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| Letter Reference | Olive Schreiner: Mary Sauer MSC 26/2.11.25 |
| Archive | National Library of South Africa, Special Collections, Cape Town |
| Epistolary Type | Letter |
| Letter Date | Thursday May 1891 |
| Address From | Cape Town, Western Cape |
| Address To | |
| Who To | Mary Sauer nee Cloete |
| Other Versions | |
| Permissions | Please read before using or citing this transcription |
| Legend |
The Project is grateful to the National Library of South Africa (NLSA), Cape Town, for kindly allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of its Special Collections. The month and year have been written on this letter in an unknown hand. Content indicates Schreiner was in Cape Town when it was written. Schreiner stayed in Cape Town for most of May to August or September 1891.
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1
Thursday
2
3 My darling Mary,
4
5 Thank you for your letter, dear. I will tell Mrs Anderson you will be
6glad to see her when she comes to Africa. We might both write to her
7when you are at Matjesfontein. It will be beautiful to have you there;
8you know I can work while you are there too because we understand each
9other so well. I think I could work with you sitting in the ^same^ room.
10Try to bring the children if possible, it will be so nice to go out in
11the velt with them. I have just got my English letters, & with them so
12much to think of. A Doctor who is a great friend of mine has been to
13see a woman whom I love very much, she has ho is engaged to a man in
14Mashona land, her friends won't help her go out & marry him, & the
15strain on her is simply killing her. I am going to send her the
16passage money next week. I think the cheapest & best way would be for
17her to go to Zanzibar & straight from there to the Port. Then another
18friend writes me that Alice Corthorn is in such very bad health that I
19ought either to get her out here, or go home to her. This raises many
20complex questions for me, but the first thing seems to be to stick to
21my revising for a couple of months, so that if I go home I shall have
22my books ready to publish. I am working under such pressure now, &
23that makes me work slower that if I was not in such a hurry! I wish I
24could go back to Matjesfontein this morning, but besides the Loch
25there is Mr Dodds & Miss Graaff & several other people I know staying
26there, & I shouldn't work so well as here. It will be such a
27refreshment to me to come out to you on Friday. I always feel that
28your house is more a home to me
29
2
3 My darling Mary,
4
5 Thank you for your letter, dear. I will tell Mrs Anderson you will be
6glad to see her when she comes to Africa. We might both write to her
7when you are at Matjesfontein. It will be beautiful to have you there;
8you know I can work while you are there too because we understand each
9other so well. I think I could work with you sitting in the ^same^ room.
10Try to bring the children if possible, it will be so nice to go out in
11the velt with them. I have just got my English letters, & with them so
12much to think of. A Doctor who is a great friend of mine has been to
13see a woman whom I love very much, she has ho is engaged to a man in
14Mashona land, her friends won't help her go out & marry him, & the
15strain on her is simply killing her. I am going to send her the
16passage money next week. I think the cheapest & best way would be for
17her to go to Zanzibar & straight from there to the Port. Then another
18friend writes me that Alice Corthorn is in such very bad health that I
19ought either to get her out here, or go home to her. This raises many
20complex questions for me, but the first thing seems to be to stick to
21my revising for a couple of months, so that if I go home I shall have
22my books ready to publish. I am working under such pressure now, &
23that makes me work slower that if I was not in such a hurry! I wish I
24could go back to Matjesfontein this morning, but besides the Loch
25there is Mr Dodds & Miss Graaff & several other people I know staying
26there, & I shouldn't work so well as here. It will be such a
27refreshment to me to come out to you on Friday. I always feel that
28your house is more a home to me
29