"Sandstorm at De Aar & animals" Read the full letter
| Letter Reference | Olive Schreiner BC16/Box2/Fold1/Jan-June1899/28 |
| Archive | University of Cape Town, Manuscripts & Archives, Cape Town |
| Epistolary Type | Letter |
| Letter Date | 14 June 1899 |
| Address From | Johannesburg, Transvaal |
| Address To | Girls Collegiate School, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape |
| Who To | Betty Molteno |
| Other Versions | |
| Permissions | Please 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. The name of the addressee and the address this letter was sent to are provided by an attached envelope, from which the stamp and postmark have been removed. Schreiner was resident in Berea, Johannesburg, from December 1898 until late August 1899.
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1
Dear Friend
2
3 I am going to Paarde Kraal on Saturday to the great gathering of the
4Boers: there will be some five or six thousand. I want to write a
5description of it.
6
7 I have many wonderful letters from Cape people. One from dear old Beck,
8 which I enclose. Return it. I got very nice letters from dear old
9Merriman & Sauer. If we can only all stand together.
10
11 Olive
12
13 ^Are you going to Cape Town for the holidays. Would you & Miss Green
14care to make a sort of picnic at the little cottage at Kimberley there
15are tables, a big bed mattress &c there though you would have to take
16bedding, blankets &c. the weather there would be beautiful.^
17
2
3 I am going to Paarde Kraal on Saturday to the great gathering of the
4Boers: there will be some five or six thousand. I want to write a
5description of it.
6
7 I have many wonderful letters from Cape people. One from dear old Beck,
8 which I enclose. Return it. I got very nice letters from dear old
9Merriman & Sauer. If we can only all stand together.
10
11 Olive
12
13 ^Are you going to Cape Town for the holidays. Would you & Miss Green
14care to make a sort of picnic at the little cottage at Kimberley there
15are tables, a big bed mattress &c there though you would have to take
16bedding, blankets &c. the weather there would be beautiful.^
17
Notation
The 'many wonderful letters' referred to were sent in response to Schreiner's 'war article', which was published in newspapers in South Africa and elsewhere, with an extended version rapidly published as An English South African’s View of the Situation, originally published in the South African News over three successive days; see 'Words in Season. An English South African's View of the Situation' South African News 1 June 1899 (p.8), 2 June 1899 (p.8) and 3 June 1899 (also p.8). It was also reprinted in a number of other newspapers. It then was published as a pamphlet, then as a book. A second edition of the book was ready but withdrawn from publication with Hodder and Stoughton by Schreiner when the South African War started in October 1899, so as not to profit from this.
Regarding her Paarde Kraal comment, Schreiner sent written addresses to some of the Volkskongresses and peace congresses and spoke at others, as follows: Graaff-Reinet Volkskongres, April 1900 (spoke); Cape Town women's meeting, June 1900 (spoke); Somerset East peace congress, October 1900 (a letter of address); Paarl, November 1900 peace congress (a letter of address); Worcester Volkskongres, December 1900 (spoke).
The 'many wonderful letters' referred to were sent in response to Schreiner's 'war article', which was published in newspapers in South Africa and elsewhere, with an extended version rapidly published as An English South African’s View of the Situation, originally published in the South African News over three successive days; see 'Words in Season. An English South African's View of the Situation' South African News 1 June 1899 (p.8), 2 June 1899 (p.8) and 3 June 1899 (also p.8). It was also reprinted in a number of other newspapers. It then was published as a pamphlet, then as a book. A second edition of the book was ready but withdrawn from publication with Hodder and Stoughton by Schreiner when the South African War started in October 1899, so as not to profit from this.
Regarding her Paarde Kraal comment, Schreiner sent written addresses to some of the Volkskongresses and peace congresses and spoke at others, as follows: Graaff-Reinet Volkskongres, April 1900 (spoke); Cape Town women's meeting, June 1900 (spoke); Somerset East peace congress, October 1900 (a letter of address); Paarl, November 1900 peace congress (a letter of address); Worcester Volkskongres, December 1900 (spoke).