"Won't take money from Transvaal Government; Rhodes' lies about 'Peter Halket'; expecting war" Read the full letter
| Letter Reference | HRC/OliveSchreinerUncatLetters/OS-TFisherUnwin/47 |
| Archive | Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| Epistolary Type | Letter |
| Letter Date | 22 May 1897 |
| Address From | 7 Rue Lemâitre, Puteaux, Paris, France |
| Address To | |
| Who To | T. Fisher Unwin |
| Other Versions | |
| Permissions | Please read before using or citing this transcription |
| Legend |
The Project is grateful to the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, the University of Texas at Austin, for kindly allowing us to transcribe this Olive Schreiner letter, which is part of its Manuscript Collections.
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17 rue Lemâitre
2Puteaux
3Seine
4France
5May 22nd 1897
6
7Dear Mr Unwin,
8
9Thankyou for the cutting you sent me. It is very remarkable why Rhodes
10& his party should invent such original lies! I don’t suppose 100
11copies of Peter Halket have been bought by Dutch men altogether, & no
12human being but my husband even knew of the existence of Peter H till
13it was put into the hands of printers & publishers in London. Put if
14one should contradict all the lies that are told of one I suppose one
15would never have a moment for working again! My health is so bad & so
16rapidly becoming worse that all the time & energy I have must be given
17to my work.
18
19The enclosed letter from the most popular ^English^ preacher in
20Johannesburg will tell you what the thinks on the matter.
21
22Could you send him a copy of Peter Halket as he never received the one
23I sent him, & I’ve given away all mine. He has doen done more to
24promote the sale of the book, in South Africa than anyone else. He
25wrote me that he bought the book when it first came out, one Saturday
26evening, sat up the whole night reading it & thinking over it,
27preached a sermon on it the next Sunday morning, & so great was the
28sale of the book owing to his sermon, that when on Wednesday he wanted
29to buy another copy there was not one to be had at any book sellers!
30He is the most popular preacher in South Africa; his church is so
31crowded ^mainly^ by young Englishmen, every Sunday, that seats can
32seldom be found for all. I’ll be glad if you h can send him a copy, or
33a couple of copies, of Peter Halket Address Reve J T Lloyd, & as on
34his letter.
35
36We are waiting here for the weather to get warmer before we go on to
37England, as I have been ill since we left Alassio.
38
39Give my hearty friendly greetings to your wife. I hope I shall see
40more of her when I am in London
41
42Yours sincerely
43Olive Schreiner
2Puteaux
3Seine
4France
5May 22nd 1897
6
7Dear Mr Unwin,
8
9Thankyou for the cutting you sent me. It is very remarkable why Rhodes
10& his party should invent such original lies! I don’t suppose 100
11copies of Peter Halket have been bought by Dutch men altogether, & no
12human being but my husband even knew of the existence of Peter H till
13it was put into the hands of printers & publishers in London. Put if
14one should contradict all the lies that are told of one I suppose one
15would never have a moment for working again! My health is so bad & so
16rapidly becoming worse that all the time & energy I have must be given
17to my work.
18
19The enclosed letter from the most popular ^English^ preacher in
20Johannesburg will tell you what the thinks on the matter.
21
22Could you send him a copy of Peter Halket as he never received the one
23I sent him, & I’ve given away all mine. He has doen done more to
24promote the sale of the book, in South Africa than anyone else. He
25wrote me that he bought the book when it first came out, one Saturday
26evening, sat up the whole night reading it & thinking over it,
27preached a sermon on it the next Sunday morning, & so great was the
28sale of the book owing to his sermon, that when on Wednesday he wanted
29to buy another copy there was not one to be had at any book sellers!
30He is the most popular preacher in South Africa; his church is so
31crowded ^mainly^ by young Englishmen, every Sunday, that seats can
32seldom be found for all. I’ll be glad if you h can send him a copy, or
33a couple of copies, of Peter Halket Address Reve J T Lloyd, & as on
34his letter.
35
36We are waiting here for the weather to get warmer before we go on to
37England, as I have been ill since we left Alassio.
38
39Give my hearty friendly greetings to your wife. I hope I shall see
40more of her when I am in London
41
42Yours sincerely
43Olive Schreiner