"Will Schreiner's death, first time in 50 years not writing to him on his birthday" Read the full letter
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Letter ReferenceOlive Schreiner BC16/Box7/Fold2/Aug-Dec1919/1
ArchiveUniversity of Cape Town, Manuscripts & Archives, Cape Town
Epistolary TypeLetter
Letter DateTuesday August 1919
Address From9 Porchester Place, Edgware Road, Westminster, London
Address To
Who ToBetty Molteno
Other Versions
PermissionsPlease read before using or citing this transcription
Legend
The Project is grateful to Manuscripts and Archives, University of Cape Town, for kindly allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of its Manuscripts and Archives Collections. The date has been written on this letter in an unknown hand. Schreiner was resident at Porchester Place from early April 1917 until August 1920, when she left Britain for South Africa.
1Tuesday
2
3Darling Betty
4
5I was so glad of that news, that Alice had been for a walk. I cannot
6but feel that doctors may mistake our darling Alice’s type & not
7realize how nervous it is. She looks like a person whom no emotion
8would ever react upon physically, but really I think its quite
9possible that mental worry over things has weakened her entirely; &
10that if she gets to good stimulating sea air she may regain all her
11strength in the most delightful way. Are you going to Trevone? I do
12hope you’ll find it lovely there if you do. You need something to
13pick you up.
14
15I know your loving heart & Alices will be glad to know that as I see
16more of Edna I quite fall in love with her. There is something that
17slowly opens upon you – a charm, I quite understand how Oliver fell
18in love with her. I thought she was quite ordinary at first & now I
19think she’s beautiful. She is so sweet with Fan too: this is a great
20joy to me.
21
22I send you Mrs Solomon’s little note. Of course you have read your
23“Nation.” Isn’t that article on Wilson by Jordan fine. He’s
24the one American pacifist I know of who has stood out all through the
25war; he was too powerful & influential for them to imprison him.
26
27Give my love to our darling Alice. Oh what weight will go from my
28heart when I know she is strong & well again.
29
30Good bye dear. No letters have come for you.
31Olive
32
33I am going to ask Dr Sayer to have a meeting for the South Africans in
34her house. She may not feel able to.
35
36I’ve just reopened my letter to tell you that Olivers wife is going
37to have a baby. I knew it the moment I saw & told Ursula ^who said it
38couldn’t be.^
39
Notation
No article on Wilson by someone called Jordan appeared in The Nation in August 1919; however, Schreiner read a wide range of reviews, journals and newspapers and perhaps the title given is a mistake.