(With an envelope.)
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Transcript
Trinity College | Cambridge
4 Aug. 1928
My dear Gerald,
I got your letter of March 17 all right, and I have left it a long while without an answer; but I hope that your new rifle has protected you from lions and buffaloes hitherto. I am glad to hear you have become a Fellow of the Geological Society. Nicholas, who is going to be our new Senior Bursar, says he has kept a table for you in the laboratory. The Ellis you speak of was one of our Chaplains in the College chapel, and I knew him fairly well.
I spent a fortnight in June at St Germain near Paris, a place with a splendid view and a forest close at hand, and I also motored about. I escaped the rain that they had in England, but it was not as warm as June should be. July has been fine and hot, and next week I am off to spend a month in Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Hampshire. My godfather, in whom I hope you take a proper interest, is 89 and quite in good health, but losing his memory; so be prepared for my mental decay in 20 years’ time.
I hope both you and Oscar are well.
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.
[Direction on envelope:] Gerald Jackson Esq. | R.C.B.C. Ltd. | K’Changa†, via N’Dola | N. Rhodesia
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The envelope, which bears a 1½d. stamp, was postmarked at Cambridge at 9.30 p.m. on 4 August and at Ndola, N.W. Rhodesia, on 1 September.