finsbury Circus, Aug.
3
4It will be many years before either of my books are ready, I think. My
5big scientific book will take me five or six years; my work widens and
6widens out before me, and it isn't the getting done that's beautiful,
7it’s the working and the learning more.
8
2London Institution, Finsbury Circus, Aug.
3
4It will be many years before either of my books are ready, I think. My
5big scientific book will take me five or six years; my work widens and
6widens out before me, and it isn't the getting done that's beautiful,
7it’s the working and the learning more.
8
Notation
The two books referred to are Schreiner's 'sex book' which finally eventuated as Woman and Labour and From Man to Man.
The two books referred to are Schreiner's 'sex book' which finally eventuated as Woman and Labour and From Man to Man.
Letter Reference | Letters/297 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | August 1888 |
Address From | Harpenden, Hertfordshire |
Address To | |
Who To | Isaline Philpot |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 140 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. J. H. Philpot.
2Harpenden, Aug.
3
4A little allegory is coming out in next month's Woman’s World. It’s
5not a good one, yet I love it almost best of all. I think I showed it
6you once. I only publish it because a friend wishes it. I make
7allegories every day almost, but I never want to publish them; they
8seem to me things that are for one self, and one self only, like one’s
9deepest personal feelings.
10
2Harpenden, Aug.
3
4A little allegory is coming out in next month's Woman’s World. It’s
5not a good one, yet I love it almost best of all. I think I showed it
6you once. I only publish it because a friend wishes it. I make
7allegories every day almost, but I never want to publish them; they
8seem to me things that are for one self, and one self only, like one’s
9deepest personal feelings.
10
Notation
For the 'little allegory', see: "I Thought I Stood" Women's Penny Paper vol 1 no 7, 8 December 1888, p.1; "Once More I Stood" Women's Penny Paper vol 1 no 8, 15 December 1888, p1.
For the 'little allegory', see: "I Thought I Stood" Women's Penny Paper vol 1 no 7, 8 December 1888, p.1; "Once More I Stood" Women's Penny Paper vol 1 no 8, 15 December 1888, p1.
Letter Reference | Letters/296 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 26 August 1888 |
Address From | Chertsey, Surrey |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 140 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Chertsey, 26th Aug.
3
4It comforts me so that you say you love me a little. My brain and my
5body are breaking down together, and I am so humbly grateful to anyone
6who saves me a little.
7
2Chertsey, 26th Aug.
3
4It comforts me so that you say you love me a little. My brain and my
5body are breaking down together, and I am so humbly grateful to anyone
6who saves me a little.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/295 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 23 August 1888 |
Address From | Chertsey, Surrey |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 139-40 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Chertsey, 23rd Aug.
3
4I send my love to you. Work hard, get on, be strong. When once we lose
5our strength there is nothing in life worth living for. All good be
6with you, darling. I don’t write to you about myself, I should but
7write sadly. Your little sister.
8
2Chertsey, 23rd Aug.
3
4I send my love to you. Work hard, get on, be strong. When once we lose
5our strength there is nothing in life worth living for. All good be
6with you, darling. I don’t write to you about myself, I should but
7write sadly. Your little sister.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/294 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 21 August 1888 |
Address From | Chertsey, Surrey |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 139 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Chertsey, 21st Aug.
3
4I am going out to Alassio the end of next month, I think. I see
5they've got a nice little earthquake there.
6
2Chertsey, 21st Aug.
3
4I am going out to Alassio the end of next month, I think. I see
5they've got a nice little earthquake there.
6
Letter Reference | Letters/293 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 19 August 1888 |
Address From | Chertsey, Surrey |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 139 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Chertsey, 19th Aug.
3
4Last night I woke up crying, and it seemed to me something was the
5matter with you. I always wake up crying in the night, but generally I
6don't know what is the matter with me. Are you well, dear? ... You
7have suffered so much, my Havelock. Only I can't quite understand that
8anyone should ever have suffered about me. I can understand that
9people should respect and admire me, but not that they love me. But
10you did once, and we all must let love die. ... I am longing very much
11to get out of England, but I have yet no money, and I don't quite know
12where to go. ... I want to have you here for a whole day to myself
13before I go, and I want to cook you a nice dinner. You must once in
14your life eat a real dinner I've cooked!
15
2Chertsey, 19th Aug.
3
4Last night I woke up crying, and it seemed to me something was the
5matter with you. I always wake up crying in the night, but generally I
6don't know what is the matter with me. Are you well, dear? ... You
7have suffered so much, my Havelock. Only I can't quite understand that
8anyone should ever have suffered about me. I can understand that
9people should respect and admire me, but not that they love me. But
10you did once, and we all must let love die. ... I am longing very much
11to get out of England, but I have yet no money, and I don't quite know
12where to go. ... I want to have you here for a whole day to myself
13before I go, and I want to cook you a nice dinner. You must once in
14your life eat a real dinner I've cooked!
15
Letter Reference | Letters/292 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 5 August 1888 |
Address From | Chertsey, Surrey |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 139 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Chertsey, Near Woking Station, 5th Aug.
3
4I'm going to try to want to work. It's so lovely to make stories and
5so hideous to write them. ... You ought not to have put that unkind
6sentence about Miss - . You ought to change it if not too late. We
7mustn't hurt other people. Life is such awful agony.
8
2Chertsey, Near Woking Station, 5th Aug.
3
4I'm going to try to want to work. It's so lovely to make stories and
5so hideous to write them. ... You ought not to have put that unkind
6sentence about Miss - . You ought to change it if not too late. We
7mustn't hurt other people. Life is such awful agony.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/291 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 19 July 1888 |
Address From | Harpenden, Hertfordshire |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 138 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harpenden, 19th July.
3
4I have been reading your Ibsen essay. It is nearly quite perfect. It
5is the first thing of yours I have read so absorbingly interesting I
6could not lay it down. You will develop into the first biographer of
7the age yet; you have the insight and sympathy necessary, and the
8width. ... I want to go down to that most beautiful of wild places one
9day this week or next - Woking - for the day, to look for a cottage.
10Would you be able or care to meet me there, and we might have a little
11picnic on the heather, as I and Carpenter had. It is much the nicest
12part of England I've seen.
13
2Harpenden, 19th July.
3
4I have been reading your Ibsen essay. It is nearly quite perfect. It
5is the first thing of yours I have read so absorbingly interesting I
6could not lay it down. You will develop into the first biographer of
7the age yet; you have the insight and sympathy necessary, and the
8width. ... I want to go down to that most beautiful of wild places one
9day this week or next - Woking - for the day, to look for a cottage.
10Would you be able or care to meet me there, and we might have a little
11picnic on the heather, as I and Carpenter had. It is much the nicest
12part of England I've seen.
13
Letter Reference | Letters/290 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 7 July 1888 |
Address From | Harpenden, Hertfordshire |
Address To | |
Who To | Isaline Philpot |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 137 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. J. H. Philpot.
2Harpenden, 7th July.
3
4I'll like best of all a tiny workman's cottage unfurnished. I dare say
5that wouldn't be easy to get, and I'll have to take rooms. I want to
6have some place of my own, without a landlady! That's the grand idea.
7I should like to settle down in it for three months till I'm ready to
8go to the Riviera or Africa. Sometimes you would spare me your baby
9for a whole day, eh?
10
2Harpenden, 7th July.
3
4I'll like best of all a tiny workman's cottage unfurnished. I dare say
5that wouldn't be easy to get, and I'll have to take rooms. I want to
6have some place of my own, without a landlady! That's the grand idea.
7I should like to settle down in it for three months till I'm ready to
8go to the Riviera or Africa. Sometimes you would spare me your baby
9for a whole day, eh?
10
Letter Reference | Letters/289 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 1 July 1888 |
Address From | Harpenden, Hertfordshire |
Address To | |
Who To | Isaline Philpot |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 137 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. J. H. Philpot.
2Harpenden, 1st July.
3
4Did I ever tell you about the people I found in Germany when I went to
5the place where my father was born, and I found some money (only a
6little) that was left to us by an old uncle (the last of my father's
7family) 25 years ago? It was all like a story.
8
2Harpenden, 1st July.
3
4Did I ever tell you about the people I found in Germany when I went to
5the place where my father was born, and I found some money (only a
6little) that was left to us by an old uncle (the last of my father's
7family) 25 years ago? It was all like a story.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/288 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 28 June 1888 |
Address From | Harpenden, Hertfordshire |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 136 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harpenden, 28th June.
3
4Mrs. Walters has been here. I've been pitching into her and her paper
5more even than into you. I must find the faults in the work of the
6people I love. You know it's my way of showing love. Good-bye.
7
2Harpenden, 28th June.
3
4Mrs. Walters has been here. I've been pitching into her and her paper
5more even than into you. I must find the faults in the work of the
6people I love. You know it's my way of showing love. Good-bye.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/286 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 11 June 1888 |
Address From | Maidenhead, Kent |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 136 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Maidenhead, 11th June.
3
4Went to Harpenden, found cottage, rent £16 a year, going to move in
5next week.
6
2Maidenhead, 11th June.
3
4Went to Harpenden, found cottage, rent £16 a year, going to move in
5next week.
6
Letter Reference | Letters/287 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 18 June 1888 |
Address From | Harpenden, Hertfordshire |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 136 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harpenden, 18th June.
3
4I've been trying to get my tiny house cleaned out to-day. I haven't
5got my furniture yet. ... I want to I get a big puppy dog that will
6bark. I don't think the little house is very safe. Anyone can get in
7at my door, and I'm quite beyond anyone's hearing. The house is so
8built you can get in anywhere. It's a dear little house.
9
2Harpenden, 18th June.
3
4I've been trying to get my tiny house cleaned out to-day. I haven't
5got my furniture yet. ... I want to I get a big puppy dog that will
6bark. I don't think the little house is very safe. Anyone can get in
7at my door, and I'm quite beyond anyone's hearing. The house is so
8built you can get in anywhere. It's a dear little house.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/285 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 6 June 1888 |
Address From | Maidenhead, Kent |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 136; Rive 1987: 140 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Maidenhead, 6th June.
3
4Please come on Friday. I do love you in a kind of way; it would come
5out if you needed me. But I feel such shrinking from all human
6creatures. We none of us sympathise with each other, none of us
7understand each other, each one only himself. The lesson of the last
8five years has been to me that there is no such thing as friendship,
9just as the lesson of the two before was that there is no such thing
10as sex-love, only sex-selfishness. We are good and true and earnest at
11heart, meaning the best, we humans. But we can't understand each other,
12 and understanding is friendship. ... Can you go with me to Harpenden
13to look for rooms? We'll spend all the day there on the common.
14
2Maidenhead, 6th June.
3
4Please come on Friday. I do love you in a kind of way; it would come
5out if you needed me. But I feel such shrinking from all human
6creatures. We none of us sympathise with each other, none of us
7understand each other, each one only himself. The lesson of the last
8five years has been to me that there is no such thing as friendship,
9just as the lesson of the two before was that there is no such thing
10as sex-love, only sex-selfishness. We are good and true and earnest at
11heart, meaning the best, we humans. But we can't understand each other,
12 and understanding is friendship. ... Can you go with me to Harpenden
13to look for rooms? We'll spend all the day there on the common.
14
Letter Reference | Letters/284 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 5 June 1888 |
Address From | Maidenhead, Kent |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 136 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Maidenhead, 5th June.
3
4Can you come on Friday? I go to-morrow to Harpenden to look for rooms.
5... I ask only one thing, and care for only one thing at present, not
6a straw for love or anything of that kind. I care only that my
7loathing for humanity should not be increased, more especially for
8women.
9
2Maidenhead, 5th June.
3
4Can you come on Friday? I go to-morrow to Harpenden to look for rooms.
5... I ask only one thing, and care for only one thing at present, not
6a straw for love or anything of that kind. I care only that my
7loathing for humanity should not be increased, more especially for
8women.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/282 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 20 May 1888 |
Address From | Maidenhead, Kent |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 135 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Maidenhead, 20th May.
3
4I have made up my mind to go out to the Cape the week after next, and
5not to return to England. It's best for my work, for me, for everyone,
6for you. We must have one long quiet day together before I go, and we
7must go to a concert together. ... Goodbye, my brother. You must get
8stronger. You must have a beautiful strong life yet. I haven't quite
9spoiled it, have I?
10
2Maidenhead, 20th May.
3
4I have made up my mind to go out to the Cape the week after next, and
5not to return to England. It's best for my work, for me, for everyone,
6for you. We must have one long quiet day together before I go, and we
7must go to a concert together. ... Goodbye, my brother. You must get
8stronger. You must have a beautiful strong life yet. I haven't quite
9spoiled it, have I?
10
Letter Reference | Letters/283 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 27 May 1888 |
Address From | Maidenhead, Kent |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 135 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Maidenhead, 27th May.
3
4Is it nice in Devonshire? I am looking for a small workman's cottage
5in Surrey. I want a high dry place on chalk, with a heath and no woods.
6 I'm going with Maggie H. to-morrow, if well enough, to look near
7Woking. ... You know I love you, but one must check the expression of
8one's emotions or die.
9
2Maidenhead, 27th May.
3
4Is it nice in Devonshire? I am looking for a small workman's cottage
5in Surrey. I want a high dry place on chalk, with a heath and no woods.
6 I'm going with Maggie H. to-morrow, if well enough, to look near
7Woking. ... You know I love you, but one must check the expression of
8one's emotions or die.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/280 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 6 May 1888 |
Address From | Riva, Lake Garda, Trento, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 135 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Riva, Lago Di Garda, 6th May.
3
4Are you quite strong? You mustn't come out till I’ve finished my book.
5I don't mean to be interrupted, and don't mean to stir from Riva till
6it's done.
7
2Riva, Lago Di Garda, 6th May.
3
4Are you quite strong? You mustn't come out till I’ve finished my book.
5I don't mean to be interrupted, and don't mean to stir from Riva till
6it's done.
7
Notation
‘My book’ refers to From Man to Man.
‘My book’ refers to From Man to Man.
Letter Reference | Letters/281 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 13 May 1888 |
Address From | Riva, Lake Garda, Trento, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 135 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Riva, 13th May.
3
4I'm worse; going to try Paris. If I telegraph when there, can you come
5for a day or so? I hardly know what I am doing, vomiting and agony in
6stomach. Are there paying hospitals in Paris?
7
2Riva, 13th May.
3
4I'm worse; going to try Paris. If I telegraph when there, can you come
5for a day or so? I hardly know what I am doing, vomiting and agony in
6stomach. Are there paying hospitals in Paris?
7
Letter Reference | Letters/278 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 10 April 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 134-5 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 10th April.
3
4I'm so glad you are better. I'm not nearly so affectionate to you as I
5was! ... I've stuck fast in my work. I've been agonising over it but
6it won't come right. I've been praying over it; sometimes that helps.
7When I stand up from my knees things come clear. I pray a great deal
8over this work. Unless the Lord should help me I'll never get it done.
9And it'll be a damned poor little when it is done. It's wonderful what
10makes one work, what impulse drives one on. It's a sort of instinct,
11like what makes the bird make their nests. I'm going to pray some more
12by the sofa now. What else can I do when I don’t know what comes
13next? It's all about sex in the human race. … Can you meet me at
14Boulogne to go on to Venice, say 5th of May? Write and tell me all
15about yourself as soon as you are better.
16
2Alassio, 10th April.
3
4I'm so glad you are better. I'm not nearly so affectionate to you as I
5was! ... I've stuck fast in my work. I've been agonising over it but
6it won't come right. I've been praying over it; sometimes that helps.
7When I stand up from my knees things come clear. I pray a great deal
8over this work. Unless the Lord should help me I'll never get it done.
9And it'll be a damned poor little when it is done. It's wonderful what
10makes one work, what impulse drives one on. It's a sort of instinct,
11like what makes the bird make their nests. I'm going to pray some more
12by the sofa now. What else can I do when I don’t know what comes
13next? It's all about sex in the human race. … Can you meet me at
14Boulogne to go on to Venice, say 5th of May? Write and tell me all
15about yourself as soon as you are better.
16
Notation
The reference to ‘this work’ is to From Man to Man.
The reference to ‘this work’ is to From Man to Man.
Letter Reference | Letters/279 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 18 April 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 135 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 18th April.
3
4I am so very anxious about you still. You thought me foolish to be so
5foolish when I first heard you were ill, but the terrible thing about
6fever is that it kills as if in play. People are well, and in a moment
7gone. ... I can get the money and come at once if you need me. You
8must come out to Italy when you are better.
9
2Alassio, 18th April.
3
4I am so very anxious about you still. You thought me foolish to be so
5foolish when I first heard you were ill, but the terrible thing about
6fever is that it kills as if in play. People are well, and in a moment
7gone. ... I can get the money and come at once if you need me. You
8must come out to Italy when you are better.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/277 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 1 April 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 134 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 1st April.
3
4My own darling boy, I wonder if you like to get letters or if you are
5too ill to read them. I want to know if you have the quiet restful
6mental feeling one sometimes has when one is ill. Sometimes one is so
7agonised and worries about everything. If Harry boy were here, he
8would like so much to sit out in the sun when he gets better. ...
9Isn't it funny that I felt that you were ill and was unhappy before
10your mother's letter came. But perhaps the fact that you didn't write
11to tell me you'd got home made me fancy something. ... I feel as if
12you must need me.
13
2Alassio, 1st April.
3
4My own darling boy, I wonder if you like to get letters or if you are
5too ill to read them. I want to know if you have the quiet restful
6mental feeling one sometimes has when one is ill. Sometimes one is so
7agonised and worries about everything. If Harry boy were here, he
8would like so much to sit out in the sun when he gets better. ...
9Isn't it funny that I felt that you were ill and was unhappy before
10your mother's letter came. But perhaps the fact that you didn't write
11to tell me you'd got home made me fancy something. ... I feel as if
12you must need me.
13
Letter Reference | Letters/276 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 16 March 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Erilda Cawood nee Buckley |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 133-4 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. Cawood.
2Alassio, 16th March.
3
4Yes, I will leave you something, my little brown box with all my
5relics in it, the last pipe my father smoked, and bits of letters and
6paper-cuttings and hair, that won't mean anything to anyone else but
7have all at some time meant something to me. There's a little bit of
8African earth which I took from my little sister Ellie's grave more
9than twenty years ago, when I was a child, and tied up in a silk rag.
10Wouldn't I make a good worshipper of saints! I love everything old,
11though my intellect stretches out always joyfully to the future and
12everything new. I never forget you, Erilda Carwood. You have been of
13great value and help to me in my life, not by anything you've done for
14me, but in the only way people can help each other truly, by being
15what you are. ... If I come out to the Cape I will surely come to
16Ganna Hoek. But I can't afford it yet. It would be so nice to look at
17your face again. ... I feel very old, sometimes quite a hundred and
18eight. But it’s comical how people take me to be younger and younger.
19
2Alassio, 16th March.
3
4Yes, I will leave you something, my little brown box with all my
5relics in it, the last pipe my father smoked, and bits of letters and
6paper-cuttings and hair, that won't mean anything to anyone else but
7have all at some time meant something to me. There's a little bit of
8African earth which I took from my little sister Ellie's grave more
9than twenty years ago, when I was a child, and tied up in a silk rag.
10Wouldn't I make a good worshipper of saints! I love everything old,
11though my intellect stretches out always joyfully to the future and
12everything new. I never forget you, Erilda Carwood. You have been of
13great value and help to me in my life, not by anything you've done for
14me, but in the only way people can help each other truly, by being
15what you are. ... If I come out to the Cape I will surely come to
16Ganna Hoek. But I can't afford it yet. It would be so nice to look at
17your face again. ... I feel very old, sometimes quite a hundred and
18eight. But it’s comical how people take me to be younger and younger.
19
Letter Reference | Letters/275 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | March 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Erilda Cawood nee Buckley |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 133 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. Cawood.
2Alassio, ? March.
3
4I am getting on well; another person in health while I stop out of
5English cold. ... Who lives at Lelie Kloof? I'm going to buy it when
6I've made my fortune and Willie must come and look after it for me,
7and we be partners. It’s full of fossils. I should love to come and
8rest with you for a week and tell stories to the children, the new
9little ones, and look at your face.
10
2Alassio, ? March.
3
4I am getting on well; another person in health while I stop out of
5English cold. ... Who lives at Lelie Kloof? I'm going to buy it when
6I've made my fortune and Willie must come and look after it for me,
7and we be partners. It’s full of fossils. I should love to come and
8rest with you for a week and tell stories to the children, the new
9little ones, and look at your face.
10
Letter Reference | Letters/274 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 9 March 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 133 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 9th March.
3
4Don’t mention to anyone Carpenter being here. I'm always trying to
5keep people from coming, and if they hear Carpenter or you have been
6they'll think they must come too. I've been curled up some days; feel
7weak. … Don’t ask about Mary Wollstonecraft. You musnt’t speak to a
8little hen when she’s laying her egg, otherwise she just pecks it open.
9 I’ve been making nice plans of travel for us. I enclose £1 more as
10you won’t tell me what I owe you. Please order me an Eastern Alps
11Baedeker. I'm spending all my money on Baedekers, so that when the
12time comes to start I shan't have any for travelling. Many thanks for
13the Zoology. Can you tell me of a good book about mammalia, giving
14their habits and family relations? Always tell me if you come across
15any good thing about the higher apes.
16
2Alassio, 9th March.
3
4Don’t mention to anyone Carpenter being here. I'm always trying to
5keep people from coming, and if they hear Carpenter or you have been
6they'll think they must come too. I've been curled up some days; feel
7weak. … Don’t ask about Mary Wollstonecraft. You musnt’t speak to a
8little hen when she’s laying her egg, otherwise she just pecks it open.
9 I’ve been making nice plans of travel for us. I enclose £1 more as
10you won’t tell me what I owe you. Please order me an Eastern Alps
11Baedeker. I'm spending all my money on Baedekers, so that when the
12time comes to start I shan't have any for travelling. Many thanks for
13the Zoology. Can you tell me of a good book about mammalia, giving
14their habits and family relations? Always tell me if you come across
15any good thing about the higher apes.
16
Notation
‘Mary Wollstonecraft’ concerns Mary Wollstoncraft (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman London: J. Johnson. Schreiner agreed to write an ‘Introduction’ to a new edition of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, but which was never completed. A very early draft fragment of it appears in Carolyn Burdett (1994) History Workshop Journal 37: 189-93.
‘Mary Wollstonecraft’ concerns Mary Wollstoncraft (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman London: J. Johnson. Schreiner agreed to write an ‘Introduction’ to a new edition of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, but which was never completed. A very early draft fragment of it appears in Carolyn Burdett (1994) History Workshop Journal 37: 189-93.
Letter Reference | Letters/273 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 6 March 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 133 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 6th March.
3
4… You will enjoy Italy. I leave this on the 1st of May for Venice. To
5live so many months shut up alone in one room is very bad for the
6brain. Then when we have spent a week or ten days at Venice I want you
7and I to go to Innsbruck and on to Switzerland. There you can go on to
8England and I turn back to Tyrol or Switzerland. … The people here
9said it was no use my going to Monte Carlo because they don't let
10people into the gaming rooms under 21! I feel as if I was 100. I
11couldn't believe they were serious!
12
2Alassio, 6th March.
3
4… You will enjoy Italy. I leave this on the 1st of May for Venice. To
5live so many months shut up alone in one room is very bad for the
6brain. Then when we have spent a week or ten days at Venice I want you
7and I to go to Innsbruck and on to Switzerland. There you can go on to
8England and I turn back to Tyrol or Switzerland. … The people here
9said it was no use my going to Monte Carlo because they don't let
10people into the gaming rooms under 21! I feel as if I was 100. I
11couldn't believe they were serious!
12
Letter Reference | Letters/272 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 5 March 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 132 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 5th March.
3
4That old terrible agony is on me to-night that comes whenever I let
5myself go. It seems as if all slipped from me at once, as if at other
6times I never knew how I was restraining myself. ... It's been hanging
7over me for days. I suppose I must be physically ill without knowing
8it. I feel quite well in body though. I have walked all the way from
9Albenga here to-day, over the mountains. I came by the Roman road. I
10wanted to make myself tired.
11
2Alassio, 5th March.
3
4That old terrible agony is on me to-night that comes whenever I let
5myself go. It seems as if all slipped from me at once, as if at other
6times I never knew how I was restraining myself. ... It's been hanging
7over me for days. I suppose I must be physically ill without knowing
8it. I feel quite well in body though. I have walked all the way from
9Albenga here to-day, over the mountains. I came by the Roman road. I
10wanted to make myself tired.
11
Letter Reference | Letters/271 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 20 February 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 132 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 20th Feb.
3
4Working night and day at Introduction to Mary W; love it better than
5anything I've written for a long time. But I want to publish it first
6in Fortnightly. Do you think the editor will let me. I'm putting the
7result of all my work on Woman Question into it. It will be a disgrace
8to get only £10.
9
2Alassio, 20th Feb.
3
4Working night and day at Introduction to Mary W; love it better than
5anything I've written for a long time. But I want to publish it first
6in Fortnightly. Do you think the editor will let me. I'm putting the
7result of all my work on Woman Question into it. It will be a disgrace
8to get only £10.
9
Notation
‘Mary W’ refers to Schreiner having agreed to write an ‘Introduction’ to a new edition of Mary Wollstonecraft’s (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, but which was never completed. A very early draft fragment of it appears in Carolyn Burdett (1994) History Workshop Journal 37: 189-93.
‘Mary W’ refers to Schreiner having agreed to write an ‘Introduction’ to a new edition of Mary Wollstonecraft’s (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, but which was never completed. A very early draft fragment of it appears in Carolyn Burdett (1994) History Workshop Journal 37: 189-93.
Letter Reference | Letters/270 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 18 February 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Isaline Philpot |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 132; Rive 1987: 136 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. J. H. P.Hilpot.
2Alassio, 18th Feb.
3
4I get to my work which is sometimes writing, more often walking up and
5down my room and thinking things out. ... I never see anything of them.
6 After lunch I sometimes go out for a walk to my favourite ruined
7chapel, Santa Croce, but lately I haven't been out. I read or write or
8walk up and down, “thinking out” all the afternoon. At 6 we have
9dinner. Then I come up to my room again, generally leaving before
10dinner is quite done, and I walk out on the terrace a bit and then
11read or write till bed-time. I do exactly the same every day. One day
12is as all days. It's a very delightful life. I've never been so happy
13since I left my dear old farm in Africa. … I'm writing an introduction
14to Mary Wollstonecraft's Rights of Women; it will hold the substance
15of all my thoughts on the man and woman question.
16
2Alassio, 18th Feb.
3
4I get to my work which is sometimes writing, more often walking up and
5down my room and thinking things out. ... I never see anything of them.
6 After lunch I sometimes go out for a walk to my favourite ruined
7chapel, Santa Croce, but lately I haven't been out. I read or write or
8walk up and down, “thinking out” all the afternoon. At 6 we have
9dinner. Then I come up to my room again, generally leaving before
10dinner is quite done, and I walk out on the terrace a bit and then
11read or write till bed-time. I do exactly the same every day. One day
12is as all days. It's a very delightful life. I've never been so happy
13since I left my dear old farm in Africa. … I'm writing an introduction
14to Mary Wollstonecraft's Rights of Women; it will hold the substance
15of all my thoughts on the man and woman question.
16
Notation
The book referred to is: Mary Wollstoncraft (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman London: J. Johnson. Schreiner agreed to write an ‘Introduction’ to a new edition of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, but it was never completed. A very early draft fragment of it appears in Carolyn Burdett (1994) History Workshop Journal 37: 189-93.
The book referred to is: Mary Wollstoncraft (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman London: J. Johnson. Schreiner agreed to write an ‘Introduction’ to a new edition of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, but it was never completed. A very early draft fragment of it appears in Carolyn Burdett (1994) History Workshop Journal 37: 189-93.
Letter Reference | Letters/269 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 9 February 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 131-2; Rive 1987: 136 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 9th Feb.
3
4You are quite wrong about my working a few hours every day. The way in
5which my brain must work (at imaginative work) is altogether or not at
6all. My great mistake is that I read the things as soon as I have done
7them and then burn them instead of not looking at them again for a few
8months, when they would seem quite nice.
9
2Alassio, 9th Feb.
3
4You are quite wrong about my working a few hours every day. The way in
5which my brain must work (at imaginative work) is altogether or not at
6all. My great mistake is that I read the things as soon as I have done
7them and then burn them instead of not looking at them again for a few
8months, when they would seem quite nice.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/268 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 9 February 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 131 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 9th Feb.
3
4I am all wild on the Mary Wollstonecraft Introduction. Will you tell
5me more about the mill hands (women) in the north? I only go on my own
6slight experience. Do you think I am too strong in saying that they
7are equal (almost?) to the men, that motherhood in them does not
8prevent their working and being jolly, etc.? I would like something I
9could if necessary quote in a note. Don't exaggerate, let it have the
10exact truth. This is so important in social questions when one can so
11easily put things too strongly without being conscious of it. ... I
12shall do an immense deal of work and thinking and in the end there
13will be three little pages. It’s the exact truth that's so damned
14difficult to get at.
15
2Alassio, 9th Feb.
3
4I am all wild on the Mary Wollstonecraft Introduction. Will you tell
5me more about the mill hands (women) in the north? I only go on my own
6slight experience. Do you think I am too strong in saying that they
7are equal (almost?) to the men, that motherhood in them does not
8prevent their working and being jolly, etc.? I would like something I
9could if necessary quote in a note. Don't exaggerate, let it have the
10exact truth. This is so important in social questions when one can so
11easily put things too strongly without being conscious of it. ... I
12shall do an immense deal of work and thinking and in the end there
13will be three little pages. It’s the exact truth that's so damned
14difficult to get at.
15
Notation
The ‘Mary Wollstonecraft introduction’ concerns the ‘Introduction’ to a new edition of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman that Schreiner agreed to write, but which was never completed. A very early draft fragment of it appears in Carolyn Burdett (1994) History Workshop Journal 37: 189-93. See also: Mary Wollstoncraft (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman London: J. Johnson.
The ‘Mary Wollstonecraft introduction’ concerns the ‘Introduction’ to a new edition of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman that Schreiner agreed to write, but which was never completed. A very early draft fragment of it appears in Carolyn Burdett (1994) History Workshop Journal 37: 189-93. See also: Mary Wollstoncraft (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman London: J. Johnson.
Letter Reference | Letters/267 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 7 February 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 131 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 7th Feb.
3
4I have begun Italian. I shall get on very fast. Have you Boccaccio's
5stories in Italian? It would be a good book. If not I will get it here.
6 Going to send you picture of my Ruined Chapel, my beloved Santa Croce.
7
2Alassio, 7th Feb.
3
4I have begun Italian. I shall get on very fast. Have you Boccaccio's
5stories in Italian? It would be a good book. If not I will get it here.
6 Going to send you picture of my Ruined Chapel, my beloved Santa Croce.
7
Notation
‘A Ruined Chapel’ was published in Dreams.
‘A Ruined Chapel’ was published in Dreams.
Letter Reference | Letters/266 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 1 Feburary 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 131 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 1st Feb.
3
4I don't need anything just now; I've no time to make the dress if I
5had the material. I’ll get lots of things when you come out. ...
6Italian is such a lovely language. They say as people get older they
7get less able to take things in. But I never in my life was able to
8take in so readily and with so much pleasure as now. You know, I'm not
9suited to living in a city. I must always live alone in the country.
10
2Alassio, 1st Feb.
3
4I don't need anything just now; I've no time to make the dress if I
5had the material. I’ll get lots of things when you come out. ...
6Italian is such a lovely language. They say as people get older they
7get less able to take things in. But I never in my life was able to
8take in so readily and with so much pleasure as now. You know, I'm not
9suited to living in a city. I must always live alone in the country.
10
Letter Reference | Letters/265 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | January 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Isaline Philpot |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 130-1 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. J. H. Philpot.
2Alassio, Jan.
3
4Please post the enclosed letter. I hope it's not rude, but I get so
5many letters that one doesn't know how to reply to. This lady says
6that she sees there are many things I am not able to grasp, but as I
7am young there is still hope; and she writes me an allegory to convert
8me. She says her Heavenly Father gives her whatever she asks him for,
9and if I would ask him he would give me too. What funny people there
10are in the world. She ends her letter by asking what colour my hair
11and eyes are. ... There is an old clergyman's wife come here and two
12old maids. They made for my clothes the other day and said I was
13shabby, which is quite true; so two days I've taken some bread and
14meat and an apple and gone up the mountain to have my lunch by a
15ruined chapel. It's much nicer.
16
2Alassio, Jan.
3
4Please post the enclosed letter. I hope it's not rude, but I get so
5many letters that one doesn't know how to reply to. This lady says
6that she sees there are many things I am not able to grasp, but as I
7am young there is still hope; and she writes me an allegory to convert
8me. She says her Heavenly Father gives her whatever she asks him for,
9and if I would ask him he would give me too. What funny people there
10are in the world. She ends her letter by asking what colour my hair
11and eyes are. ... There is an old clergyman's wife come here and two
12old maids. They made for my clothes the other day and said I was
13shabby, which is quite true; so two days I've taken some bread and
14meat and an apple and gone up the mountain to have my lunch by a
15ruined chapel. It's much nicer.
16
Letter Reference | Letters/264 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 27 January 1888 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 129-30 |
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. Cronwright-Schreiner has supplied the ‘missing’ word ‘brain-worker’ towards the end of the letter.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 27th Jan.
3
4You don't realise what a very brave thing a man in Pearson's position
5has done in printing that book at all. Anything approaching to that
6has never been published in England before by a professor in a college
7or university. The question is not: Is Pearson a genius? Is he
8original? Can a flaw be found in his argument? But is he giving
9utterance as a social thinker and teacher to views we can sympathise
10with? A reviewer is writing, not, as the essayist and artist, for
11himself, but as a critic he stands between the public and the thought
12and literature of the day, to guide and lead them. To me the work of
13the reviewer is as sacred and high as that of the poet and the thinker,
14 or rather it is like that of the preacher. ... I have been working in
15great mental agony to-day. Sometimes I get almost practically blind, I
16can't see before me when I am walking, and then small external things
17crush me. I am writing about those two terrible women, Veronica and
18Mrs. Drummond. It is so terrible to have to realise them and grapple
19with them. I bear all kinds of wickedness, but not meanness and
20smallness. I shall be so glad to get back to Bertie and Rebekah, my
21beloveds. If they are ever so real to anyone as to me, how real they
22will be! ... You know, if I had been married when I was twenty three,
23ten years ago, my life would have been quite different and my strength
24much greater. This celibacy has not been good for me; but it would
25have been worse to marry any man I have ever seen; except possibly one.
26 I mean that I am sure celibacy is not good for the brain of a
27continual [brain-worker] . Schopenhauer, Goethe, Shakespeare; no really
28great steady thinker has ever been celibate. You must marry some day.
29
2Alassio, 27th Jan.
3
4You don't realise what a very brave thing a man in Pearson's position
5has done in printing that book at all. Anything approaching to that
6has never been published in England before by a professor in a college
7or university. The question is not: Is Pearson a genius? Is he
8original? Can a flaw be found in his argument? But is he giving
9utterance as a social thinker and teacher to views we can sympathise
10with? A reviewer is writing, not, as the essayist and artist, for
11himself, but as a critic he stands between the public and the thought
12and literature of the day, to guide and lead them. To me the work of
13the reviewer is as sacred and high as that of the poet and the thinker,
14 or rather it is like that of the preacher. ... I have been working in
15great mental agony to-day. Sometimes I get almost practically blind, I
16can't see before me when I am walking, and then small external things
17crush me. I am writing about those two terrible women, Veronica and
18Mrs. Drummond. It is so terrible to have to realise them and grapple
19with them. I bear all kinds of wickedness, but not meanness and
20smallness. I shall be so glad to get back to Bertie and Rebekah, my
21beloveds. If they are ever so real to anyone as to me, how real they
22will be! ... You know, if I had been married when I was twenty three,
23ten years ago, my life would have been quite different and my strength
24much greater. This celibacy has not been good for me; but it would
25have been worse to marry any man I have ever seen; except possibly one.
26 I mean that I am sure celibacy is not good for the brain of a
27continual [brain-worker] . Schopenhauer, Goethe, Shakespeare; no really
28great steady thinker has ever been celibate. You must marry some day.
29
Notation
Veronica, Mrs Drummond, Bertie and Rebekah are characters in From Man to Man.
Veronica, Mrs Drummond, Bertie and Rebekah are characters in From Man to Man.
Letter Reference | Letters/263 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 25 December 1887 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 126 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, Christmas Day.
3
4I send my love to you. The sun is shining. I haven’t done any work,
5quite well, but can’t pull together. Perhaps by this time next year I
6shall pass whole hours without thinking of Mrs. - . That would be
7heaven. …
8
2Alassio, Christmas Day.
3
4I send my love to you. The sun is shining. I haven’t done any work,
5quite well, but can’t pull together. Perhaps by this time next year I
6shall pass whole hours without thinking of Mrs. - . That would be
7heaven. …
8
Letter Reference | Letters/262 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 22 December 1887 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 125 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 22nd Dec.
3
4I cannot tell you what this air and blue sea and sky are to me now I
5love them. I am working. I seem at last to have conquered, I think for
6ever. It may be not. ... It is unlikely I shall get any publisher in
7England but Vizetelly to take this book. I am getting so hopeless on
8the question of earning money. The Devil comes to me sometimes for a
9moment and says: "Wouldn't it be better to sell your soul and work for
10money, and so be free and independent?" I shall work night and day for
11a year or two years more, and then what shall I get for it?
12
2Alassio, 22nd Dec.
3
4I cannot tell you what this air and blue sea and sky are to me now I
5love them. I am working. I seem at last to have conquered, I think for
6ever. It may be not. ... It is unlikely I shall get any publisher in
7England but Vizetelly to take this book. I am getting so hopeless on
8the question of earning money. The Devil comes to me sometimes for a
9moment and says: "Wouldn't it be better to sell your soul and work for
10money, and so be free and independent?" I shall work night and day for
11a year or two years more, and then what shall I get for it?
12
Letter Reference | Letters/261 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 18 December 1887 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 125 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 18th Dec.
3
4Am working hard. Never come back to myself sometimes for a couple of
5days and that is the only way in which work can be done. From Man to Man
6will be quite different from any other book that ever was written,
7whether good or bad I can't say. I never think; the story leads me,
8not I it, and I guess it's more likely to make an end of me than I am
9ever to make an end of it!
10
2Alassio, 18th Dec.
3
4Am working hard. Never come back to myself sometimes for a couple of
5days and that is the only way in which work can be done. From Man to Man
6will be quite different from any other book that ever was written,
7whether good or bad I can't say. I never think; the story leads me,
8not I it, and I guess it's more likely to make an end of me than I am
9ever to make an end of it!
10
Letter Reference | Letters/260 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 14 December 1887 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 125 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 14th Dec.
3
4I am working. But the last days I've got into the allegory state.
5
2Alassio, 14th Dec.
3
4I am working. But the last days I've got into the allegory state.
5
Letter Reference | Letters/259 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 12 December 1887 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 125 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 12th Dec.
3
4I thought out that about Greece and Rome having fallen because of
5conditions of women by myself. What's the use of thinking! Someone
6else will do it, the same thoughts come to all.
7
2Alassio, 12th Dec.
3
4I thought out that about Greece and Rome having fallen because of
5conditions of women by myself. What's the use of thinking! Someone
6else will do it, the same thoughts come to all.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/258 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 13 December 1887 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 124-5; Rive 1987: 131 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 13th Dec.
3
4I wish you were here this evening and you and I would sit down on the
5floor before the olive wood fire and talk till 12 o'clock. I want to
6talk with you to-night. ... You know I feel I am so much in the right
7path to be here. I am now on the path that I lost when I left the
8Edinburgh Infirmary. I would like to get away from Alassio but I know
9I mustn't. Do you feel in the right path? You are gaining what is very
10useful. Why don't you put down shortly, in the way of a vivid diary,
11what you see among the factory workers? In years to come it will be
12valuable to know what their condition was now. ... Isn't it wonderful,
13I feel inclined to write the first time for months? Have seen
14wonderful beautiful things I never saw before. Such an odd kind of
15peace and rest is with me ever since I made a scene to-day in which
16Rebekah talks to her little son. What a great beautiful thing life is
17in spite of all its suffering! It will take me about twelve months
18steady work to perfect what I see. You know I feel like I used at
19Lelie Kloof and Ratel Hoek. ... I would like to talk to you, much more
20to hear you talk. You know when feelings of love come into my heart to
21you I restrain myself because nothing but sorrow comes from expressing
22love to anyone.
23
2Alassio, 13th Dec.
3
4I wish you were here this evening and you and I would sit down on the
5floor before the olive wood fire and talk till 12 o'clock. I want to
6talk with you to-night. ... You know I feel I am so much in the right
7path to be here. I am now on the path that I lost when I left the
8Edinburgh Infirmary. I would like to get away from Alassio but I know
9I mustn't. Do you feel in the right path? You are gaining what is very
10useful. Why don't you put down shortly, in the way of a vivid diary,
11what you see among the factory workers? In years to come it will be
12valuable to know what their condition was now. ... Isn't it wonderful,
13I feel inclined to write the first time for months? Have seen
14wonderful beautiful things I never saw before. Such an odd kind of
15peace and rest is with me ever since I made a scene to-day in which
16Rebekah talks to her little son. What a great beautiful thing life is
17in spite of all its suffering! It will take me about twelve months
18steady work to perfect what I see. You know I feel like I used at
19Lelie Kloof and Ratel Hoek. ... I would like to talk to you, much more
20to hear you talk. You know when feelings of love come into my heart to
21you I restrain myself because nothing but sorrow comes from expressing
22love to anyone.
23
Notation
Rebekah in the 'scene' Schreiner had written is a character in From Man to Man.
Rebekah in the 'scene' Schreiner had written is a character in From Man to Man.
Letter Reference | Letters/257 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 10 December 1887 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 124 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 10th Dec
3
4I love my new book so, a hundred times better than I ever loved An
5African Farm. … I feel such horror of England now, I never wish to see
6it again.
7
2Alassio, 10th Dec
3
4I love my new book so, a hundred times better than I ever loved An
5African Farm. … I feel such horror of England now, I never wish to see
6it again.
7
Notation
The ‘new book’ referred to is likely to be From Man to Man.
The ‘new book’ referred to is likely to be From Man to Man.
Letter Reference | Letters/256 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 24 November 1887 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 124; Rive 1987: 130-1 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 24th Nov.
3
4What work I do is splendid, but my heart is somewhat like stone.
5Perhaps it is when one is so altogether dead that one's work lives. ...
6 Isn't it curious I have dropped all my friends, I never write to
7anyone, never hear from anyone. It is as though God had suddenly
8struck me with paralysis; and it is good. The great lesson I have had
9to learn in the last three years is that one must be true to oneself
10in the first place and think of your fellow men second. I had to learn
11the opposite lesson in the few years before. Perhaps now I shall keep
12the balance, at least as long as I don't see a human being. You have
13never needed the first lesson, nor certainly the second. I am working
14whenever I can. Can you send me a volume of Heine's poems? Living
15absolutely alone is the only life possible just now, but I'm glad of
16books.
17
2Alassio, 24th Nov.
3
4What work I do is splendid, but my heart is somewhat like stone.
5Perhaps it is when one is so altogether dead that one's work lives. ...
6 Isn't it curious I have dropped all my friends, I never write to
7anyone, never hear from anyone. It is as though God had suddenly
8struck me with paralysis; and it is good. The great lesson I have had
9to learn in the last three years is that one must be true to oneself
10in the first place and think of your fellow men second. I had to learn
11the opposite lesson in the few years before. Perhaps now I shall keep
12the balance, at least as long as I don't see a human being. You have
13never needed the first lesson, nor certainly the second. I am working
14whenever I can. Can you send me a volume of Heine's poems? Living
15absolutely alone is the only life possible just now, but I'm glad of
16books.
17
Letter Reference | Letters/255 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 21 November 1887 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 123 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 21st Nov.
3
4I have been sitting up to finish writing out a dream I am sending to
5Canon MacColl and Mr. Gladstone's daughter to look at. I'll tell them
6to send it on to you, if you care. It has been dark and raining for
7many days now, but I keep very well. I think it has been very good for
8you, my darling, that I have been quite removed from you. I see no one,
9 live quite alone, except at meal times. It is a comfort to have meals
10regularly, and to get plenty of food. I think that's why I'm so well.
11I'm longing for my darling sun to come out to-morrow.
12
2Alassio, 21st Nov.
3
4I have been sitting up to finish writing out a dream I am sending to
5Canon MacColl and Mr. Gladstone's daughter to look at. I'll tell them
6to send it on to you, if you care. It has been dark and raining for
7many days now, but I keep very well. I think it has been very good for
8you, my darling, that I have been quite removed from you. I see no one,
9 live quite alone, except at meal times. It is a comfort to have meals
10regularly, and to get plenty of food. I think that's why I'm so well.
11I'm longing for my darling sun to come out to-morrow.
12
Notation
The allegory to be sent to Canon MacColl and Mary Drew cannot be established.
The allegory to be sent to Canon MacColl and Mary Drew cannot be established.
Letter Reference | Letters/254 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 15 November 1887 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 123 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 15th Nov.
3
4Got nice letter from Canon MacColl. On the 17th. Got nice letter from
5Gladstone's daughter.
6
2Alassio, 15th Nov.
3
4Got nice letter from Canon MacColl. On the 17th. Got nice letter from
5Gladstone's daughter.
6
Letter Reference | Letters/253 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 13 November 1887 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Isaline Philpot |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 123 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. J. H. Philpot.
2Alassio, 13th Nov.
3
4Yes, if one could live life over again with one's enlarged sympathies,
5how different many things would be. When one looks back one
6understands the people one knew long ago so much better. I always feel
7that about my parents and brothers and sisters. One loves them more
8and more as time passes.
9
2Alassio, 13th Nov.
3
4Yes, if one could live life over again with one's enlarged sympathies,
5how different many things would be. When one looks back one
6understands the people one knew long ago so much better. I always feel
7that about my parents and brothers and sisters. One loves them more
8and more as time passes.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/252 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 7 November 1887 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Isaline Philpot |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 123 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. J. H. Philpot.
2Alassio, 7th Nov.
3
4I think I have passed through one of the happiest times of my whole
5life since I left England, especially since I came here. I never since
6I left Africa seemed to come so near to nature.
7
2Alassio, 7th Nov.
3
4I think I have passed through one of the happiest times of my whole
5life since I left England, especially since I came here. I never since
6I left Africa seemed to come so near to nature.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/250 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 4 November 1887 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 122 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 4th Nov.
3
4I am so glad to be back in Alassio. Oh, I love this place. "To-day
5there falls the dear surprise of peace."
6
2Alassio, 4th Nov.
3
4I am so glad to be back in Alassio. Oh, I love this place. "To-day
5there falls the dear surprise of peace."
6
Letter Reference | Letters/251 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 4 November 1887 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Isaline Philpot |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 122-3 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. J. H. Philpot.
2Alassio, 4th Nov.
3
4Have you read Memoirs of Madame De Remusat? It's one of the most
5fascinating books ever written. It makes me love Napoleon more than
6ever. If he had had a mother like St. Augustine’s, the world would
7have found its noblest hero and saint in him. It was only a case of
8bad education. ...
9
2Alassio, 4th Nov.
3
4Have you read Memoirs of Madame De Remusat? It's one of the most
5fascinating books ever written. It makes me love Napoleon more than
6ever. If he had had a mother like St. Augustine’s, the world would
7have found its noblest hero and saint in him. It was only a case of
8bad education. ...
9
Letter Reference | Letters/249 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 2 November 1887 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 122 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 2nd Nov.
3
4In my old quarters. Slept at Genoa last night. Leaning Tower at Pisa
5splendid as seen from train. Seen nothing in architecture I like so
6much as Westminster Abbey or front of Notre Dame. It's the climate,
7the streets, the people, the general effect that is so nice in Italy.
8
9I'm writing a long dream on Socialism, called "Dreams of a City". With
10all these dreams coming I never get to any other work. Can't help it -
11they will come.
12
2Alassio, 2nd Nov.
3
4In my old quarters. Slept at Genoa last night. Leaning Tower at Pisa
5splendid as seen from train. Seen nothing in architecture I like so
6much as Westminster Abbey or front of Notre Dame. It's the climate,
7the streets, the people, the general effect that is so nice in Italy.
8
9I'm writing a long dream on Socialism, called "Dreams of a City". With
10all these dreams coming I never get to any other work. Can't help it -
11they will come.
12
Notation
The ‘long dream on Socialism’ is 'The sunlight lay across my bed' and it appears in Dreams.
The ‘long dream on Socialism’ is 'The sunlight lay across my bed' and it appears in Dreams.
Letter Reference | Letters/248 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 30 October 1887 |
Address From | Boboli Gardens, Florence, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 122 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Boboli Gardens, Florence, 30th Oct.
3
4I am sitting here at the foot of a statue. It is as it were the top of
5a hill, just outside Florence. The garden is behind the Pitti Palace,
6such a garden! Such a day! As I look down below me is the Pitti and
7beyond Florence, and beyond the beautiful hills with an afternoon
8light, like the Cape on them. … I am leaving for Alassio on Tuesday.
9I hope to work there, don't want anyone to come and see me while I'm
10there, but in April or March I want to go to Venice. I am working and
11so happy. But to-day my landlady is in a rage with me because I spilt
12the ink, so I am very sad. … Vernon Lee is a fine woman. Nothing small
13or mean about her, but the devil in if she likes. She's been kind to me.
14
2Boboli Gardens, Florence, 30th Oct.
3
4I am sitting here at the foot of a statue. It is as it were the top of
5a hill, just outside Florence. The garden is behind the Pitti Palace,
6such a garden! Such a day! As I look down below me is the Pitti and
7beyond Florence, and beyond the beautiful hills with an afternoon
8light, like the Cape on them. … I am leaving for Alassio on Tuesday.
9I hope to work there, don't want anyone to come and see me while I'm
10there, but in April or March I want to go to Venice. I am working and
11so happy. But to-day my landlady is in a rage with me because I spilt
12the ink, so I am very sad. … Vernon Lee is a fine woman. Nothing small
13or mean about her, but the devil in if she likes. She's been kind to me.
14
Letter Reference | Letters/247 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 29 October 1887 |
Address From | Florence, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 122 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Florence, 29th, Oct.
3
4Florence is beautiful beyond words. … The Pitti Gallery is lovely.
5
2Florence, 29th, Oct.
3
4Florence is beautiful beyond words. … The Pitti Gallery is lovely.
5
Letter Reference | Letters/246 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 20 October 1887 |
Address From | Florence, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 121 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Florence, 20th Oct.
3
4I like Florence very much.
5
2Florence, 20th Oct.
3
4I like Florence very much.
5
Letter Reference | Letters/245 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 18 October 1887 |
Address From | Lungarno Acciajoli, Florence, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 121 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Lungarno Acciajoli, Firenze, 18th Oct.
3
4Florence isn't a bit like I thought. It's the coldest place in the
5whole world. The hills are covered with snow. It's something like
6Brighton but without the sea, big hotels and fashionable people. ...
7My window looks down on the Arno.
8
2Lungarno Acciajoli, Firenze, 18th Oct.
3
4Florence isn't a bit like I thought. It's the coldest place in the
5whole world. The hills are covered with snow. It's something like
6Brighton but without the sea, big hotels and fashionable people. ...
7My window looks down on the Arno.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/244 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 14 October 1887 |
Address From | Dover, Kent |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 121 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Near Dover, 14th Oct.
3
4Feel so glad to be off. Don't forget your old comrade quite.
5
2Near Dover, 14th Oct.
3
4Feel so glad to be off. Don't forget your old comrade quite.
5
Letter Reference | Letters/243 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 13 October 1887 |
Address From | St Leonards, East Sussex |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 121 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2St. Leonards, 13th Oct.
3
4My Havelock, I am thinking of you. You must write and tell me about
5yourself. Someday, when you are a broken down old man and I a young
6woman, I'll write much to you. You quite forget how much older I am
7than you.
8
2St. Leonards, 13th Oct.
3
4My Havelock, I am thinking of you. You must write and tell me about
5yourself. Someday, when you are a broken down old man and I a young
6woman, I'll write much to you. You quite forget how much older I am
7than you.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/242 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 5 October 1887 |
Address From | St Leonards, East Sussex |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 121 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2St. Leonards, 5th Oct.
3
4Could you get me a room, if you are going up to town, in a cheap bed
5and breakfast place near the British Museum or Southampton Row? I
6can't ask - or - because I want to be quiet. My brain will go if I'm
7not. I'm going to try to get off to Italy by Thursday.
8
2St. Leonards, 5th Oct.
3
4Could you get me a room, if you are going up to town, in a cheap bed
5and breakfast place near the British Museum or Southampton Row? I
6can't ask - or - because I want to be quiet. My brain will go if I'm
7not. I'm going to try to get off to Italy by Thursday.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/241 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 14 September 1887 |
Address From | London Institution, Finsbury Circus, City, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 121 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2London, 14th Sept.
3
4I've come here to get books. Can't find anything I want, but this is
5such a delightful room to sit and read in or write letters. … I long
6so to hear good music. It would be so nice to go together. Somehow
7since I came back there has been such peace in my heart, as if I was
8dead. ... I must go home and write to - . You know we must love
9everyone in this world. It is only ignorance and darkness keeps us
10from it.
11
2London, 14th Sept.
3
4I've come here to get books. Can't find anything I want, but this is
5such a delightful room to sit and read in or write letters. … I long
6so to hear good music. It would be so nice to go together. Somehow
7since I came back there has been such peace in my heart, as if I was
8dead. ... I must go home and write to - . You know we must love
9everyone in this world. It is only ignorance and darkness keeps us
10from it.
11
Letter Reference | Letters/240 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 18 August 1887 |
Address From | The Roughs, Yorkshire |
Address To | |
Who To | Isaline Philpot |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 120 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. J. H. Philpot.
2The Roughs, Yorkshire, 18th Aug.
3
4It's quite lovely here. Solitary little house, miles and miles of
5barren moorland every way. Not a soul to be seen. I am sitting in the
6little stone-floored kitchen before a big fire. It's damp and raining
7outside. It's such a nice look as the grey mist steals over the moors.
8I don't believe I shall go to the Cape. I shall always come here. The
9old woman and her son are so nice, just like Boers. She and I and her
10son are going some Sunday in the old cart from here to Haworth, if it
11doesn't break down on the way. That's the only dissipation I have in view.
12
2The Roughs, Yorkshire, 18th Aug.
3
4It's quite lovely here. Solitary little house, miles and miles of
5barren moorland every way. Not a soul to be seen. I am sitting in the
6little stone-floored kitchen before a big fire. It's damp and raining
7outside. It's such a nice look as the grey mist steals over the moors.
8I don't believe I shall go to the Cape. I shall always come here. The
9old woman and her son are so nice, just like Boers. She and I and her
10son are going some Sunday in the old cart from here to Haworth, if it
11doesn't break down on the way. That's the only dissipation I have in view.
12
Letter Reference | Letters/239 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | August 1887 |
Address From | London |
Address To | |
Who To | Isaline Philpot |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 120 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. J. H. Philpot.
2London, Aug.
3
4I am reading Jowett's Plato. God will have to give Jowett a front seat
5in the Kingdom of Heaven. ... I can't believe anything could be better.
6 I seem to have found a friend I've been seeking for all my life.
7
2London, Aug.
3
4I am reading Jowett's Plato. God will have to give Jowett a front seat
5in the Kingdom of Heaven. ... I can't believe anything could be better.
6 I seem to have found a friend I've been seeking for all my life.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/237 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 20 June 1887 |
Address From | Gore Road, Hackney, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 120 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Gore Road, London, 20th June.
3
4Do you know, I'm going to finish my book. I'm getting jolly hard, like
5I used to be at the Cape. I can work now. I don't want to see anyone
6this week; so sorry Roden Noel is coming this afternoon. ... I went to
7the London Institution yesterday. A clerk came up and said he believed
8I subscribed there before and that they regretted so much after I left
9that they hadn't known I was the author of An African Farm. They
10wouldn't have destroyed any of my notes if they had. He seemed
11speechless with emotion and I couldn't laugh.
12
2Gore Road, London, 20th June.
3
4Do you know, I'm going to finish my book. I'm getting jolly hard, like
5I used to be at the Cape. I can work now. I don't want to see anyone
6this week; so sorry Roden Noel is coming this afternoon. ... I went to
7the London Institution yesterday. A clerk came up and said he believed
8I subscribed there before and that they regretted so much after I left
9that they hadn't known I was the author of An African Farm. They
10wouldn't have destroyed any of my notes if they had. He seemed
11speechless with emotion and I couldn't laugh.
12
Notation
The book Schreiner is going to finish is likely to be From Man to Man.
The book Schreiner is going to finish is likely to be From Man to Man.
Letter Reference | Letters/238 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 22 June 1887 |
Address From | London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 120 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2London, 22nd July.
3
4My eyes seem sometimes blinded by agony. I don't know how I live.
5
2London, 22nd July.
3
4My eyes seem sometimes blinded by agony. I don't know how I live.
5
Letter Reference | Letters/236 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 6 June 1887 |
Address From | Paris, France |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 119-20; Rive 1987: 128 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Paris, 6th June.
3
4I have been waiting many days to write to you till I felt my brain so
5cool that I could. I have now taken a dose of chloral, the first
6narcotic I have allowed myself to take for six weeks, and can write. I
7return to London on Tuesday or Wednesday. I feel as if seeing
8Carpenter would just save me. He has been suffering from great and
9terrible disappointment in human nature where he had trusted, but he
10is going back to the human he loves all right now. He has been great
11help and strength to me. I am writing to - to ask him please not to
12come and see me if I come back to London. If he comes and heaps
13reproaches on me any more I shall leave London within twenty-four
14hours. Instead of going into the Convent I ought to have had the moral
15strength to refuse to see him any more. When you or Eleanor really see
16what my condition is I will not have to fear either of you; you will
17leave me alone. I want to go to London because going to meetings and
18seeing strangers will be good for me, if I can only escape the people
19who think they have claims against me and torture me. They may have, I
20am quite willing to allow I am wrong and bad, but it won't help anyone
21that I should be sent mad, mad, mad. One meeting with - and his
22shrieking and throwing himself on the floor and it will all snap and
23go. If I can't have peace in London I will go to the Cape. I have
24written to Will.
25
2Paris, 6th June.
3
4I have been waiting many days to write to you till I felt my brain so
5cool that I could. I have now taken a dose of chloral, the first
6narcotic I have allowed myself to take for six weeks, and can write. I
7return to London on Tuesday or Wednesday. I feel as if seeing
8Carpenter would just save me. He has been suffering from great and
9terrible disappointment in human nature where he had trusted, but he
10is going back to the human he loves all right now. He has been great
11help and strength to me. I am writing to - to ask him please not to
12come and see me if I come back to London. If he comes and heaps
13reproaches on me any more I shall leave London within twenty-four
14hours. Instead of going into the Convent I ought to have had the moral
15strength to refuse to see him any more. When you or Eleanor really see
16what my condition is I will not have to fear either of you; you will
17leave me alone. I want to go to London because going to meetings and
18seeing strangers will be good for me, if I can only escape the people
19who think they have claims against me and torture me. They may have, I
20am quite willing to allow I am wrong and bad, but it won't help anyone
21that I should be sent mad, mad, mad. One meeting with - and his
22shrieking and throwing himself on the floor and it will all snap and
23go. If I can't have peace in London I will go to the Cape. I have
24written to Will.
25
Letter Reference | Letters/234 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 24 May 1887 |
Address From | c/o Madame Lafargue, Paris, France |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 118-9 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2C/O Madame Lafargue, Paris, 24th May.
3
4Paris does my asthma good. But I feel very desolate here. Paris is a
5much worse place for a woman to be alone in than London. It must be
6glorious for a man. It is not so sad as London, but all my life is
7there. I sometime think I am not going, but gone, mad. It's so
8Godforesaken everywhere. … Mrs. Lafargue is like Eleanor, not half so
9nice, but very kind, she says Lafargue is a fine fellow.
10
2C/O Madame Lafargue, Paris, 24th May.
3
4Paris does my asthma good. But I feel very desolate here. Paris is a
5much worse place for a woman to be alone in than London. It must be
6glorious for a man. It is not so sad as London, but all my life is
7there. I sometime think I am not going, but gone, mad. It's so
8Godforesaken everywhere. … Mrs. Lafargue is like Eleanor, not half so
9nice, but very kind, she says Lafargue is a fine fellow.
10
Letter Reference | Letters/235 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 26 May 1887 |
Address From | 134 Rue d’Assas, 6th Arrondissement, Paris, France |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 119 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2134, Rue D’assas, 26th May.
3
4Have got a little room here in a bad sort of house for ten francs a
5week, no cooking, spend most of my time in going out to get
6pennyworths of bread or milk; no restaurants here, except filthy
7workmen’s places. Paris suits my asthma, just as London does. But
8living is dearer, and not being able to speak one word of French makes
9living almost impossible. I like to think you were in Paris once and
10were happy here. It’s so impossible to realise there is anything but
11agony in the world. When I see all the people in the streets it
12doesn’t seem to me they are real. Everything seems to me just like a
13nightmare.…
14
2134, Rue D’assas, 26th May.
3
4Have got a little room here in a bad sort of house for ten francs a
5week, no cooking, spend most of my time in going out to get
6pennyworths of bread or milk; no restaurants here, except filthy
7workmen’s places. Paris suits my asthma, just as London does. But
8living is dearer, and not being able to speak one word of French makes
9living almost impossible. I like to think you were in Paris once and
10were happy here. It’s so impossible to realise there is anything but
11agony in the world. When I see all the people in the streets it
12doesn’t seem to me they are real. Everything seems to me just like a
13nightmare.…
14
Letter Reference | Letters/233 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 16 May 1887 |
Address From | Clarens, Montreux, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 118 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Clarens, 16th May.
3
4Tell me the address of a cheap respectable hotel in Paris. I am not
5better. I think I shall get well in Paris. Please be sure not to come
6and see me here. I want only to be left alone.
7
8When I was getting out of the boat at Lucerne a man with such a sweet
9face, something like Carpenter, only handsome, who had been one of the
10passengers, came up to me, and said: "Fraulein, I am so sorry to see
11you so sorrowful," and then he said that brighter times must come, and
12something about his own life having been very dark and got bright
13again. And then he touched his hat very respectfully and said he hoped
14good would come to me and went away. Somehow it comforted me so.
15
2Clarens, 16th May.
3
4Tell me the address of a cheap respectable hotel in Paris. I am not
5better. I think I shall get well in Paris. Please be sure not to come
6and see me here. I want only to be left alone.
7
8When I was getting out of the boat at Lucerne a man with such a sweet
9face, something like Carpenter, only handsome, who had been one of the
10passengers, came up to me, and said: "Fraulein, I am so sorry to see
11you so sorrowful," and then he said that brighter times must come, and
12something about his own life having been very dark and got bright
13again. And then he touched his hat very respectfully and said he hoped
14good would come to me and went away. Somehow it comforted me so.
15
Letter Reference | Letters/232 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 12 May 1887 |
Address From | Gersau, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 118 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Gersau, 12th May (Morning).
3
4Going away, getting worse and worse. Don't know where to go. Have
5written to Clarens.
6
2Gersau, 12th May (Morning).
3
4Going away, getting worse and worse. Don't know where to go. Have
5written to Clarens.
6
Letter Reference | Letters/231 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 11 May 1887 |
Address From | Gersau, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 117-8 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Gersau, 11th May.
3
4I am going to work now. I have had terrible asthma all night; even
5chloral didn't give me any ease; and I'm afraid work I do in this
6state won't be good but I can but try.
7
8Remember me to your dear mother, and how is my Louie? Whenever, - in
9about a year's time perhaps! - whenever I've finished my book I'm
10going to hire two tiny little rooms in the East End in a quiet back
11street and furnish them myself. I shall never be able to live in
12England except for a month or two in the year, but I want to have a
13home somewhere, and you and Louie can always come and stay in them
14when you come into town. I've been so happy planning this when I was
15too ill to think of anything else, but the book isn’t written yet, and
16I can't touch it except when I'm strong, and now I'm as weak as a baby
17with a could - cloud (I've been puzzling ever so long to find how that
18word was spelt wrong; now, happy thought, I see where the “l” ought to
19come) over its brain. I hope the Fortnightly will like the allegory
20written in this state. Good-bye till this evening.
21
22Evening. Asthma, and can't lie down. I never told you about that
23terrible Lady W - who keeps writing and wants me to go to Bel Alp with
24her (I've never seen the woman!) and I've written the shortest letters
25I can to her, saying I must be left alone. I haven't got any work done
26to-day.
27
2Gersau, 11th May.
3
4I am going to work now. I have had terrible asthma all night; even
5chloral didn't give me any ease; and I'm afraid work I do in this
6state won't be good but I can but try.
7
8Remember me to your dear mother, and how is my Louie? Whenever, - in
9about a year's time perhaps! - whenever I've finished my book I'm
10going to hire two tiny little rooms in the East End in a quiet back
11street and furnish them myself. I shall never be able to live in
12England except for a month or two in the year, but I want to have a
13home somewhere, and you and Louie can always come and stay in them
14when you come into town. I've been so happy planning this when I was
15too ill to think of anything else, but the book isn’t written yet, and
16I can't touch it except when I'm strong, and now I'm as weak as a baby
17with a could - cloud (I've been puzzling ever so long to find how that
18word was spelt wrong; now, happy thought, I see where the “l” ought to
19come) over its brain. I hope the Fortnightly will like the allegory
20written in this state. Good-bye till this evening.
21
22Evening. Asthma, and can't lie down. I never told you about that
23terrible Lady W - who keeps writing and wants me to go to Bel Alp with
24her (I've never seen the woman!) and I've written the shortest letters
25I can to her, saying I must be left alone. I haven't got any work done
26to-day.
27
Letter Reference | Letters/230 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 4 May 1887 |
Address From | Bellinzona, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 117 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Beellinzona, 4th May.
3
4On Swiss soil once more. I'm so glad. I slept last night at Arona. I
5meant to go on to-night only as far as Locarno on the Lake Maggiore. I
6started this morning In pouring rain and mist in the boat, and found
7when we had started that at this time of year the boat doesn't go to
8Locarno. ... I am thinking of you all the time. Someday, you and I and
9Louie will go to Italy together, and we'll be so happy and see the
10pictures. I never wish to see Italy alone again. In Switzerland one
11wants to be alone with the mountains but in Italy one feels so lonely.
12I'm so tired, I can't write any more. I haven't written to anyone but you.
13
2Beellinzona, 4th May.
3
4On Swiss soil once more. I'm so glad. I slept last night at Arona. I
5meant to go on to-night only as far as Locarno on the Lake Maggiore. I
6started this morning In pouring rain and mist in the boat, and found
7when we had started that at this time of year the boat doesn't go to
8Locarno. ... I am thinking of you all the time. Someday, you and I and
9Louie will go to Italy together, and we'll be so happy and see the
10pictures. I never wish to see Italy alone again. In Switzerland one
11wants to be alone with the mountains but in Italy one feels so lonely.
12I'm so tired, I can't write any more. I haven't written to anyone but you.
13
Letter Reference | Letters/229 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 2 May 1887 |
Address From | Hotel Smith, Genoa, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 117 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Hotel Smith, Genoa, 2nd May.
3
4I left Alassio at 10 this morning; got here an hour ago. This is a
5cheap little hotel kept by an Englishman, close to the docks in the
6noisy part of the town, but that doesn’t matter for a little time. ...
7 I am going out now to see the place.
8
2Hotel Smith, Genoa, 2nd May.
3
4I left Alassio at 10 this morning; got here an hour ago. This is a
5cheap little hotel kept by an Englishman, close to the docks in the
6noisy part of the town, but that doesn’t matter for a little time. ...
7 I am going out now to see the place.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/228 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 25 April 1887 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 116 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 25th April.
3
4Harry, you must send me that letter of - . I shall be absolutely mad
5in a few days. I have not slept or really seen anything since I got
6your letter saying you had written to - after I had written begging
7you not to write about me. You will feel this one day. I am quite mad.
8I can't bear it. I am going out to walk on the hills now. Oh God! Oh
9God! Will you tell me what you wrote? Can you torture me like this?
10and leave me in this mad agony of suspense? Surely you will have sent
11it before. Oh, my brain, my brain, my brain.
12
2Alassio, 25th April.
3
4Harry, you must send me that letter of - . I shall be absolutely mad
5in a few days. I have not slept or really seen anything since I got
6your letter saying you had written to - after I had written begging
7you not to write about me. You will feel this one day. I am quite mad.
8I can't bear it. I am going out to walk on the hills now. Oh God! Oh
9God! Will you tell me what you wrote? Can you torture me like this?
10and leave me in this mad agony of suspense? Surely you will have sent
11it before. Oh, my brain, my brain, my brain.
12
Letter Reference | Letters/227 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 19 April 1887 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Louie Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 114-5 |
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.
|
1To Miss Louie Ellis.
2Alassio, 19th April.
3
4I am going to leave this on the seventh for Switzerland, because I’m
5afraid I’ll die here and they’ll bury me here and I don’t like it. I’m
6going to be buried at Maderaner Thal. What is your grave going to be
7like? This is a true and faithful picture of mine.
8
9OLIVE SCHREINER,
10CITIZEN OF THE WORLD.
11
12WHEN SHE WAS A LITTLE GIRL
13SHE LIVED AT HEALD TOWN,
14CAPE OF GOOD HOPE,
15SOUTH AFRICA.
16
17No I won't have a foot-stone. I'll send you lovely wild flowers when
18I'm in Switzerland. I never go out here. The little boys throw stones
19at me and I'm always writing or trying to. There's a nice terrace one
20can walk up and down all day long. Write and tell me what you think of
21the boy when he comes back. Has he developed much?
22
2Alassio, 19th April.
3
4I am going to leave this on the seventh for Switzerland, because I’m
5afraid I’ll die here and they’ll bury me here and I don’t like it. I’m
6going to be buried at Maderaner Thal. What is your grave going to be
7like? This is a true and faithful picture of mine.
8
9OLIVE SCHREINER,
10CITIZEN OF THE WORLD.
11
12WHEN SHE WAS A LITTLE GIRL
13SHE LIVED AT HEALD TOWN,
14CAPE OF GOOD HOPE,
15SOUTH AFRICA.
16
17No I won't have a foot-stone. I'll send you lovely wild flowers when
18I'm in Switzerland. I never go out here. The little boys throw stones
19at me and I'm always writing or trying to. There's a nice terrace one
20can walk up and down all day long. Write and tell me what you think of
21the boy when he comes back. Has he developed much?
22
Letter Reference | Letters/226 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 16 April 1887 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 114 |
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. Crowright-Schreiner comments that Olive Schreiner’s allegory ‘In A Far-Off World’ was enclosed with the letter.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 16th April.
3
4Excuse first draft. I made two new allegories last night after I was
5in bed. This I made about three o’clock. I’ve been for a walk to that
6lovely ruined church at Santa Croce, so lonely there. Now I’ve come
7back and just writing these out before I forget them. I love this one,
8I wouldn’t change a word of it for the devil. You mustn’t say it’s not
9nice! … I’ve got the climbing allegory right now. It’s lovely, but
10I’ve not written it out.
11
2Alassio, 16th April.
3
4Excuse first draft. I made two new allegories last night after I was
5in bed. This I made about three o’clock. I’ve been for a walk to that
6lovely ruined church at Santa Croce, so lonely there. Now I’ve come
7back and just writing these out before I forget them. I love this one,
8I wouldn’t change a word of it for the devil. You mustn’t say it’s not
9nice! … I’ve got the climbing allegory right now. It’s lovely, but
10I’ve not written it out.
11
Notation
‘In A Far-Off World’ was published in Dreams.
‘In A Far-Off World’ was published in Dreams.
Letter Reference | Letters/225 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 15 April 1887 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 114 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 15th April.
3
4I am working hard. Do you think “Towser the Dog” is good enough for
5Donkin’s Hospital Magazine. Don’t go saying Yes, if you think it isn’t.
6 I think it’s not. I’ll send him a little allegory called “In a Far
7Star” if you think it’s not. … You tell me so little about yourself,
8horrible old cat, and you aren’t writing a big novel! One day I shall
9get really well, and then, God, what a lot of work I’ll do!
10
2Alassio, 15th April.
3
4I am working hard. Do you think “Towser the Dog” is good enough for
5Donkin’s Hospital Magazine. Don’t go saying Yes, if you think it isn’t.
6 I think it’s not. I’ll send him a little allegory called “In a Far
7Star” if you think it’s not. … You tell me so little about yourself,
8horrible old cat, and you aren’t writing a big novel! One day I shall
9get really well, and then, God, what a lot of work I’ll do!
10
Notation
‘Towser the Dog’ appeared posthumously in Stories, Dreams and Allegories, while ‘In a Far Star’, as ‘In A Far-Off World’, was published in Dreams.
‘Towser the Dog’ appeared posthumously in Stories, Dreams and Allegories, while ‘In a Far Star’, as ‘In A Far-Off World’, was published in Dreams.
Letter Reference | Letters/224 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 2 April 1887 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 113 |
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. Cronwright-Schreiner comments that an allegory was originally enclosed with this letter.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 2nd April.
3
4What do you think of the enclosed? I wrote it since I came up from
5dinner. The dry air here makes me able to work like I could at the
6Cape, I mean the ideas pour, however ill and weak I am. Take care of
7it because I've no copy, and I can't write such little things twice.
8I’m going to write another now.
9
2Alassio, 2nd April.
3
4What do you think of the enclosed? I wrote it since I came up from
5dinner. The dry air here makes me able to work like I could at the
6Cape, I mean the ideas pour, however ill and weak I am. Take care of
7it because I've no copy, and I can't write such little things twice.
8I’m going to write another now.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/223 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 1 April 1887 |
Address From | Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 113 |
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. Cronwright-Schreiner comments that an allegory was originally enclosed with this letter.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Alassio, 1st April.
3
4If it's not utter nonsense, send it on; but don’t if it is. You can
5please put in any letters that are left out or wrong, but you mustn’t
6touch a word. I can correct in the proofs. I don’t suppose they’ll
7take it. … I saw this morning one of the most beautiful views human
8creature ever saw: through the arch of a ruined church on the hill,
9the bay beyond. Oh, the blue, blue, intense blue!
10
2Alassio, 1st April.
3
4If it's not utter nonsense, send it on; but don’t if it is. You can
5please put in any letters that are left out or wrong, but you mustn’t
6touch a word. I can correct in the proofs. I don’t suppose they’ll
7take it. … I saw this morning one of the most beautiful views human
8creature ever saw: through the arch of a ruined church on the hill,
9the bay beyond. Oh, the blue, blue, intense blue!
10
Letter Reference | Letters/222 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 30 March 1887 |
Address From | Grand Hotel, Alassio, Italy |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 112-3 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Grand Hotel, Alassio, 30th March.
3
4What is the matter that I am getting weaker and weaker every day? It
5seems to me sometimes that I am bleeding to death. Changes of place do
6me no good. There came to me yesterday such a beautiful new scene for
7my book. It helped me so; but I have no strength to write it. It's
8where Rebekah says: "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those that
9trespass against us.” Oh, Harry, just for one year's health to work in!
10 This is a very sad place. I am going back to Switzerland in May. I
11don’t want you or anyone. I want to be alone. … Do you know Browning’s
12poem “Old Pictures in Florence”? I like the 21st and 22nd verses so
13much, and the 17th. Browning is the only poet I seem to have any
14sympathy with now. He is so impersonal.
15
2Grand Hotel, Alassio, 30th March.
3
4What is the matter that I am getting weaker and weaker every day? It
5seems to me sometimes that I am bleeding to death. Changes of place do
6me no good. There came to me yesterday such a beautiful new scene for
7my book. It helped me so; but I have no strength to write it. It's
8where Rebekah says: "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those that
9trespass against us.” Oh, Harry, just for one year's health to work in!
10 This is a very sad place. I am going back to Switzerland in May. I
11don’t want you or anyone. I want to be alone. … Do you know Browning’s
12poem “Old Pictures in Florence”? I like the 21st and 22nd verses so
13much, and the 17th. Browning is the only poet I seem to have any
14sympathy with now. He is so impersonal.
15
Notation
Rebekah is a character in From Man to Man.
Rebekah is a character in From Man to Man.
Letter Reference | Letters/221 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 22 March 1887 |
Address From | Mendrisio, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 111-2 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Mendrisio, 22nd March.
3
4Saturday or Sunday I don’t know which. My heart turneth to thee. Of
5course I’ll never write to - again. I wonder if my brain will ever be
6strong. All these seven years the human beings have been pressing on
7it, and now it seems just to have given in. it’s so funny. You know I
8can’t bear any more. Mentally I just lie helpless, and people have to
9do what they like with me. It's so terrible. Shall I ever get hold of
10the rudder again? How are you? Tell me all about you. I'll tell you
11all I can - some day. The time with Maggie - has been so terrible. I
12have been nearly mad. She has no money and she came thinking I would
13support her and I can't. There's a well-known literary woman in London
14going to have a child by a well-known literary man and she wants to
15come to me. You will say: “How selfish! Let her come!" Yes, and see
16what I did for - and how it all ended. Harry, why does everyone cling
17to me? Why do they all follow me? God knows I am so weak, and not a
18human soul puts out its hand to help me, only to demand love from me,
19and I am bankrupt, I am dying, I have nothing more to give. I'm not
20physically dying, but dying in a more terrible way. .... Now these
21women, Mrs. - and Mrs. - and Maggie - have just crushed me. If it had
22been some time ago I wouldn't have felt it, but now - you can't tread
23on a creature that's lying on the floor without pressing it flat and
24killing it. You will think this a cowardly letter. Yes, I am not brave
25any more. ... Oh, it is all dark.
26
2Mendrisio, 22nd March.
3
4Saturday or Sunday I don’t know which. My heart turneth to thee. Of
5course I’ll never write to - again. I wonder if my brain will ever be
6strong. All these seven years the human beings have been pressing on
7it, and now it seems just to have given in. it’s so funny. You know I
8can’t bear any more. Mentally I just lie helpless, and people have to
9do what they like with me. It's so terrible. Shall I ever get hold of
10the rudder again? How are you? Tell me all about you. I'll tell you
11all I can - some day. The time with Maggie - has been so terrible. I
12have been nearly mad. She has no money and she came thinking I would
13support her and I can't. There's a well-known literary woman in London
14going to have a child by a well-known literary man and she wants to
15come to me. You will say: “How selfish! Let her come!" Yes, and see
16what I did for - and how it all ended. Harry, why does everyone cling
17to me? Why do they all follow me? God knows I am so weak, and not a
18human soul puts out its hand to help me, only to demand love from me,
19and I am bankrupt, I am dying, I have nothing more to give. I'm not
20physically dying, but dying in a more terrible way. .... Now these
21women, Mrs. - and Mrs. - and Maggie - have just crushed me. If it had
22been some time ago I wouldn't have felt it, but now - you can't tread
23on a creature that's lying on the floor without pressing it flat and
24killing it. You will think this a cowardly letter. Yes, I am not brave
25any more. ... Oh, it is all dark.
26
Letter Reference | Letters/219 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 17 March 1887 |
Address From | Hof Gersau, Lake Lucerne, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 111 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Hof Gersau, Lake Of Lucerne, 17th March.
3
4I've been passing through about the stiffest time of my life mentally
5and physically. … My experiences with Mrs. - were very terrible. Some
6day I shall tell you. … This is a little quiet place among the
7mountains, bitterly cold. I like it, but have asthma. To-morrow I go
8to Lugano, I think. I hope I shall somewhere again find a resting
9place. … I feel very tender and loving to you. I am now utterly alone
10in the world and I wish it so, because I only inflict suffering. I
11want two or three years of absolute solitude to work in, and when I am
12a wise old woman I shall return to the world.
13
2Hof Gersau, Lake Of Lucerne, 17th March.
3
4I've been passing through about the stiffest time of my life mentally
5and physically. … My experiences with Mrs. - were very terrible. Some
6day I shall tell you. … This is a little quiet place among the
7mountains, bitterly cold. I like it, but have asthma. To-morrow I go
8to Lugano, I think. I hope I shall somewhere again find a resting
9place. … I feel very tender and loving to you. I am now utterly alone
10in the world and I wish it so, because I only inflict suffering. I
11want two or three years of absolute solitude to work in, and when I am
12a wise old woman I shall return to the world.
13
Letter Reference | Letters/220 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 20 March 1887 |
Address From | Mendrisio, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 111 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Mendrisio, 20th March.
3
4I wish I could see you this evening. I am reading Mill’s Logic. It
5comforts me so.
6
2Mendrisio, 20th March.
3
4I wish I could see you this evening. I am reading Mill’s Logic. It
5comforts me so.
6
Letter Reference | Letters/218 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 16 March 1887 |
Address From | Clarens, Montreux, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 111 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Clarens, 16th March.
3
4All my veins are on fire and I keep the people awake by screaming all
5night.
6
2Clarens, 16th March.
3
4All my veins are on fire and I keep the people awake by screaming all
5night.
6
Letter Reference | Letters/217 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 15 March 1887 |
Address From | Clarens, Montreux, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 111 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Clarens, 15th March.
3
4My own boy, I am in a low fever, very nearly mad. I am starting off
5for Lucerne to-morrow. Love me always. Don’t talk about me to - or
6anyone; they torture. Your little sister.
7
2Clarens, 15th March.
3
4My own boy, I am in a low fever, very nearly mad. I am starting off
5for Lucerne to-morrow. Love me always. Don’t talk about me to - or
6anyone; they torture. Your little sister.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/216 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 11 March 1887 |
Address From | Clarens, Montreux, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 111 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Clarens, 11th March.
3
4I’m not miserable at all, but the weight of life seems just quietly
5crushing me to the earth sometimes.
6
2Clarens, 11th March.
3
4I’m not miserable at all, but the weight of life seems just quietly
5crushing me to the earth sometimes.
6
Letter Reference | Letters/215 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 3 March 1887 |
Address From | Clarens, Montreux, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 110 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Clarens, 3rd March.
3
4Writing sex paper still. Getting to think it’s worth-less, but going
5to finish it. Don’t really think so, but feel so.
6
2Clarens, 3rd March.
3
4Writing sex paper still. Getting to think it’s worth-less, but going
5to finish it. Don’t really think so, but feel so.
6
Notation
The ‘sex paper’ referred to is likely to be Schreiner’s planned ‘Introduction’ to a new edition of Mary Wollstoncraft’s (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman London: J. Johnson. A very early draft fragment of it appears in Carolyn Burdett (1994) History Workshop Journal 37: 189-93.
The ‘sex paper’ referred to is likely to be Schreiner’s planned ‘Introduction’ to a new edition of Mary Wollstoncraft’s (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman London: J. Johnson. A very early draft fragment of it appears in Carolyn Burdett (1994) History Workshop Journal 37: 189-93.
Letter Reference | Letters/214 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 27 February 1887 |
Address From | Clarens, Montreux, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 110 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Clarens, 27th Feb.
3
4After saying I’m so angelically sweet I find I’m not. Devil in me this
5morning. … Ach, what does it matter? Doctor says no disease in left
6lung but it has fallen in, and I breathe almost entirely with right.
7
2Clarens, 27th Feb.
3
4After saying I’m so angelically sweet I find I’m not. Devil in me this
5morning. … Ach, what does it matter? Doctor says no disease in left
6lung but it has fallen in, and I breathe almost entirely with right.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/213 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 26 February 1887 |
Address From | Clarens, Montreux, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 110 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Clarens, 26th Feb.
3
4Going to send for doctor to examine chest. Worst symptom is that I
5have become so angelical, sweet, and loving since I came here. Feeling
6so happy too. If the doctor asks what’s the matter I shall tell him
7that. Besides that, I expectorate much. But the symptom is the worst.
8It’s terrible to be so good. I love everybody. I forgive - . I shall
9certainly go to Heaven if I die now.
10
2Clarens, 26th Feb.
3
4Going to send for doctor to examine chest. Worst symptom is that I
5have become so angelical, sweet, and loving since I came here. Feeling
6so happy too. If the doctor asks what’s the matter I shall tell him
7that. Besides that, I expectorate much. But the symptom is the worst.
8It’s terrible to be so good. I love everybody. I forgive - . I shall
9certainly go to Heaven if I die now.
10
Letter Reference | Letters/212 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 24 February 1887 |
Address From | Clarens, Montreux, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 110 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Clarens, 24th Feb.
3
4I’m writing such a lovely paper on sex experiment. I shall die easier
5after I’ve written it. But you know I won’t like it when it’s done,
6it’s only when I’m writing. There was an earthquake here this morning;
7it was like being on a ship.
8
2Clarens, 24th Feb.
3
4I’m writing such a lovely paper on sex experiment. I shall die easier
5after I’ve written it. But you know I won’t like it when it’s done,
6it’s only when I’m writing. There was an earthquake here this morning;
7it was like being on a ship.
8
Notation
The 'lovely paper' paper on ‘sex experiment’ referred to cannot be established but could be Schreiner’s planned ‘Introduction’ to a new edition of Mary Wollstoncraft’s (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman London: J. Johnson. A very early draft fragment of this appears in Carolyn Burdett (1994) History Workshop Journal 37: 189-93.
The 'lovely paper' paper on ‘sex experiment’ referred to cannot be established but could be Schreiner’s planned ‘Introduction’ to a new edition of Mary Wollstoncraft’s (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman London: J. Johnson. A very early draft fragment of this appears in Carolyn Burdett (1994) History Workshop Journal 37: 189-93.
Letter Reference | Letters/209 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 15 January 1887 |
Address From | Clarens, Montreux, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 108 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Clarens, 15th Jan.
3
4Darling boy, tell me all about what you are doing, please. I am not so
5well again. ... You know I've got a funny nature. I don't need other
6people should love me if I love them. I love more impersonally than
7anyone I know. I suppose it's because my imagination's strong. I
8become that person.
9
2Clarens, 15th Jan.
3
4Darling boy, tell me all about what you are doing, please. I am not so
5well again. ... You know I've got a funny nature. I don't need other
6people should love me if I love them. I love more impersonally than
7anyone I know. I suppose it's because my imagination's strong. I
8become that person.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/210 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 21 January 1887 |
Address From | Clarens, Montreux, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 108 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Clarens, 21st Jan.
3
4I am getting on. Going to work hard... Leslie Stephen came to-day.
5He's a tall thin ugly man, looks nice though, of course not a touch of
6genius, which I think Morley has.
7
2Clarens, 21st Jan.
3
4I am getting on. Going to work hard... Leslie Stephen came to-day.
5He's a tall thin ugly man, looks nice though, of course not a touch of
6genius, which I think Morley has.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/211 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 15 February 1887 |
Address From | Vevey, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 109-10 |
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. Cronwright-Schreiner comments that Olive Schreiner was in Vevey when writing the letter.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
215th Feb.
3
4I came here this morning in the boat from Clarens. It's more than an
5hour and the boat back hasn't come. I’m sitting in the sun by the lake
6on a bench. The sea (the lake is really a sea) is so beautiful, and
7dark blue. I feel so tired. I don’t know why I’m so weak.
8
215th Feb.
3
4I came here this morning in the boat from Clarens. It's more than an
5hour and the boat back hasn't come. I’m sitting in the sun by the lake
6on a bench. The sea (the lake is really a sea) is so beautiful, and
7dark blue. I feel so tired. I don’t know why I’m so weak.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/208 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 13 January 1887 |
Address From | Clarens, Montreux, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 108 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Clarens, 13th Jan.
3
4You must save money so that you can come to Italy with me in the
5autumn, to Florence and Rome. Also I should enjoy the art ten times
6better if you were there. ... I'm going to try to work to-morrow. Day
7after day passes and I do nothing. I am burdened with my work, which
8grows and grows in my brain till the burden almost seems greater than
9my strength can bear. ... Don't think I'm miserable. I'm as jolly as a
10brick-bat.
11
2Clarens, 13th Jan.
3
4You must save money so that you can come to Italy with me in the
5autumn, to Florence and Rome. Also I should enjoy the art ten times
6better if you were there. ... I'm going to try to work to-morrow. Day
7after day passes and I do nothing. I am burdened with my work, which
8grows and grows in my brain till the burden almost seems greater than
9my strength can bear. ... Don't think I'm miserable. I'm as jolly as a
10brick-bat.
11
Letter Reference | Letters/207 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 12 January 1887 |
Address From | Clarens, Montreux, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 108 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Clarens, 12th Jan.
3
4I have never been so happy and restful. I am picking up in physical
5strength. I am the devil in. Never write about me. ... I long for
6solitude, absolute solitude, where there shall be no living soul,
7scarcely an animal. ... Am thinking of having From Man to Man copied
8by typist when I have money.
9
2Clarens, 12th Jan.
3
4I have never been so happy and restful. I am picking up in physical
5strength. I am the devil in. Never write about me. ... I long for
6solitude, absolute solitude, where there shall be no living soul,
7scarcely an animal. ... Am thinking of having From Man to Man copied
8by typist when I have money.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/206 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 30 December 1886 |
Address From | Clarens, Montreux, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 107-8 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Clarens, 30th Dec.
3
4Anything to read would be welcome. I begin to feel I could read. Your
5letter was a great help. I’ll send you a little allegory I wrote last
6month. Yes, solitude with sunshine is heaven; in the dark it is hell.
7You can form no conception what the grey cold of these mountains and
8this sea is. England has nothing like it.
9
2Clarens, 30th Dec.
3
4Anything to read would be welcome. I begin to feel I could read. Your
5letter was a great help. I’ll send you a little allegory I wrote last
6month. Yes, solitude with sunshine is heaven; in the dark it is hell.
7You can form no conception what the grey cold of these mountains and
8this sea is. England has nothing like it.
9
Notation
The 'little allegory' referred to cannot be established as a large number were sent to Ellis.
The 'little allegory' referred to cannot be established as a large number were sent to Ellis.
Letter Reference | Letters/205 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 28 December 1886 |
Address From | Hotel Roth, Clarens, Montreux, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 107 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Hotel Roth, Clarens, 28th Dec.
3
4I am quite settled here. Much better.
5
2Hotel Roth, Clarens, 28th Dec.
3
4I am quite settled here. Much better.
5
Letter Reference | Letters/204 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 25 December 1886 |
Address From | Clarens, Montreux, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 107 |
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.
|
1To Havelock. Ellis.
2Clarens, Christmas Day.
3
4This place is just like hell. Anything so hideous and so awful you
5cannot conceive; you know the frozen sea in Dante's hell. No, this sea
6isn't frozen, it's dirty and wet and the fog rises from it. I have
7seen no place in England so awful as this. The air is quite thick with
8water. I thought Geneva was the most awful place I had ever been in,
9but it’s much better than this. … If I keep on getting worse I shall
10start for Davos or Mentone or God knows where on Tuesday morning. I
11ought to have gone to Italy at once; it was insane of me to come here.
12There is no sun here; sometimes through the fog an awful wan ray
13breaks on the water. ... Your letter this morning was so precious, it
14made me able to get up. It seems to me as if it was many years ago
15since I left England, and I'd been in hell ever since. ... No, I
16haven’t kept a journal. If I can only keep sense and strength enough
17to pack my things, that's all I want. I have such a horror of getting
18quite helpless. But one can always kill oneself. Don't show this
19letter to my brother or - . I don’t tell them how I am.
20
2Clarens, Christmas Day.
3
4This place is just like hell. Anything so hideous and so awful you
5cannot conceive; you know the frozen sea in Dante's hell. No, this sea
6isn't frozen, it's dirty and wet and the fog rises from it. I have
7seen no place in England so awful as this. The air is quite thick with
8water. I thought Geneva was the most awful place I had ever been in,
9but it’s much better than this. … If I keep on getting worse I shall
10start for Davos or Mentone or God knows where on Tuesday morning. I
11ought to have gone to Italy at once; it was insane of me to come here.
12There is no sun here; sometimes through the fog an awful wan ray
13breaks on the water. ... Your letter this morning was so precious, it
14made me able to get up. It seems to me as if it was many years ago
15since I left England, and I'd been in hell ever since. ... No, I
16haven’t kept a journal. If I can only keep sense and strength enough
17to pack my things, that's all I want. I have such a horror of getting
18quite helpless. But one can always kill oneself. Don't show this
19letter to my brother or - . I don’t tell them how I am.
20
Letter Reference | Letters/203 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 22 December 1886 |
Address From | Vevey, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 107 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Vevey, Switzerland, 22nd Dec.
3
4Mrs. Clifford called this morning, was very kind. I am going to try
5rooms near her at Clarens, the Hotel Roth, cheaper than this. I am to
6have a little room next the roof; it overlooks the lake. The next
7house is the one Byron lived in. ... Harry, whenever my heart is
8sinking into agony and loneliness I think: Harry is thinking of me.
9I'm more tired than I ever was in my life before
10
2Vevey, Switzerland, 22nd Dec.
3
4Mrs. Clifford called this morning, was very kind. I am going to try
5rooms near her at Clarens, the Hotel Roth, cheaper than this. I am to
6have a little room next the roof; it overlooks the lake. The next
7house is the one Byron lived in. ... Harry, whenever my heart is
8sinking into agony and loneliness I think: Harry is thinking of me.
9I'm more tired than I ever was in my life before
10
Letter Reference | Letters/202 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 21 December 1886 |
Address From | Vevey, Switzerland |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 106 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Vevey, Switzerland, 21st Dec.
3
4I was glad of your letter to-night. One's a bit more desolate than
5words can say here. Tell me all about yourself, it's about all of you
6I want to know.
7
2Vevey, Switzerland, 21st Dec.
3
4I was glad of your letter to-night. One's a bit more desolate than
5words can say here. Tell me all about yourself, it's about all of you
6I want to know.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/201 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 13 December 1886 |
Address From | Blandford Square, Paddington, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 106 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Blandford Square, 13th Dec.
3
4I am getting on all right. I have a Hospital nurse. Give my love to
5Louie and tell her if she lived with me she would become a good nurse.
6... Come Wednesday if you can. I will be up then.
7
2Blandford Square, 13th Dec.
3
4I am getting on all right. I have a Hospital nurse. Give my love to
5Louie and tell her if she lived with me she would become a good nurse.
6... Come Wednesday if you can. I will be up then.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/200 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 7 December 1886 |
Address From | Blandford Square, Paddington, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 105-6 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Blandford Square, 7th Dec.
3
4I had called up both servants and told them if you came you were to be
5shown straight up. I never dreamed of my landlady's stopping you. Why
6didn't you tell someone to come up and tell me you were here? Do
7always do that. I longed for you all day and listened to every step in
8the street. I must have heard yours. I’ve never had such pain in my
9chest before, though I've been as bad in other ways. Do write to me,
10my friend. My heart calleth to thee. ... Oh, I feel so miserable when
11I think of all the misery in the world. I will never make a friend of
12a man again unless I love him better than anyone else in the world. I
13haven't absolutely made up my mind, but it seems to me that no woman
14should ever allow a man even to kiss her hand unless she has
15absolutely made up her mind, that, as far as she can judge, she will
16never love any other man as well, does not love any man as well, and
17loves that man so well that she would willingly live with him all her
18life, bearing children for him. I would not base this on the idea of
19right and wrong but on the agony to both parties, to the one who gives
20pain and the one who is pained. It may be said: Oh, this is not sexual,
21 it is an expression of friendship. But when the time comes it is
22found to be otherwise. Through what bitter agony we learn all life's
23lesson, and our dreams fall from us one by one. I am in a state of
24despair such as I have not known since I was a girl of fifteen. My
25ideal has been friendship between men and women as between men and men,
26 but it can't be.
27
2Blandford Square, 7th Dec.
3
4I had called up both servants and told them if you came you were to be
5shown straight up. I never dreamed of my landlady's stopping you. Why
6didn't you tell someone to come up and tell me you were here? Do
7always do that. I longed for you all day and listened to every step in
8the street. I must have heard yours. I’ve never had such pain in my
9chest before, though I've been as bad in other ways. Do write to me,
10my friend. My heart calleth to thee. ... Oh, I feel so miserable when
11I think of all the misery in the world. I will never make a friend of
12a man again unless I love him better than anyone else in the world. I
13haven't absolutely made up my mind, but it seems to me that no woman
14should ever allow a man even to kiss her hand unless she has
15absolutely made up her mind, that, as far as she can judge, she will
16never love any other man as well, does not love any man as well, and
17loves that man so well that she would willingly live with him all her
18life, bearing children for him. I would not base this on the idea of
19right and wrong but on the agony to both parties, to the one who gives
20pain and the one who is pained. It may be said: Oh, this is not sexual,
21 it is an expression of friendship. But when the time comes it is
22found to be otherwise. Through what bitter agony we learn all life's
23lesson, and our dreams fall from us one by one. I am in a state of
24despair such as I have not known since I was a girl of fifteen. My
25ideal has been friendship between men and women as between men and men,
26 but it can't be.
27
Letter Reference | Letters/199 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 26 November 1886 |
Address From | Blandford Square, Paddington, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 105 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Blandford Square, 26th Nov.
3
4I send you a rough draft of Jan. Tell me (1) Whether you think
5printing it will do my next book harm. (2) How you like it. (3)
6Whether you think it interesting to the general reader. (4) Don't make
7any small criticisms, it's not finished yet. I have never written
8anything with more delight, but that is just because it takes me out
9of this cursed London and English life. (I don't mean really that it
10is cursed, but it's so delightful to get back to my old life.)... I'm
11not going to feel loving to anyone; one feels so loving and so loving,
12so loving that one can't do anything. Don't you feel loving either. I
13try to do all I can to make you not love me. I don't want anyone to
14love me; it only makes them miserable.
15
2Blandford Square, 26th Nov.
3
4I send you a rough draft of Jan. Tell me (1) Whether you think
5printing it will do my next book harm. (2) How you like it. (3)
6Whether you think it interesting to the general reader. (4) Don't make
7any small criticisms, it's not finished yet. I have never written
8anything with more delight, but that is just because it takes me out
9of this cursed London and English life. (I don't mean really that it
10is cursed, but it's so delightful to get back to my old life.)... I'm
11not going to feel loving to anyone; one feels so loving and so loving,
12so loving that one can't do anything. Don't you feel loving either. I
13try to do all I can to make you not love me. I don't want anyone to
14love me; it only makes them miserable.
15
Notation
“Jan van der Linde’s Wife” was never finished.
“Jan van der Linde’s Wife” was never finished.
Letter Reference | Letters/198 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 12 November 1886 |
Address From | Blandford Square, Paddington, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 105 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Blandford Square, 12th Nov.
3
4I have very nearly had brain fever. I am glad you are working hard.
5That is the one comfort we sensitive people have. ... Please tell me
6when next you are coming to town, so that we may have a whole
7afternoon to go to the Zoo. I have such a longing to go there with you.
8
2Blandford Square, 12th Nov.
3
4I have very nearly had brain fever. I am glad you are working hard.
5That is the one comfort we sensitive people have. ... Please tell me
6when next you are coming to town, so that we may have a whole
7afternoon to go to the Zoo. I have such a longing to go there with you.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/197 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 22 September 1886 |
Address From | Harrow, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 104 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harrow, 22nd Sept.
3
4Not able to go into town to-day. It's just the old regular breakdown.
5Children ought to be brought up to understand that when they become
6helpless and a burden to others they ought to painlessly put an end to
7themselves; then no one would be pained. My face is all drawn on a
8side this morning with neuralgia and I have asthma. I don't think I'll
9ever finish even Jan van der Linde's Wife. Tell me a little about
10yourself, please.
11
2Harrow, 22nd Sept.
3
4Not able to go into town to-day. It's just the old regular breakdown.
5Children ought to be brought up to understand that when they become
6helpless and a burden to others they ought to painlessly put an end to
7themselves; then no one would be pained. My face is all drawn on a
8side this morning with neuralgia and I have asthma. I don't think I'll
9ever finish even Jan van der Linde's Wife. Tell me a little about
10yourself, please.
11
Notation
In the event, “Jan van der Linde’s Wife” was never finished.
In the event, “Jan van der Linde’s Wife” was never finished.
Letter Reference | Letters/196 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 17 September 1886 |
Address From | Harrow, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 104 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harrow, 17th Sept.
3
4My comforting boy, I have been sleeping all day. I am only getting out
5of bed now at 4. I couldn't wake up before. All that is the matter
6with me is trying to do brain-work on insufficient food. I'm going out
7to get a chop.
8
2Harrow, 17th Sept.
3
4My comforting boy, I have been sleeping all day. I am only getting out
5of bed now at 4. I couldn't wake up before. All that is the matter
6with me is trying to do brain-work on insufficient food. I'm going out
7to get a chop.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/195 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 13 September 1886 |
Address From | Harrow, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 104 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harrow, 13th Sept.
3
4Podmore and Pearsall Smith were coming to-morrow. I've written to tell
5them they mustn't. I can't see anyone. I'm going to try three months
6more, and then if I sink into the same state I was in last winter I'll
7kill myself.
8
2Harrow, 13th Sept.
3
4Podmore and Pearsall Smith were coming to-morrow. I've written to tell
5them they mustn't. I can't see anyone. I'm going to try three months
6more, and then if I sink into the same state I was in last winter I'll
7kill myself.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/194 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 1 September 1886 |
Address From | Harrow, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 104 |
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. Cronwright-Schreiner comments that Olive Schreiner was at the British Museum when writing ‘I have come here...’ onwards.
|
1To Havlock Ellis.
2Harrow, 1st Sept.
3
4It's so hot and it's horrid to be so shabby. The people in the streets
5laugh at me because I am so shabby; and I'm going to have a new hat
6one day and a dress and all! ... I have come here and find I'm too
7stupid to get the books I want. I don't see how you are to find them.
8I wish you were here. ... Do tell me if you know anything on the
9anthropoid apes I can get.
10
2Harrow, 1st Sept.
3
4It's so hot and it's horrid to be so shabby. The people in the streets
5laugh at me because I am so shabby; and I'm going to have a new hat
6one day and a dress and all! ... I have come here and find I'm too
7stupid to get the books I want. I don't see how you are to find them.
8I wish you were here. ... Do tell me if you know anything on the
9anthropoid apes I can get.
10
Letter Reference | Letters/193 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 29 August 1886 |
Address From | Harrow, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 103 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harrow, 29th Aug.
3
4Mrs. Wilson came at 5. She is splendid. You ought to have a talk with her.
5
2Harrow, 29th Aug.
3
4Mrs. Wilson came at 5. She is splendid. You ought to have a talk with her.
5
Letter Reference | Letters/192 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 27 August 1886 |
Address From | Harrow, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 103 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harrow, 27th Aug.
3
4I've been a hateful girl this afternoon. I'm sure you're right. I
5shall see just as you do in a week or two's time. I’ll go on with my work.
6
2Harrow, 27th Aug.
3
4I've been a hateful girl this afternoon. I'm sure you're right. I
5shall see just as you do in a week or two's time. I’ll go on with my work.
6
Letter Reference | Letters/191 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 20 August 1886 |
Address From | Harrow, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 103 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harrow, 20th Aug.
3
4My sensation story is lovely. "Olive Schreiner can't write a sensation
5story!" Ach!
6
2Harrow, 20th Aug.
3
4My sensation story is lovely. "Olive Schreiner can't write a sensation
5story!" Ach!
6
Notation
The ‘sensation story’ referred to ‘New Rush’ seems to have existed as a complete manuscript. However, only a short early section now called 'Diamond Fields' is extant; see English in Africa? 1974, 1, 1, pp.1-28.
The ‘sensation story’ referred to ‘New Rush’ seems to have existed as a complete manuscript. However, only a short early section now called 'Diamond Fields' is extant; see English in Africa? 1974, 1, 1, pp.1-28.
Letter Reference | Letters/190 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 19 August 1886 |
Address From | Harrow, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 103 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harrow, 19th Aug.
3
4Olive Schreiner can't write a sensational story, can't she! I've
5written a devil of a fine sensational story. Whether when it’s quite
6done I'll think so well of it remains to be seen. I want you to read
7it, and tell me which you think is best, it is New Rush.
8
2Harrow, 19th Aug.
3
4Olive Schreiner can't write a sensational story, can't she! I've
5written a devil of a fine sensational story. Whether when it’s quite
6done I'll think so well of it remains to be seen. I want you to read
7it, and tell me which you think is best, it is New Rush.
8
Notation
The ‘sensational story’ referred to ‘New Rush’ seems to have existed as a complete manuscript. However, only a short early section now called 'Diamond Fields' is extant; see English in Africa? 1974, 1, 1, pp.1-28.
The ‘sensational story’ referred to ‘New Rush’ seems to have existed as a complete manuscript. However, only a short early section now called 'Diamond Fields' is extant; see English in Africa? 1974, 1, 1, pp.1-28.
Letter Reference | Letters/189 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 16 August 1886 |
Address From | Harrow, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 103 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harrow, 16th Aug.
3
4"What did Goethe's Faust sell himself for?" What is the one thing
5which we, any of us, the peculiar children of this age, would be
6willing to sell ourselves for? ... It is the glory of Goethe's Faust
7that it alone embodies the cry of its age, the cry which no other age
8has heard, yet which is the moving power in Whitman and in all the
9deepest inspiration of our age: "We will not only know all things, we
10will be all things."
11
2Harrow, 16th Aug.
3
4"What did Goethe's Faust sell himself for?" What is the one thing
5which we, any of us, the peculiar children of this age, would be
6willing to sell ourselves for? ... It is the glory of Goethe's Faust
7that it alone embodies the cry of its age, the cry which no other age
8has heard, yet which is the moving power in Whitman and in all the
9deepest inspiration of our age: "We will not only know all things, we
10will be all things."
11
Letter Reference | Letters/188 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 19 July 1886 |
Address From | Harrow, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 102-3 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harrow, 19th July.
3
4I am working so hard. I've never worked like this since I came to
5England. I could write a whole book in a month like this. Isn't the
6weather splendid? ...
7
8A beautiful letter from sweet noble old -. You know I feel people love
9me more than I deserve, and it’s sadder than being loved too little. I
10want to be able to love every human being back more than it loves me.
11
2Harrow, 19th July.
3
4I am working so hard. I've never worked like this since I came to
5England. I could write a whole book in a month like this. Isn't the
6weather splendid? ...
7
8A beautiful letter from sweet noble old -. You know I feel people love
9me more than I deserve, and it’s sadder than being loved too little. I
10want to be able to love every human being back more than it loves me.
11
Letter Reference | Letters/187 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 29 June 1886 |
Address From | Harrow, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 102 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harrow, 29th June.
3
4I feel almost mad to-day, I've had such a succession of painful
5reproaching letters. I'm perfectly willing to allow I'm everything
6that's wicked and false and mean, but people who reproach you
7shouldn't end their letters by saying: "And when will your book be
8ready?" I've been writing a long letter to Maggie, but what's the use?
9As soon as I've sent it someone else'll write just the same kind of
10letter to be answered.
11
2Harrow, 29th June.
3
4I feel almost mad to-day, I've had such a succession of painful
5reproaching letters. I'm perfectly willing to allow I'm everything
6that's wicked and false and mean, but people who reproach you
7shouldn't end their letters by saying: "And when will your book be
8ready?" I've been writing a long letter to Maggie, but what's the use?
9As soon as I've sent it someone else'll write just the same kind of
10letter to be answered.
11
Letter Reference | Letters/186 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 26 June 1886 |
Address From | Harrow, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 102 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harrow, 26th June.
3
4I'm getting to love Landor so in your edition. I'm going to read all
5he’s written. The more one reads the piece over and over the more one
6likes him. He's the genuine article.
7
2Harrow, 26th June.
3
4I'm getting to love Landor so in your edition. I'm going to read all
5he’s written. The more one reads the piece over and over the more one
6likes him. He's the genuine article.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/185 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 22 June 1886 |
Address From | Harrow, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 102 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harrow, 22nd June.
3
4That prostitute is so darling. You would love her. Would you like to
5meet her? She wants to read and be intellectual, it's quite pathetic.
6
2Harrow, 22nd June.
3
4That prostitute is so darling. You would love her. Would you like to
5meet her? She wants to read and be intellectual, it's quite pathetic.
6
Letter Reference | Letters/184 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 21 June 1886 |
Address From | Harrow, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 102 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harrow, 21st June.
3
4I have had a fashionable prostitute here all day, such a sweet bright
5gentle woman. I think she loves me; she says she is coming again.
6
2Harrow, 21st June.
3
4I have had a fashionable prostitute here all day, such a sweet bright
5gentle woman. I think she loves me; she says she is coming again.
6
Letter Reference | Letters/183 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 29 May 1886 |
Address From | Harrow, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 100-1; Rive 1987: 80 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harrow, 29th May.
3
4Havelock, all day yesterday I was writing and thinking about the unity
5of the Universe and our love of truth arising from that conception. I
6sat up till one writing. I couldn't sleep when I went to bed. For the
7first time for long, long, I thought of death, realised it, that
8wandering out of the soul alone; that's what I always feel death will
9be, though 1 know it won't be. I got that kind of suffocating feeling
10I used to have at Ratel Hoek, as if I couldn't bear to think of it, as
11if my physical heart was breaking. And then, sudden, out in the garden
12in the dark, in a tree just at my window, a nightingale began to sing,
13more beautifully than any sound I have ever heard. You can't think
14what a strange effect it had on me, how wonderful. I'll never forget
15it. In that utter still lonely night, when I felt so, to hear it. ...
16Thank you much for Walden. I love it. ... I haven't sent the MS., nor
17your books yet, because I can't goad myself into walking through the
18town to the post office. I can't bear to see people. I am so happy
19alone. I feel just like I used to at Lelie Kloof.
20
2Harrow, 29th May.
3
4Havelock, all day yesterday I was writing and thinking about the unity
5of the Universe and our love of truth arising from that conception. I
6sat up till one writing. I couldn't sleep when I went to bed. For the
7first time for long, long, I thought of death, realised it, that
8wandering out of the soul alone; that's what I always feel death will
9be, though 1 know it won't be. I got that kind of suffocating feeling
10I used to have at Ratel Hoek, as if I couldn't bear to think of it, as
11if my physical heart was breaking. And then, sudden, out in the garden
12in the dark, in a tree just at my window, a nightingale began to sing,
13more beautifully than any sound I have ever heard. You can't think
14what a strange effect it had on me, how wonderful. I'll never forget
15it. In that utter still lonely night, when I felt so, to hear it. ...
16Thank you much for Walden. I love it. ... I haven't sent the MS., nor
17your books yet, because I can't goad myself into walking through the
18town to the post office. I can't bear to see people. I am so happy
19alone. I feel just like I used to at Lelie Kloof.
20
Notation
Which manuscript Schreiner is referring to is not certain.
Which manuscript Schreiner is referring to is not certain.
Letter Reference | Letters/182 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 27 May 1886 |
Address From | Harrow, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 100 |
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. Cronwright-Schreiner has placed this letter in the 1886 sequence.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harrow, 27th May.
3
4I send you a bit of rough MS. as a specimen. Is it good enough to send
5to Press in its present state? I mean as to legibility, spelling,
6words left out, etc. ... You will think that long rigmarole on sex
7inartistic. But it bears on the story; it's all point-if only anyone
8will take the trouble to see the point.
9
2Harrow, 27th May.
3
4I send you a bit of rough MS. as a specimen. Is it good enough to send
5to Press in its present state? I mean as to legibility, spelling,
6words left out, etc. ... You will think that long rigmarole on sex
7inartistic. But it bears on the story; it's all point-if only anyone
8will take the trouble to see the point.
9
Notation
It is not certain which ‘bit of rough MS’ is being referred to.
It is not certain which ‘bit of rough MS’ is being referred to.
Letter Reference | Letters/181 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 20 May 1886 |
Address From | Harrow, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 100 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Harrow, 20th May.
3
4I love Burns more and more. I love that, "The Lark of Killyburn Braes.
5" The best line of Burns is in the 10th verse. "A reekit wee devil
6looks over the wa'." No one on earth but Burns would have written that,
7 coming just where it does.
8
2Harrow, 20th May.
3
4I love Burns more and more. I love that, "The Lark of Killyburn Braes.
5" The best line of Burns is in the 10th verse. "A reekit wee devil
6looks over the wa'." No one on earth but Burns would have written that,
7 coming just where it does.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/180 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 20 May 1886 |
Address From | The Convent, Harrow, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 100 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2The Convent, Harrow, 20th May.
3
4No, I deny that you can see how Wilhelm Meister was made; you can see
5how it grew, not how it was made. There is no will, no forethought,
6manifested in it. It came like that, like a tree, not like a Greek
7temple. You never know where you are going to turn next in Wilhelm
8Meister. No more did Goethe - yet all was of necessity, nothing of
9chance.
10
2The Convent, Harrow, 20th May.
3
4No, I deny that you can see how Wilhelm Meister was made; you can see
5how it grew, not how it was made. There is no will, no forethought,
6manifested in it. It came like that, like a tree, not like a Greek
7temple. You never know where you are going to turn next in Wilhelm
8Meister. No more did Goethe - yet all was of necessity, nothing of
9chance.
10
Letter Reference | Letters/179 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 16 May 1886 |
Address From | The Convent, Harrow, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 99 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2The Convent, Harrow, 16th May.
3
4I’m not troubled about art. I'm trying to enlighten you! ... Oh,
5Harrow is so lovely. I think you'd like it. You must come and spend a
6whole day with me.
7
2The Convent, Harrow, 16th May.
3
4I’m not troubled about art. I'm trying to enlighten you! ... Oh,
5Harrow is so lovely. I think you'd like it. You must come and spend a
6whole day with me.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/178 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 15 May 1886 |
Address From | The Convent, Harrow, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 99 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2The Convent, Harrow-On-The-Hill, 15th May.
3
4Got here an hour ago. Have a quiet dark room, and everything would be
5lovely but I have what I fear is hay asthma.
6
2The Convent, Harrow-On-The-Hill, 15th May.
3
4Got here an hour ago. Have a quiet dark room, and everything would be
5lovely but I have what I fear is hay asthma.
6
Letter Reference | Letters/177 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 28 April 1886 |
Address From | St Dominic’s Convent, Mutrix Road, Kilburn, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 98 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Kilburn, 28th April.
3
4I'm going to stick up for Miss Haddon like old boots. Compared to
5those white-washed sepulchres, the Hintonians are simply saints.
6
2Kilburn, 28th April.
3
4I'm going to stick up for Miss Haddon like old boots. Compared to
5those white-washed sepulchres, the Hintonians are simply saints.
6
Letter Reference | Letters/176 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 26 April 1886 |
Address From | St Dominic’s Convent, Mutrix Road, Kilburn, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 98 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Kilburn, 26th April.
3
4I've not seen or spoken to anyone for eight days and I feel so
5hysterical that I'm going to Mrs. Hinton's this afternoon.
6
2Kilburn, 26th April.
3
4I've not seen or spoken to anyone for eight days and I feel so
5hysterical that I'm going to Mrs. Hinton's this afternoon.
6
Letter Reference | Letters/175 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 19 April 1886 |
Address From | St Dominic’s Convent, Mutrix Road, Kilburn, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 98 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Kilburn, 19th April.
3
4I would like so much to have a child, but I couldn't bear to be
5married; neither could I bear any relationship that was not absolutely
6open to all the world - so I could never have one.
7
2Kilburn, 19th April.
3
4I would like so much to have a child, but I couldn't bear to be
5married; neither could I bear any relationship that was not absolutely
6open to all the world - so I could never have one.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/174 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 10 April 1886 |
Address From | St Dominic’s Convent, Mutrix Road, Kilburn, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 97 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Kilburn, 10th April.
3
4I went to see Holman Hunt's Exhibition this afternoon. You must go to
5see it, my darling. It is splendid. Whether it was my mood or the work,
6 I never have enjoyed pictures so much. You ought to go alone and be
7in a dreamy mood and dream over them. The streets fill me with such
8agony and sorrow now, I can't bear it. Oh, when will the time come
9when we shall love each other and realise that humanity is one! Remind
10me to tell you about a beautiful girl I saw; but it's not only the
11prostitutes make me sad, it's everything. I am so glad to get back to
12my little white quiet bedroom, but want to help those women. ... You
13say the MS. is splendid. Of course you would say so, whatever it was,
14to try and comfort me. You want so much to think so that you do think so.
15
2Kilburn, 10th April.
3
4I went to see Holman Hunt's Exhibition this afternoon. You must go to
5see it, my darling. It is splendid. Whether it was my mood or the work,
6 I never have enjoyed pictures so much. You ought to go alone and be
7in a dreamy mood and dream over them. The streets fill me with such
8agony and sorrow now, I can't bear it. Oh, when will the time come
9when we shall love each other and realise that humanity is one! Remind
10me to tell you about a beautiful girl I saw; but it's not only the
11prostitutes make me sad, it's everything. I am so glad to get back to
12my little white quiet bedroom, but want to help those women. ... You
13say the MS. is splendid. Of course you would say so, whatever it was,
14to try and comfort me. You want so much to think so that you do think so.
15
Notation
The manuscript referred to here is likely to be that of Undine.
The manuscript referred to here is likely to be that of Undine.
Letter Reference | Letters/173 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 6 April 1886 |
Address From | St Dominic’s Convent, Mutrix Road, Kilburn, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 97 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2The Convent, Kilburn (St. Dominic's), 6th April.
3
4It is so nice and quiet here. You can't think what a feeling of being
5far from the world one has. What happy peaceful faces most of these
6women have got!
7
2The Convent, Kilburn (St. Dominic's), 6th April.
3
4It is so nice and quiet here. You can't think what a feeling of being
5far from the world one has. What happy peaceful faces most of these
6women have got!
7
Letter Reference | Letters/172 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 1 April 1886 |
Address From | Southbourne, Dorset |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 96 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Southbourne-On-Sea, 1st April.
3
4Sweet comrade, I walked on the beach this evening. I like walking
5against the wind. There were great white breakers and blue water, and
6one bright star. I took my Whitman with me though I didn't mean to
7read him. I have worked to-day so delightfully, am going to sit up and
8work more. I think it is the hope of getting away from landladies. I
9feel so grateful for being a little better. ... Would you like to see
10the first half of my book when it is done or wait till it's finished?
11You are not to say one word about it to me if I show it you. I don't
12want to know what anyone says of it. Either now or ever.
13
2Southbourne-On-Sea, 1st April.
3
4Sweet comrade, I walked on the beach this evening. I like walking
5against the wind. There were great white breakers and blue water, and
6one bright star. I took my Whitman with me though I didn't mean to
7read him. I have worked to-day so delightfully, am going to sit up and
8work more. I think it is the hope of getting away from landladies. I
9feel so grateful for being a little better. ... Would you like to see
10the first half of my book when it is done or wait till it's finished?
11You are not to say one word about it to me if I show it you. I don't
12want to know what anyone says of it. Either now or ever.
13
Notation
The 'first half of my book' referred to is likely to be From Man to Man.
The 'first half of my book' referred to is likely to be From Man to Man.
Letter Reference | Letters/171 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 31 March 1886 |
Address From | Southbourne, Dorset |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 96 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Southbourne-On-Sea, 31st March.
3
4I do not think it will be very nice at Kilburn. But I am getting
5resigned to knock about the world alone like this, being ill if it is
6"God's will," but I should like to do a little more writing work
7before I die.
8
2Southbourne-On-Sea, 31st March.
3
4I do not think it will be very nice at Kilburn. But I am getting
5resigned to knock about the world alone like this, being ill if it is
6"God's will," but I should like to do a little more writing work
7before I die.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/170 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 28 March 1886 |
Address From | Southbourne, Dorset |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 96 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Southbourne-On-Sea, 28th March.
3
4The last chapter of Undine, I mean when she dies, is not so bad. Will
5you send it to - . Please burn the first part of the book - no, I
6can't trust you to. I'll burn it myself. ... I am very weak but my
7asthma is gone almost.
8
2Southbourne-On-Sea, 28th March.
3
4The last chapter of Undine, I mean when she dies, is not so bad. Will
5you send it to - . Please burn the first part of the book - no, I
6can't trust you to. I'll burn it myself. ... I am very weak but my
7asthma is gone almost.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/169 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 22 March 1886 |
Address From | Southbourne, Dorset |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 96 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Southbourne-On-Sea, 22nd March.
3
4I am so worn out I can't go on much longer. I must go and live at the
5Convent where I can have kindly human beings near me. You don't know
6what it is to have a mother like yours that looks after you. Give my
7love to her.
8
2Southbourne-On-Sea, 22nd March.
3
4I am so worn out I can't go on much longer. I must go and live at the
5Convent where I can have kindly human beings near me. You don't know
6what it is to have a mother like yours that looks after you. Give my
7love to her.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/168 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 19 March 1886 |
Address From | Bournemouth, Dorset |
Address To | |
Who To | Erilda Cawood nee Buckley |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 95-6 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. Cawood.
2Bournemouth, 19th March.
3
4Ach, dear friend, I do long so for a little Cape sunshine sometimes.
5Everything else is delightful here, but we never see the sun. Some day
6I shall come to have a look at him. I have been staying at the Isle of
7Wight, but it was too damp there; then I came here; such a lovely
8place - but it's too damp, so now I'm going to try Harrow-on-the-Hill
9near London. ...
10
11There is a very interesting book you would much like to read, if you
12have not, Variations of Plants and Animals, by Darwin. There are many
13interesting experiments with grafting, breeding, etc. Do you subscribe
14to the Cradock Library? You can get it there. That dear little library!
15 When I am rich I am going to send out £50 for it! It has given me
16more help and pleasure than anything else in my life almost. ... I
17wish I could see some Boers and some Kaffirs. I think I should kiss
18them all.
19
2Bournemouth, 19th March.
3
4Ach, dear friend, I do long so for a little Cape sunshine sometimes.
5Everything else is delightful here, but we never see the sun. Some day
6I shall come to have a look at him. I have been staying at the Isle of
7Wight, but it was too damp there; then I came here; such a lovely
8place - but it's too damp, so now I'm going to try Harrow-on-the-Hill
9near London. ...
10
11There is a very interesting book you would much like to read, if you
12have not, Variations of Plants and Animals, by Darwin. There are many
13interesting experiments with grafting, breeding, etc. Do you subscribe
14to the Cradock Library? You can get it there. That dear little library!
15 When I am rich I am going to send out £50 for it! It has given me
16more help and pleasure than anything else in my life almost. ... I
17wish I could see some Boers and some Kaffirs. I think I should kiss
18them all.
19
Letter Reference | Letters/167 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | March 1886 |
Address From | Bournemouth, Dorset |
Address To | |
Who To | Isaline Philpot |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 95 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. J. H. Philpot.
2Bournemouth, March.
3
4I had no idea Romola was so grand. How George Eliot seems to live
5again in it, and one feels her grand old heart beating through it.
6
2Bournemouth, March.
3
4I had no idea Romola was so grand. How George Eliot seems to live
5again in it, and one feels her grand old heart beating through it.
6
Letter Reference | Letters/166 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 16 March 1886 |
Address From | Bournemouth, Dorset |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 95 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Bournemouth, 16th March.
3
4My Havelock, I am as seedy as ever. I am now in that state of mind in
5which one is quite resigned.
6
2Bournemouth, 16th March.
3
4My Havelock, I am as seedy as ever. I am now in that state of mind in
5which one is quite resigned.
6
Letter Reference | Letters/164 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 9 March 1886 |
Address From | Bournemouth, Dorset |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 95 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Bournemouth, 9th March.
3
4My own, you must not expect me to write much. For the first time, the
5last two days I feel the old passion upon me to work a glory and a
6delight. It is because we have a little real sunshine. My asthma is
7bad, I fight for breath, but it doesn't matter.
8
2Bournemouth, 9th March.
3
4My own, you must not expect me to write much. For the first time, the
5last two days I feel the old passion upon me to work a glory and a
6delight. It is because we have a little real sunshine. My asthma is
7bad, I fight for breath, but it doesn't matter.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/165 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 10 March 1886 |
Address From | Bournemouth, Dorset |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 95 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Bournemouth, 10th March.
3
4I never could ever have conceived of the problem till the last two
5years. But now I feel that all the influence which I can have through
6my books is as nothing to the influence I can have personally.
7Anything I can do in my books is only a little over-flood of that
8influence. (But it lasts longer.) It is because I love and enjoy that
9so much better that I chafe against individuals taking my love and
10thought. And the two things are not to be combined. Exactly that
11life-blood which you give to your friends is what you in a lesser
12degree put into your books. Take Mrs. - . The moment I am passive and
13sit still, as you do, she weeps and says that I am "far from her." It
14is the same with - and everyone. I sometimes feel as if I was bleeding
15to death.
16
2Bournemouth, 10th March.
3
4I never could ever have conceived of the problem till the last two
5years. But now I feel that all the influence which I can have through
6my books is as nothing to the influence I can have personally.
7Anything I can do in my books is only a little over-flood of that
8influence. (But it lasts longer.) It is because I love and enjoy that
9so much better that I chafe against individuals taking my love and
10thought. And the two things are not to be combined. Exactly that
11life-blood which you give to your friends is what you in a lesser
12degree put into your books. Take Mrs. - . The moment I am passive and
13sit still, as you do, she weeps and says that I am "far from her." It
14is the same with - and everyone. I sometimes feel as if I was bleeding
15to death.
16
Letter Reference | Letters/163 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 1 March 1886 |
Address From | Bournemouth, Dorset |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 94 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Bournemouth, 1st March.
3
4Mrs.- comes to see me every afternoon. She says it helps her so much.
5I feel so selfish because I would rather be alone because I am
6beginning to work now. But, you know, it isn't real selfishness
7because I do give my work to other people, and it may help more people
8than talking or writing to one. This question between the duty to the
9individual and the work is the agony of my life. Whichever side I
10decide for my conscience tortures me on the other. ... I have been
11looking at Towards Democracy with such pleasure. I like that "Have
12faith." Please give my love to Edward Carpenter when you write, and
13tell him how I am liking him. I couldn't see him really in London,
14only the outward man, because I was crushed. I feel very happy and
15restful now. There is something so nice in knowing you must and may
16lie still on your back.
17
2Bournemouth, 1st March.
3
4Mrs.- comes to see me every afternoon. She says it helps her so much.
5I feel so selfish because I would rather be alone because I am
6beginning to work now. But, you know, it isn't real selfishness
7because I do give my work to other people, and it may help more people
8than talking or writing to one. This question between the duty to the
9individual and the work is the agony of my life. Whichever side I
10decide for my conscience tortures me on the other. ... I have been
11looking at Towards Democracy with such pleasure. I like that "Have
12faith." Please give my love to Edward Carpenter when you write, and
13tell him how I am liking him. I couldn't see him really in London,
14only the outward man, because I was crushed. I feel very happy and
15restful now. There is something so nice in knowing you must and may
16lie still on your back.
17
Letter Reference | Letters/162 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 27 February 1886 |
Address From | Bournemouth, Dorset |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 94 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Bournemouth, 27th Feb.
3
4Your letter was so sweet this morning. If you go to Australia I'd like
5to go as far as the Cape with you. Only perhaps it wouldn't rest you
6then. I'm feeling much better; better mentally than I have for months.
7It’s the laying perfectly still.
8
2Bournemouth, 27th Feb.
3
4Your letter was so sweet this morning. If you go to Australia I'd like
5to go as far as the Cape with you. Only perhaps it wouldn't rest you
6then. I'm feeling much better; better mentally than I have for months.
7It’s the laying perfectly still.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/161 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 24 February 1886 |
Address From | Bournemouth, Dorset |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 94 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Bournemouth, 24th Feb.
3
4The doctor says that I must keep quite still. I feel so happy and
5quiet somehow, like I did when I was ill at St. Leonards. ... I have
6been reading a little more of George Sand's letters, but one would
7like to see the letters they were in answer to. What a great strong
8impersonal soul it was! - a great, wise woman.
9
2Bournemouth, 24th Feb.
3
4The doctor says that I must keep quite still. I feel so happy and
5quiet somehow, like I did when I was ill at St. Leonards. ... I have
6been reading a little more of George Sand's letters, but one would
7like to see the letters they were in answer to. What a great strong
8impersonal soul it was! - a great, wise woman.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/160 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 23 February 1886 |
Address From | Bournemouth, Dorset |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 93 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Bournemouth, 23rd Feb.
3
4Much better, but doctor says I will have to keep quite still on my
5back for some time to come. Am reading second volume of George Sand's
6letters. So splendid. So different from George Eliot's. If Cross had
7nothing better, then he ought to have kept still. One has only one
8feeling in reading George Sand's letters. How great! How much greater
9the wonderful woman than her work!
10
2Bournemouth, 23rd Feb.
3
4Much better, but doctor says I will have to keep quite still on my
5back for some time to come. Am reading second volume of George Sand's
6letters. So splendid. So different from George Eliot's. If Cross had
7nothing better, then he ought to have kept still. One has only one
8feeling in reading George Sand's letters. How great! How much greater
9the wonderful woman than her work!
10
Letter Reference | Letters/159 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 19 February 1886 |
Address From | Bournemouth, Dorset |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 93 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Bournemouth, 19th Feb.
3
4I am very ill. I shall have to go to London if I do not get better. I
5am worse than I was at St. Leonards. Is there a place at Redhill where
6I could get a nice room or rooms cheap?
7
2Bournemouth, 19th Feb.
3
4I am very ill. I shall have to go to London if I do not get better. I
5am worse than I was at St. Leonards. Is there a place at Redhill where
6I could get a nice room or rooms cheap?
7
Letter Reference | Letters/158 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 6 February 1886 |
Address From | Shanklin, Isle of Wight |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 93 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Shanklin, 6th Feb.
3
4Mrs. Hinton, without saying a word to me, wrote to - that I was very
5ill, hadn't eaten anything since I came, looked like a ghost, etc. He
6is coming to-day. I am so miserable. I don't want to see anyone. I
7want to rest. I really am not ill, only worn out. It is so sweet of
8him to come. Everyone is so sweet to me.
9
2Shanklin, 6th Feb.
3
4Mrs. Hinton, without saying a word to me, wrote to - that I was very
5ill, hadn't eaten anything since I came, looked like a ghost, etc. He
6is coming to-day. I am so miserable. I don't want to see anyone. I
7want to rest. I really am not ill, only worn out. It is so sweet of
8him to come. Everyone is so sweet to me.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/157 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 4 February 1886 |
Address From | Shanklin, Isle of Wight |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 93 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Shanklin, 4th Feb.
3
4I can hardly walk, my legs are so bad. I'm going to try Bournemouth. I
5have such despairing letters from sweet old - . Oh, Havelock, why will
6not people understand I am not a marrying woman? ... I could work
7splendidly now, ill as I am, if I were not so troubled about others.
8
2Shanklin, 4th Feb.
3
4I can hardly walk, my legs are so bad. I'm going to try Bournemouth. I
5have such despairing letters from sweet old - . Oh, Havelock, why will
6not people understand I am not a marrying woman? ... I could work
7splendidly now, ill as I am, if I were not so troubled about others.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/156 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 2 February 1886 |
Address From | Shanklin, Isle of Wight |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 92 |
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. For the letter referred to see: Olive Schreiner to Ray Lankester, 31 January 1886, NELM Olive Schreiner: Havelock Ellis 2006.29/24.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Shanklin, 2nd Feb.
3
4My Havelock, I send you Ray Lankester's letter to me and mine to him.
5Will you do me a great favour? Read over mine carefully and see if it
6is mis-spelt... I have written it in such a dream that I am sure it is
7spelt backwards. I should have liked to copy it and keep both letters,
8they would be amusing in after years - but now I can’t do anything. ...
9 I am not at all well.
10
2Shanklin, 2nd Feb.
3
4My Havelock, I send you Ray Lankester's letter to me and mine to him.
5Will you do me a great favour? Read over mine carefully and see if it
6is mis-spelt... I have written it in such a dream that I am sure it is
7spelt backwards. I should have liked to copy it and keep both letters,
8they would be amusing in after years - but now I can’t do anything. ...
9 I am not at all well.
10
Letter Reference | Letters/155 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 31 January 1886 |
Address From | Shanklin, Isle of Wight |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 92 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Shanklin, 31st Jan.
3
4Yes, I have developed faster than ever in my life before, except that
5year at Dordrecht. Perhaps that is why I feel such horror at the
6thought of giving out. If only I could live quiet for two or three
7years, till I am thirty-three, and know I could have money to live on!
8One can't grow so much and keep on reproducing. Every day, every hour,
9I have new thoughts and combinations rushing in on me. I want to
10absorb, not to give out.
11
2Shanklin, 31st Jan.
3
4Yes, I have developed faster than ever in my life before, except that
5year at Dordrecht. Perhaps that is why I feel such horror at the
6thought of giving out. If only I could live quiet for two or three
7years, till I am thirty-three, and know I could have money to live on!
8One can't grow so much and keep on reproducing. Every day, every hour,
9I have new thoughts and combinations rushing in on me. I want to
10absorb, not to give out.
11
Letter Reference | Letters/154 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 23 January 1886 |
Address From | Shanklin, Isle of Wight |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 92 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Shanklin, 23rd Jan.
3
4I am much troubled about my head. I have a terrible feeling I shall
5never be able to work again, that those three years of agony have
6injured it - but I know it's fancy. Don't talk of it to me. I was made
7so happy by the note I got from you this morning. I wish so much you
8were here to walk on the sand with me.
9
2Shanklin, 23rd Jan.
3
4I am much troubled about my head. I have a terrible feeling I shall
5never be able to work again, that those three years of agony have
6injured it - but I know it's fancy. Don't talk of it to me. I was made
7so happy by the note I got from you this morning. I wish so much you
8were here to walk on the sand with me.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/153 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 20 January 1886 |
Address From | Shanklin, Isle of Wight |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 92; Rive 1987: 72 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Shanklin, 20th Jan.
3
4I am changed, but it is not to you. An instinct, I think of
5self-preservation, is making me draw in, but not to you so much as to
6others. People with sympathetic natures like mine must shield
7themselves from their own sympathies or they must be cruelly crushed
8and life's work left undone. I don't know if you understand what I
9mean, yet you ought to, for in that silent passivity of yours you have
10always a shield up between you and the world. I have dropped my shield
11for the last four years, but I mean to take it up again. ... If I
12marry now I will marry the man who needs me most. But I shall not
13marry.
14
2Shanklin, 20th Jan.
3
4I am changed, but it is not to you. An instinct, I think of
5self-preservation, is making me draw in, but not to you so much as to
6others. People with sympathetic natures like mine must shield
7themselves from their own sympathies or they must be cruelly crushed
8and life's work left undone. I don't know if you understand what I
9mean, yet you ought to, for in that silent passivity of yours you have
10always a shield up between you and the world. I have dropped my shield
11for the last four years, but I mean to take it up again. ... If I
12marry now I will marry the man who needs me most. But I shall not
13marry.
14
Letter Reference | Letters/152 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 17 January 1886 |
Address From | Shanklin, Isle of Wight |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 91 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Shanklin, 17th Jan.
3
4You don't understand the horror I have of talking of myself and my own
5feelings, and you call that reserve. I talk much more of myself to you
6than to any other creature - more than I think of myself. ... A long
7letter on woman question from Ray Lankester which I will send you. I
8am going to try and work out the whole woman question as far as
9possible here. It is so delightful to be alone. To feel there is no
10right and no wrong - no one to make miserable.
11
2Shanklin, 17th Jan.
3
4You don't understand the horror I have of talking of myself and my own
5feelings, and you call that reserve. I talk much more of myself to you
6than to any other creature - more than I think of myself. ... A long
7letter on woman question from Ray Lankester which I will send you. I
8am going to try and work out the whole woman question as far as
9possible here. It is so delightful to be alone. To feel there is no
10right and no wrong - no one to make miserable.
11
Letter Reference | Letters/151 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 16 January 1886 |
Address From | Royal Spa Hotel, Shanklin, Isle of Wight |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 91 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
2Royal Spa Hotel, Shanklin, 16th Jan.
3
4Perhaps when I have been here a few weeks I shall begin to write
5letters again. You would love this place, it is so solitary, quieter
6than Derbyshire, much; I am the only visitor in this huge hotel.
7
2Royal Spa Hotel, Shanklin, 16th Jan.
3
4Perhaps when I have been here a few weeks I shall begin to write
5letters again. You would love this place, it is so solitary, quieter
6than Derbyshire, much; I am the only visitor in this huge hotel.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/150 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 12 January 1886 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 91 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 12th Jan.
3
4Just starting. All in a dream. Address Shanklin.
5
216, Portsea Place, 12th Jan.
3
4Just starting. All in a dream. Address Shanklin.
5
Letter Reference | Letters/149 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 8 January 1886 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 91 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 8th Jan.
3
4I went by myself to the Millais pictures this morning. I hate Millais
5more than ever - a cold worldly soul, without one touch of the true fire.
6
7I am going this evening to the Metropole to dine with Dr. and Mrs.
8Chapman of the Westminster. ... I don't think there is anything false
9in my heart to you or anyone, not even unreal. It is only that the
10feeling I have not for you or any man you all of you want. Your little
11sister and comrade.
12
216, Portsea Place, 8th Jan.
3
4I went by myself to the Millais pictures this morning. I hate Millais
5more than ever - a cold worldly soul, without one touch of the true fire.
6
7I am going this evening to the Metropole to dine with Dr. and Mrs.
8Chapman of the Westminster. ... I don't think there is anything false
9in my heart to you or anyone, not even unreal. It is only that the
10feeling I have not for you or any man you all of you want. Your little
11sister and comrade.
12
Letter Reference | Letters/147 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 1885 |
Address From | na |
Address To | |
Who To | Louie Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 89 |
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.
|
1To Miss Louie Ellis.
2
3Thank you for your nice long letter. I've been dreaming about over my
4work all day but haven't done much that's visible. I somehow feel
5stupid. I got a nice letter from Roden Noel this morning, and I had
6written to him last night. He asks me if J. A. Symonds has written to
7me about S.A.F. I should like to know him (Symonds) because his tone
8of mind is so sympathetic to mine, and to Havelock's too I always
9think. I shall be quite sorry if you leave that old house because I
10can picture you all so nicely there. Yes, I wish you and I could be
11together for at least a week; you don't get to know people really from
12just being with them a few minutes. I should go to have my likeness
13taken, but then I'd have to sew lace into the neck and sleeves of my
14dress. I feel so weak the last few days; like Mrs. Dombey, “I can't
15make an effort," but I can sit and scribble and think well enough! I'm
16very glad Havelock's going to have his taken but he'll put on his
17visitor face and then it won't be worth anything. He ought to be taken
18smiling, but then one never wishes to smile when one's undergoing that
19suffering. I'm going to go to Pevensey Castle next week one day to
20walk about in the ruins and wake up.
21
22With my love,
23Olive.
24
2
3Thank you for your nice long letter. I've been dreaming about over my
4work all day but haven't done much that's visible. I somehow feel
5stupid. I got a nice letter from Roden Noel this morning, and I had
6written to him last night. He asks me if J. A. Symonds has written to
7me about S.A.F. I should like to know him (Symonds) because his tone
8of mind is so sympathetic to mine, and to Havelock's too I always
9think. I shall be quite sorry if you leave that old house because I
10can picture you all so nicely there. Yes, I wish you and I could be
11together for at least a week; you don't get to know people really from
12just being with them a few minutes. I should go to have my likeness
13taken, but then I'd have to sew lace into the neck and sleeves of my
14dress. I feel so weak the last few days; like Mrs. Dombey, “I can't
15make an effort," but I can sit and scribble and think well enough! I'm
16very glad Havelock's going to have his taken but he'll put on his
17visitor face and then it won't be worth anything. He ought to be taken
18smiling, but then one never wishes to smile when one's undergoing that
19suffering. I'm going to go to Pevensey Castle next week one day to
20walk about in the ruins and wake up.
21
22With my love,
23Olive.
24
Letter Reference | Letters/148 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 3 January 1886 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 90 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 3rd Jan.
3
4I can’t marry, Henry, I can't, and some awful power seems drawing me
5on. I think I shall go mad. I couldn't. I must be free, you know, I
6must be free. I've been free all my life, Henry! Oh, they can't cut my
7wings!
8
216, Portsea Place, 3rd Jan.
3
4I can’t marry, Henry, I can't, and some awful power seems drawing me
5on. I think I shall go mad. I couldn't. I must be free, you know, I
6must be free. I've been free all my life, Henry! Oh, they can't cut my
7wings!
8
Letter Reference | Letters/146 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 29 December 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 89 |
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. Two drafts of Schreiner’s letter to the Daily News can be found at HRC/OliveSchreinerLetters/OS-DailyNews/1 and HRC/OliveSchreinerLetters/OS-DailyNews/2.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 29th Dec.
3
4The policeman has been to apologise to me, sent by [the mutual friend]
5but that makes no difference. I must write; it is a matter of
6principle. ... I am not going to see anyone who calls, I am not going
7to write to anyone, except, perhaps, a word to you when it rests me. A
8little more and I shall break down, for ever. Oh, for one month when I
9should not see a human face or hear a human voice. Carpenter is the
10only exception I would make if he called, but I don't think he will.
11What is his address? Goodbye, my sweet, noble comrade. Write to me.
12
216, Portsea Place, 29th Dec.
3
4The policeman has been to apologise to me, sent by [the mutual friend]
5but that makes no difference. I must write; it is a matter of
6principle. ... I am not going to see anyone who calls, I am not going
7to write to anyone, except, perhaps, a word to you when it rests me. A
8little more and I shall break down, for ever. Oh, for one month when I
9should not see a human face or hear a human voice. Carpenter is the
10only exception I would make if he called, but I don't think he will.
11What is his address? Goodbye, my sweet, noble comrade. Write to me.
12
Letter Reference | Letters/145 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 26 December 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 88-9 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 26th Dec.
3
4My Havelock, a policeman wanted to take me to prison yesterday because
5I was walking with [a mutual friend] up the square at 12 o'clock. My God,
6 my God, but I am mad! You will see my letter in the Daily News. Tell
7Louie I am too mad to write to her or anyone. Oh, Havelock, all those
8poor women! If you had seen the look of the wretch as he came up and
9said: "I don't want you, sir, I want her"!
10
216, Portsea Place, 26th Dec.
3
4My Havelock, a policeman wanted to take me to prison yesterday because
5I was walking with [a mutual friend] up the square at 12 o'clock. My God,
6 my God, but I am mad! You will see my letter in the Daily News. Tell
7Louie I am too mad to write to her or anyone. Oh, Havelock, all those
8poor women! If you had seen the look of the wretch as he came up and
9said: "I don't want you, sir, I want her"!
10
Notation
Two drafts of Schreiner’s letter to the Daily News can be found at HRC/OliveSchreinerLetters/OS-DailyNews/1 and HRC/OliveSchreinerLetters/OS-DailyNews/2.
Two drafts of Schreiner’s letter to the Daily News can be found at HRC/OliveSchreinerLetters/OS-DailyNews/1 and HRC/OliveSchreinerLetters/OS-DailyNews/2.
Letter Reference | Letters/144 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 25 December 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Isaline Philpot |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 88 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. J. H. Philpot.
216, Portsea Place, 25th Dec.
3
4Life, from the time one enters it, seems to be a battle between the
5duty one owes to one's work of life, and the duty one owes to the
6fellowmen one loves and to one's own nature. If one was a little wiser,
7 one would know how to combine all.
8
216, Portsea Place, 25th Dec.
3
4Life, from the time one enters it, seems to be a battle between the
5duty one owes to one's work of life, and the duty one owes to the
6fellowmen one loves and to one's own nature. If one was a little wiser,
7 one would know how to combine all.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/143 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 18 December 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 88 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 18th Dec. (2nd letter).
3
4My heart is getting worse and worse. I think it is the bad drainage. I
5am moving into another bedroom.
6
216, Portsea Place, 18th Dec. (2nd letter).
3
4My heart is getting worse and worse. I think it is the bad drainage. I
5am moving into another bedroom.
6
Letter Reference | Letters/142 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 18 December 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 88 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 18th Dec.
3
4I went to see an old woman in Bolsover St., she is a procuress I can
5see, and she has such a pretty girl with her whom I want to get away,
6and I'm just going to see the girl again. I love that girl.
7
216, Portsea Place, 18th Dec.
3
4I went to see an old woman in Bolsover St., she is a procuress I can
5see, and she has such a pretty girl with her whom I want to get away,
6and I'm just going to see the girl again. I love that girl.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/141 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 1 December 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 88 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 1st Dec.
3
4Shall I sign the Ruskin paper for you? It's just to say we feel real
5sympathy with him and think he’s used his genius well and nobly;
6though we may not agree with everything he says.
7
216, Portsea Place, 1st Dec.
3
4Shall I sign the Ruskin paper for you? It's just to say we feel real
5sympathy with him and think he’s used his genius well and nobly;
6though we may not agree with everything he says.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/140 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 30 November 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 88 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 30th Nov.
3
4I'm so well, and that's the crown blessing, when I think of the agony
5in which I lay all this time last year. All that life at St. Leonards
6is such a nightmare to me.
7
216, Portsea Place, 30th Nov.
3
4I'm so well, and that's the crown blessing, when I think of the agony
5in which I lay all this time last year. All that life at St. Leonards
6is such a nightmare to me.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/139 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 27 November 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 87 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 27th Nov.
3
4I am just sitting down to my writing. I really am going to sit to-day.
5I'm all ideas, ideas for my book, ideas for my stories; ideas for
6articles. I am very well.
7
216, Portsea Place, 27th Nov.
3
4I am just sitting down to my writing. I really am going to sit to-day.
5I'm all ideas, ideas for my book, ideas for my stories; ideas for
6articles. I am very well.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/138 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 20 November 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 87 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 20th Nov.
3
4Please, when you have time, put me down the names of six especially
5good books about syphilis. I have been working all day, very happy. I
6have lit my lamp, and am going to make myself a little tea now. Oh, I
7will be so nice to everybody when my article and book are done! Tell
8Louie I'll write her letters yards long then.
9
216, Portsea Place, 20th Nov.
3
4Please, when you have time, put me down the names of six especially
5good books about syphilis. I have been working all day, very happy. I
6have lit my lamp, and am going to make myself a little tea now. Oh, I
7will be so nice to everybody when my article and book are done! Tell
8Louie I'll write her letters yards long then.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/137 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 16 November 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 86; Rive 1987: 68-9 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 16th Nov.
3
4Never, except perhaps when I was at Dordrecht, has my mind worked and
5expanded as it does now. Never have I felt I was doing so much or had
6so much to do. It’s just because of that that I feel no wish ever to
7think or talk of myself, or to give way to aimless emotion of any kind.
8 The one thing that troubles is where I am to draw the line between
9the duty I owe to all the many people whom I feel I can help and
10influence (in what I at least think the right direction), and my
11writing, which may influence people at large. I often feel as if my
12real work lay with individuals. I sometimes am filled almost with
13terror at the sense of the power I have over them, without wishing or
14trying to exert it at all. I can easily understand the influence my
15books might have; but when people tell me, as Mrs. - did the other day,
16 that if she came near me her whole life would be moulded and changed
17by mine, that already the world didn't look the same to her, I feel a
18kind of wonder and oppression. I can't bear the feeling sometimes.
19Even in your case I can feel my individuality sometimes oppressing you.
20 You don't need me, I'm not good for you, I think. I don't know how it
21is, I've never analysed, I never analyse nowadays. I just live on and
22act as my first impulse directs. Even to analyse and look at myself as
23much as this letter requires is acutely painful to me. It's very funny
24why it should be so. Perhaps some day I shall understand. Now I just
25think and work on as I feel. I have grown in the last six months; I
26could do what I could not before. Perhaps I shall get back my old
27strength, with the added sym-pathy that these three terrible years of
28darkness and weakness gave me.
29
30I have been working at my Man and Woman thing with intense delight
31to-day. Even you don't understand the way I love to work, and this
32article will be all as real work as Waldo's death-scene. I am always
33satisfied if I see more, if I like my work.
34
35It is strange, but sometimes, when I come near other minds, and we
36touch each other, I have the same sense of joy I have in my work. It
37is an end in itself.
38
39It is late. I have been walking up and down in the dark and wet in
40Blandford Square alone. I'm beginning to like the fog. I've found out
41what a wonderful thing it is; there's something so wild and uncanny in it.
42
43Perhaps when my paper is done everyone will laugh at it. But it
44doesn't matter; I know what I feel and I have the joy of writing. When
45I've done this paper and my book (I'm not going to hurry myself), then
46I'm going to live among these women and know them. Good-night, my
47comrade, my sweet old helper, who is so dear to me and part of myself.
48... You must come to the Ghosts reading: Roden Noel is coming.
49
216, Portsea Place, 16th Nov.
3
4Never, except perhaps when I was at Dordrecht, has my mind worked and
5expanded as it does now. Never have I felt I was doing so much or had
6so much to do. It’s just because of that that I feel no wish ever to
7think or talk of myself, or to give way to aimless emotion of any kind.
8 The one thing that troubles is where I am to draw the line between
9the duty I owe to all the many people whom I feel I can help and
10influence (in what I at least think the right direction), and my
11writing, which may influence people at large. I often feel as if my
12real work lay with individuals. I sometimes am filled almost with
13terror at the sense of the power I have over them, without wishing or
14trying to exert it at all. I can easily understand the influence my
15books might have; but when people tell me, as Mrs. - did the other day,
16 that if she came near me her whole life would be moulded and changed
17by mine, that already the world didn't look the same to her, I feel a
18kind of wonder and oppression. I can't bear the feeling sometimes.
19Even in your case I can feel my individuality sometimes oppressing you.
20 You don't need me, I'm not good for you, I think. I don't know how it
21is, I've never analysed, I never analyse nowadays. I just live on and
22act as my first impulse directs. Even to analyse and look at myself as
23much as this letter requires is acutely painful to me. It's very funny
24why it should be so. Perhaps some day I shall understand. Now I just
25think and work on as I feel. I have grown in the last six months; I
26could do what I could not before. Perhaps I shall get back my old
27strength, with the added sym-pathy that these three terrible years of
28darkness and weakness gave me.
29
30I have been working at my Man and Woman thing with intense delight
31to-day. Even you don't understand the way I love to work, and this
32article will be all as real work as Waldo's death-scene. I am always
33satisfied if I see more, if I like my work.
34
35It is strange, but sometimes, when I come near other minds, and we
36touch each other, I have the same sense of joy I have in my work. It
37is an end in itself.
38
39It is late. I have been walking up and down in the dark and wet in
40Blandford Square alone. I'm beginning to like the fog. I've found out
41what a wonderful thing it is; there's something so wild and uncanny in it.
42
43Perhaps when my paper is done everyone will laugh at it. But it
44doesn't matter; I know what I feel and I have the joy of writing. When
45I've done this paper and my book (I'm not going to hurry myself), then
46I'm going to live among these women and know them. Good-night, my
47comrade, my sweet old helper, who is so dear to me and part of myself.
48... You must come to the Ghosts reading: Roden Noel is coming.
49
Notation
The ‘Man and Woman thing’ was intended for presentation at a Men and Women’s Club meeting, but was never completed.
The ‘Man and Woman thing’ was intended for presentation at a Men and Women’s Club meeting, but was never completed.
Letter Reference | Letters/136 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 9 November 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 86 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 9th Nov.
3
4Harry, I feel tired and heartsore to-night. What if there's nothing
5true, nothing real, in all the world! Good-night.
6
216, Portsea Place, 9th Nov.
3
4Harry, I feel tired and heartsore to-night. What if there's nothing
5true, nothing real, in all the world! Good-night.
6
Letter Reference | Letters/135 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 6 November 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 85-6 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 6th Nov.
3
4I went to Mrs. Hinton's last night; they were so nice. But if I am to
5work at all I must make a rule not to go about. I think it's the
6streets that tire me nervously so awfully. I am well and strong, very
7well muscularly. Miss Lord came yesterday afternoon and was very nice.
8
216, Portsea Place, 6th Nov.
3
4I went to Mrs. Hinton's last night; they were so nice. But if I am to
5work at all I must make a rule not to go about. I think it's the
6streets that tire me nervously so awfully. I am well and strong, very
7well muscularly. Miss Lord came yesterday afternoon and was very nice.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/134 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 5 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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 5th Nov.
3
4Scribbling and thinking all day. How is it my mind takes such a long
5time to satisfy before I feel that I have even got to the proximate
6truth about anything? I shall go to my grave still trying to make up
7my mind whether I have got to the bottom of the question.
8
216, Portsea Place, 5th Nov.
3
4Scribbling and thinking all day. How is it my mind takes such a long
5time to satisfy before I feel that I have even got to the proximate
6truth about anything? I shall go to my grave still trying to make up
7my mind whether I have got to the bottom of the question.
8
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.
|
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
Letter Reference | Letters/132 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 31 October 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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 31st Oct.
3
4Arnold White has been here. He's a tall, handsome man, rather stout,
5about forty. He is, I think, an aristocrat. He says Sir Charles Warren
6has read my book and liked it so. He brought me heaps more flowers
7to-day. He wants me to go to Greenwich or somewhere with him for the
8day! I've never had such a strange interview with anyone in my life.
9He says my book is like the Bible to him. You will laugh when I tell
10you all about it.
11
216, Portsea Place, 31st Oct.
3
4Arnold White has been here. He's a tall, handsome man, rather stout,
5about forty. He is, I think, an aristocrat. He says Sir Charles Warren
6has read my book and liked it so. He brought me heaps more flowers
7to-day. He wants me to go to Greenwich or somewhere with him for the
8day! I've never had such a strange interview with anyone in my life.
9He says my book is like the Bible to him. You will laugh when I tell
10you all about it.
11
Notation
‘My book’ refers to The Story of An African Farm.
‘My book’ refers to The Story of An African Farm.
Letter Reference | Letters/131 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 29 October 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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 29th Oct.
3
4My landlady has given me notice to leave at once because I have so
5many men visitors. I am getting out of bed to go and look for rooms.
6
216, Portsea Place, 29th Oct.
3
4My landlady has given me notice to leave at once because I have so
5many men visitors. I am getting out of bed to go and look for rooms.
6
Letter Reference | Letters/130 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 28 October 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 84 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 28th Oct.
3
4Chest bad but better. … I am going to write to that Arnold White; it
5will be nice to see someone who comes from the Cape. ... Why won't you
6let me see Miss Haddon's letter? I know she will look upon me as one
7of us," just as the Christians do. It rather flatters me to feel that
8however much I contradict people they will persist in thinking I feel
9as they do!
10
216, Portsea Place, 28th Oct.
3
4Chest bad but better. … I am going to write to that Arnold White; it
5will be nice to see someone who comes from the Cape. ... Why won't you
6let me see Miss Haddon's letter? I know she will look upon me as one
7of us," just as the Christians do. It rather flatters me to feel that
8however much I contradict people they will persist in thinking I feel
9as they do!
10
Letter Reference | Letters/129 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 27 October 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 84 |
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. ‘My book’ refers to The Story of An African Farm.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 27th Oct.
3
4I don't like Michael Field's letter, not at all. She's false and
5artificial. Clever, nothing more, very clever. ... Give my kind
6regards to Edward Carpenter when you write, and tell him I will be
7very glad if he will come to see me when he comes to London, if he has
8time. I am stupid, but I will, I will, I will try to work to-morrow.
9(Later.) Chest very bad. Couldn't see anyone this afternoon. Haggard,
10Marston, etc., came. Just had a letter from Arnold White who has come
11from the Cape, says he has read my book and wants to come and see me.
12
216, Portsea Place, 27th Oct.
3
4I don't like Michael Field's letter, not at all. She's false and
5artificial. Clever, nothing more, very clever. ... Give my kind
6regards to Edward Carpenter when you write, and tell him I will be
7very glad if he will come to see me when he comes to London, if he has
8time. I am stupid, but I will, I will, I will try to work to-morrow.
9(Later.) Chest very bad. Couldn't see anyone this afternoon. Haggard,
10Marston, etc., came. Just had a letter from Arnold White who has come
11from the Cape, says he has read my book and wants to come and see me.
12
Letter Reference | Letters/128 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 26 October 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 84 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 26th Oct.
3
4Have just come back from Dr. Philpot's. Ray Lankester was there. He is
5the most powerful human being I ever came into contact with; he is
6like those winged beasts from Nineveh at the British Museum. What you
7feel is just immense force.
8
216, Portsea Place, 26th Oct.
3
4Have just come back from Dr. Philpot's. Ray Lankester was there. He is
5the most powerful human being I ever came into contact with; he is
6like those winged beasts from Nineveh at the British Museum. What you
7feel is just immense force.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/127 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 24 October 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 84 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 24th Oct.
3
4It seems so nice to talk a little to you. I got back about 1 to-day. I
5wrote a letter to you at Dover and dropped it in the street. I really
6love Carrie, and her sister is just as nice. I would like to go to
7Dover just to be near them. What beautiful unselfish lives! One feels
8the better for seeing them.
9
216, Portsea Place, 24th Oct.
3
4It seems so nice to talk a little to you. I got back about 1 to-day. I
5wrote a letter to you at Dover and dropped it in the street. I really
6love Carrie, and her sister is just as nice. I would like to go to
7Dover just to be near them. What beautiful unselfish lives! One feels
8the better for seeing them.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/126 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 6 October 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 83 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 6th Oct.
3
4I'm working at my dress to-night. I can't do stiff brain work. I have
5no control over my mind. I can only keep trying to distract it. ... I
6am well physically.
7
216, Portsea Place, 6th Oct.
3
4I'm working at my dress to-night. I can't do stiff brain work. I have
5no control over my mind. I can only keep trying to distract it. ... I
6am well physically.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/125 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 5 October 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 83 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
25th Oct. (2nd letter).
3
4Miss Müller came and took me for a drive this afternoon; we went to
5Wimbledon. It was such a help to me. I am so tired. I want to lose
6myself in my work. Don't wonder, please, if I don't write much, you
7are not far from me even when I don't write.
8
25th Oct. (2nd letter).
3
4Miss Müller came and took me for a drive this afternoon; we went to
5Wimbledon. It was such a help to me. I am so tired. I want to lose
6myself in my work. Don't wonder, please, if I don't write much, you
7are not far from me even when I don't write.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/124 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 5 October 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 83 |
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. The story referred to was never written.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 5th Oct.
3
4A splendid flash, a whole story, this morning, so lovely, about a rich
5grand prostitute. Oh, so splendid, you will like it so. I am going to
6sit down and begin at once. ... I must work now for money. I shall
7have to beg my brother for a few pounds or work for it. It's so
8splendid to be quite without money and quite reckless. I feel like I
9used to.
10
216, Portsea Place, 5th Oct.
3
4A splendid flash, a whole story, this morning, so lovely, about a rich
5grand prostitute. Oh, so splendid, you will like it so. I am going to
6sit down and begin at once. ... I must work now for money. I shall
7have to beg my brother for a few pounds or work for it. It's so
8splendid to be quite without money and quite reckless. I feel like I
9used to.
10
Letter Reference | Letters/123 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 5 October 1885 |
Address From | London |
Address To | |
Who To | Erilda Cawood nee Buckley |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 83 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. Cawood.
2London, 5th Oct.
3
4Ach, I would like to see old Africa a bit, I would like to smell the
5mimosa trees. I often see the sun shining on that flat in Ganna Hoek.
6It never shines so here. I t is only the people that make England so
7delightful; our old Africa beats this old country through and through,
8but the people are so delightful that one forgives it.
9
2London, 5th Oct.
3
4Ach, I would like to see old Africa a bit, I would like to smell the
5mimosa trees. I often see the sun shining on that flat in Ganna Hoek.
6It never shines so here. I t is only the people that make England so
7delightful; our old Africa beats this old country through and through,
8but the people are so delightful that one forgives it.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/118 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 18 September 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 82 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 18th Sept.
3
4The thought suddenly came to me this evening that - had come back.
5(You know he wasn't to come till next week.) I knew it quite well. I
6put on my things and went round to - Street. The hall lamp was lighted
7and there was a little light shining through the shutters of the room.
8I came home, I was going to have my warm bath and was undressed when I
9heard a woman and child singing outside in the street. I went to the
10window to give them some pennies, and when I looked out I saw him
11going away. My landlady said I was gone to bed. He said he would come
12again to-morrow, and she mustn't tell me he had been. Do you like me
13to tell you all about myself? You must tell me if ever you don't.
14
216, Portsea Place, 18th Sept.
3
4The thought suddenly came to me this evening that - had come back.
5(You know he wasn't to come till next week.) I knew it quite well. I
6put on my things and went round to - Street. The hall lamp was lighted
7and there was a little light shining through the shutters of the room.
8I came home, I was going to have my warm bath and was undressed when I
9heard a woman and child singing outside in the street. I went to the
10window to give them some pennies, and when I looked out I saw him
11going away. My landlady said I was gone to bed. He said he would come
12again to-morrow, and she mustn't tell me he had been. Do you like me
13to tell you all about myself? You must tell me if ever you don't.
14
Letter Reference | Letters/119 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 28 September 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 82 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 28th Sept.
3
4I have been reading Diana of the Crossways all day. Isn't it splendid!
5I am going to write to poor old Meredith, they say he is so ill. My
6head is still so bad I don't know what to do. I wish I could come
7to-morrow, but if it's so cold I can't.
8
216, Portsea Place, 28th Sept.
3
4I have been reading Diana of the Crossways all day. Isn't it splendid!
5I am going to write to poor old Meredith, they say he is so ill. My
6head is still so bad I don't know what to do. I wish I could come
7to-morrow, but if it's so cold I can't.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/120 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 29 September 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 82 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 29th Sept.
3
4Yesterday D - came; he says I'm not to work for a week. He took me to
5dinner at the P-'s. When we came back we had a talk. He talked so
6nicely of you.
7
216, Portsea Place, 29th Sept.
3
4Yesterday D - came; he says I'm not to work for a week. He took me to
5dinner at the P-'s. When we came back we had a talk. He talked so
6nicely of you.
7
Letter Reference | Letters/121 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 4 October 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Isaline Philpot |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 82 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. J. H. Phllpot.
216, Portsea Place, 4th Oct.
3
4I think Diana of the Crossways the most fascinating novel that has
5been published in England since The Mill on the Floss.
6
216, Portsea Place, 4th Oct.
3
4I think Diana of the Crossways the most fascinating novel that has
5been published in England since The Mill on the Floss.
6
Letter Reference | Letters/122 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 5 October 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Erilda Cawood nee Buckley |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 83 |
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.
|
1To Mrs. Cawood.
216, Portsea Place, 5th Oct.
3
4I've a great many friends who are very loving to me, but sometimes I
5feel very lonely. I want something really to belong to me; there seems
6always one side of one's nature left empty when one lives alone like I
7do. I can't marry, you know, because I never can find anyone that
8suits me.
9
216, Portsea Place, 5th Oct.
3
4I've a great many friends who are very loving to me, but sometimes I
5feel very lonely. I want something really to belong to me; there seems
6always one side of one's nature left empty when one lives alone like I
7do. I can't marry, you know, because I never can find anyone that
8suits me.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/117 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 14 September 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 81 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 14th Sept.
3
4Dr. Wilks and Mrs. Barnes called this afternoon. Dr. Wilks and I had a
5nice long talk about the expression of the mind through the body. He
6is a fine man intellectually. They wanted me to go there to-morrow
7evening, but I won't go out anywhere. It will be right to go on the
8river to-morrow because the fresh air will set me up.
9
216, Portsea Place, 14th Sept.
3
4Dr. Wilks and Mrs. Barnes called this afternoon. Dr. Wilks and I had a
5nice long talk about the expression of the mind through the body. He
6is a fine man intellectually. They wanted me to go there to-morrow
7evening, but I won't go out anywhere. It will be right to go on the
8river to-morrow because the fresh air will set me up.
9
Letter Reference | Letters/116 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 11 September 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 81 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 11th Sept. (2nd letter).
3
4Only fit to walk about outside and look at the street. ... I think I
5see the whole woman question in a way I never did before, and more
6clearly than ever now. I have not been wasting my time lately, though
7I seem to have been.
8
216, Portsea Place, 11th Sept. (2nd letter).
3
4Only fit to walk about outside and look at the street. ... I think I
5see the whole woman question in a way I never did before, and more
6clearly than ever now. I have not been wasting my time lately, though
7I seem to have been.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/115 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 11 September 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 81 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 11th Sept.
3
4Sat up almost the whole night writing. So stupid this morning.
5
216, Portsea Place, 11th Sept.
3
4Sat up almost the whole night writing. So stupid this morning.
5
Letter Reference | Letters/114 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 3 September 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 80 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 3rd Sept.
3
4I don't think I am going to the Isle of Wight. I can't afford it. I
5must stay quietly and work everything down. I will try not to see
6anyone for the next week. In a hundred years we'll all be asleep
7quietly under the ground.
8
216, Portsea Place, 3rd Sept.
3
4I don't think I am going to the Isle of Wight. I can't afford it. I
5must stay quietly and work everything down. I will try not to see
6anyone for the next week. In a hundred years we'll all be asleep
7quietly under the ground.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/113 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 2 September 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 80 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 2nd Sept.
3
4I am starting off to Ventnor on Friday, I don't know where I shall go,
5I shall only take my little black case, so I can wander anywhere. I
6can't sit still here. ... The Doctor was pained with my note, didn't
7come to see me, only wrote a note.
8
216, Portsea Place, 2nd Sept.
3
4I am starting off to Ventnor on Friday, I don't know where I shall go,
5I shall only take my little black case, so I can wander anywhere. I
6can't sit still here. ... The Doctor was pained with my note, didn't
7come to see me, only wrote a note.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/112 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 25 August 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 80 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 25th Aug.
3
4I am going to bed. D - came for a few minutes. He said a few words in
5his sweet respectful manner and borrowed Bebel's Woman and went. I am
6very tired. I wish I was away at St. Leonards or somewhere and could
7look at the sea. Oh, I only want to rest, to rest, to rest.
8
216, Portsea Place, 25th Aug.
3
4I am going to bed. D - came for a few minutes. He said a few words in
5his sweet respectful manner and borrowed Bebel's Woman and went. I am
6very tired. I wish I was away at St. Leonards or somewhere and could
7look at the sea. Oh, I only want to rest, to rest, to rest.
8
Letter Reference | Letters/111 |
Archive | |
Epistolary Type | |
Letter Date | 21 August 1885 |
Address From | 16 Portsea Place, Westminster, London |
Address To | |
Who To | Havelock Ellis |
Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 80 |
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.
|
1To Havelock Ellis.
216, Portsea Place, 21st Aug.
3
4I am writing hard. I am going to be strong, and not give way to any
5weakness.
6
216, Portsea Place, 21st Aug.
3
4I am writing hard. I am going to be strong, and not give way to any
5weakness.
6
Letter Reference | Letters/110 |