"Going with me to England, think it all over carefully" Read the full letter
| Letter Reference | E.L. Earp MSC 47/1.17/7 |
| Archive | National Library of South Africa, Special Collections, Cape Town |
| Epistolary Type | Letter |
| Letter Date | 2 December 1897 |
| Address From | The Homestead, Kimberley, Northern Cape |
| Address To | |
| Who To | Charley (or Charlie) Earp |
| 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.
|
1
The Homestead
2 Dec 2nd 1897
3
4 Dear Charley
5
6 Only this morning has your wire & the sad news in the papers reached
7us. It seems too terrible to be true that that lovely & sweet child
8has really been taken from you. I and Cron have been talking of her
9ever since we saw her in Cape Town. My great anxiety now is for Emma.
10Please, dear Charley, drop me if but one line telling me how she is.
11Her condition makes me very anxious, yet you must not feel at all
12despairing; I was thrown from a trap & dragged a long way with my head
13on the ground & my leg fast in the wood work, & was finally picked up
14unconscious: that was ten days before the birth of my little girl, yet
15I got over my illness splendidly & my little daughter would be alive &
16well now, had she been properly attended to after her birth.
17
18 I feel no doubt all may go very well with dear Emma, but please drop
19me a line & tell me how she is. It must have been a time of awful
20doubt & agony while Errol's life was hanging in the balance. Dear
21Charley accept the deepest sympathy of our hearts. Our thoughts are
22always turning to you & Emma in your terrible sorrow
23
24 Your loving aunt
25 Olive
2 Dec 2nd 1897
3
4 Dear Charley
5
6 Only this morning has your wire & the sad news in the papers reached
7us. It seems too terrible to be true that that lovely & sweet child
8has really been taken from you. I and Cron have been talking of her
9ever since we saw her in Cape Town. My great anxiety now is for Emma.
10Please, dear Charley, drop me if but one line telling me how she is.
11Her condition makes me very anxious, yet you must not feel at all
12despairing; I was thrown from a trap & dragged a long way with my head
13on the ground & my leg fast in the wood work, & was finally picked up
14unconscious: that was ten days before the birth of my little girl, yet
15I got over my illness splendidly & my little daughter would be alive &
16well now, had she been properly attended to after her birth.
17
18 I feel no doubt all may go very well with dear Emma, but please drop
19me a line & tell me how she is. It must have been a time of awful
20doubt & agony while Errol's life was hanging in the balance. Dear
21Charley accept the deepest sympathy of our hearts. Our thoughts are
22always turning to you & Emma in your terrible sorrow
23
24 Your loving aunt
25 Olive