"House, James Rose Innes speech, Cronwright-Schreiner's meetings in England" Read the full letter
| Letter Reference | Letters/572 |
| Archive | |
| Epistolary Type | |
| Letter Date | 2 January 1916 |
| Address From | London |
| Address To | |
| Who To | Adela Villiers Smith nee Villiers |
| Other Versions | Cronwright-Schreiner 1924: 355 |
| 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. Francis Smith.
2London, 2nd Jan.
3
4... I'm very interested in a cat at the greengrocer's shop over the
5way, which talks and sits on its hind-legs, and its eyes are exactly
6like the eyes of a very intelligent human being. I have never seen
7anything like it - you feel it almost unearthly. If I were thanking
8the gods when I was dying for the good things in life I would say, "I
9thank thee that thou hast made animals and that I have seen sun-rises
10and sun-sets in Africa, and blue deep skies; and for the stars, and
11for books." Books meant so much to me in my solitary girlhood. Life
12has had so many beautiful and good things - one of the best your
13wonderful love and friendship for me. Oh Adela, you will never never
14understand what you have been to me since I came to England. Good-bye dear.
15
2London, 2nd Jan.
3
4... I'm very interested in a cat at the greengrocer's shop over the
5way, which talks and sits on its hind-legs, and its eyes are exactly
6like the eyes of a very intelligent human being. I have never seen
7anything like it - you feel it almost unearthly. If I were thanking
8the gods when I was dying for the good things in life I would say, "I
9thank thee that thou hast made animals and that I have seen sun-rises
10and sun-sets in Africa, and blue deep skies; and for the stars, and
11for books." Books meant so much to me in my solitary girlhood. Life
12has had so many beautiful and good things - one of the best your
13wonderful love and friendship for me. Oh Adela, you will never never
14understand what you have been to me since I came to England. Good-bye dear.
15