(Acknowledged 2 Jan. 1958.)
(With an envelope.)
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Transcript
Trinity College | Cambridge
5 Dec. 1935
My dear Gerald,
I am two letters in your debt, and I do not quite know at what point your knowledge of my history breaks off. I am now in ground-floor rooms, B 2 Great Court, which are exceedingly comfortable, and the bathroom, which the College has equipped at its own expense, strikes the beholder dumb with admiration. I have no separate dining-room, but the study is larger than the old one, and so is the bedroom. The rooms are rather dark, and in hot weather there is likely to be some lack of air, as the wistaria interferes with opening the windows wide. The situation is very convenient for Hall, and I have a lecture room in the diagonally opposite corner of the court. My walking is weak and slow, and for getting to sleep I am using diminishing doses of a bromide, supplemented with champagne; but I still wake too early in the morning and pass a disagreeable hour or two. The clock does not annoy me at all.
I am glad to hear of your progress, and will hope for your success in the great examination. If you fail this time I shall nevertheless be sure that you have done your best. I must tell you again not to worry yourself about the expense, which I can quite well support; and I do not want you to go taking some geological post which is not good enough. As your mind runs so much on Fortnum & Mason perhaps you might send me a smoked ox tongue. Space here is rather cramped, and keeping potted fish cool might not be easy.
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.
[Direction on envelope:] G. C. A. Jackson Esq. | St Thomas’s Hospital | London S. E. 1
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The envelope, which bears a 1½d. stamp, was postmarked at Cambridge at 11.30 p.m. on 5 December.
(With an envelope, addressed by A. S. F. Gow.)
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Transcript
Evelyn Home | Trumpington Road | Cambridge
Monday Jan. 6
My dear Gerald,
To-day I am so much better that I can ansswer† civilly to letters like yours. Hitherto my in-digestion and nausea have been too disabling. I shall try to send you a cheque for £450, which if I mistake not is the regular ammount† and which I beg you to accept, if so, without demur, as I can quite sustatin† it. My head has sometimes got confused bentween† your family and my nephews.
I have not yet dared to eat anything you sent me from Fortnum & Mason, but I hope it is keeping all right. Brawn is a thing I am very fon† of at Xmas if it keeps properly.
Thanks for your visit.
A. E. Housman
This is sent by the kind offices of Mr. Gow of Trinity
[Direction on envelope:] Gerald Jackson esq | St Thomas’s Hospital | London | S.E.1
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The envelope, which bears a 1½d. stamp, was postmarked at Cambridge at 8 p.m. on 7 January, and has been marked in pencil, ‘Address in Mr. Gow’s handwriting. Written from Evelyn Nursing Home Cambridge.’ The letter is written very uncertainly in pencil; the direction on the envelope is in ink.
† Sic.
Transcript
Trinity College | Cambridge
17 Jan. 1936
My dear Gerald,
Acquainted as you are with Fortnum and Mason and familiar with the female medical soul you are just the man to execute the job. After a stay in the Evelyn Nursing Home, where they are always extraordinarily kind and attentive, I send the nurses a present of something to eat, such as strawberries in season, or boxes of chocolates. Will you expend the enclosed cheque for £2.0.0 in purchasing and having sent from them a selection of sweetmeats (crystallised fruits or anything which you think will be relished, and perhaps not exactly what is most commonly to be found in Cambridge—though do not be particular about that, as they are all fond of chocolate) addressed to the Deputy Matron and enclosing the enclosed letter from me?
Thanks for all your enquiries during my illness. I was obliged to neglect all correspondence and am only now beginning to write. I gave my first lecture this morning, and had no difficulty in the actual delivery, but crossing the court was a labour and indeed so is almost any physical action.
I think your idea of a holiday before the examination is very likely a good one.
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.
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{1} A line has been drawn below this amount to draw attention to it. Cf. Nos. 41 and 47.