"Emily Hobhouse, Women's International League for Peace & Freedom" Read the full letter
| Letter Reference | Olive Schreiner: Extracts of Letters to Cronwright-Schreiner MSC 26/2.16/260 |
| Archive | National Library of South Africa, Special Collections, Cape Town |
| Epistolary Type | Extract |
| Letter Date | 9 October 1906 |
| Address From | Nelspoort, Western Cape |
| Address To | De Aar, Northern Cape |
| Who To | S.C. (‘Cron’) Cronwright-Schreiner |
| Other Versions | |
| Permissions | Please read before using or citing this transcription |
| Legend |
The Extracts of Letters to Cronwright-Schreiner were produced by Cronwright-Schreiner in preparing The Life and The Letters of Olive Schreiner. They appear on slips of paper in his writing, taken from letters that were then destroyed; many of these extracts have also been edited by him. They are artefacts of his editorial practices and their relationship to original Schreiner letters cannot now be gauged. They should be read with considerable caution for the reasons given. Cronwright-Schreiner has written the date and where it was sent from onto this extract, that Olive Schreiner had apparently left De Aar the previous evening, and that ‘The letter (six pages) is a long poem of delight at the beauty of the Karroo & her improved health.’.
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1
…It is 7 o’clock. I am sitting in the little waiting room, waiting
2for the train that will leave for Matjesfontein at 8.55…
3
4 Mr ?Musto was here to meet me…
5
6 It stands just in the poort, a most lovely place, there’s trees all
7about, & the high mountains on all sides … It was splendid, warm
8quite, delightful.. They seem very nice people, he a young simple
9straightforward English farmer of the best type, his wife a pretty
10sweet young girl with their first baby, 4 months old…
11
12 …chuckled to myself like an old hen...
13
14 …they are charming people…
15
16 …I feel wonderfully better: all the trembling has gone out of my
17limbs, & heart & my brain is as clear as possible. I can feel my heart
18pumping blood right up to the top. Oh, my darling, I can’t bear to
19think of you in De Aar…
20
21 Good night, my husband, how can I thank you for all your tenderness &
22goodness to me these last weeks. I shouldn’t be alive without them.
23You’ve been so gentle with me…
24
25
2for the train that will leave for Matjesfontein at 8.55…
3
4 Mr ?Musto was here to meet me…
5
6 It stands just in the poort, a most lovely place, there’s trees all
7about, & the high mountains on all sides … It was splendid, warm
8quite, delightful.. They seem very nice people, he a young simple
9straightforward English farmer of the best type, his wife a pretty
10sweet young girl with their first baby, 4 months old…
11
12 …chuckled to myself like an old hen...
13
14 …they are charming people…
15
16 …I feel wonderfully better: all the trembling has gone out of my
17limbs, & heart & my brain is as clear as possible. I can feel my heart
18pumping blood right up to the top. Oh, my darling, I can’t bear to
19think of you in De Aar…
20
21 Good night, my husband, how can I thank you for all your tenderness &
22goodness to me these last weeks. I shouldn’t be alive without them.
23You’ve been so gentle with me…
24
25