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15 Sept. 1927
Royal Monceau Hotel
55, 57, et 59 Avenue Hoche, Paris

My dear Gerald,

I am writing this letter in Paris, but shall not post it till I return to England at the end of the week, because it would be a bother to find out the right postage here, and in any case it would probably be exorbitant.

I was also here when I received your letter of Aug. 7; but since then I have been spending a fortnight on a motoring tour, the longest I have ever been, and have seen a great deal of France: Burgundy and the Jura as far as the Swiss Frontier, and then Lyons and Clermont Ferrand. The weather was good almost all the while, and I was lucky, for in Paris as in England it was bad, like most of this summer and autumn.

Unfortunately I shall not see Oscar in England; at least I am afraid that he will be leaving just when I get back. I had a very interesting letter from your mother about the total eclipse of the sun last June, for which Hartlepool was the best spot in England.

I hope you have killed your hippopotamus by this time. I have not heard whether you have yet shot a lion, but I suppose you would have mentioned it if you had. I am glad you like your job and do not mind being in the bush. It is fortunate you are not so much devoted to tennis as Oscar; though I suppose your blacks might be taught to play it.

I remain
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.

[Direction on envelope:] Gerald Jackson Esq. | R.C.B.C. Ltd. | N’Changa | Via N’Dola | N. Rhodesia | S. Africa

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The envelope, which bears some rough diagrams and the date ‘Sept 15th 1927’, was postmarked at Cambridge at 12.[..] p.m. on 19 September, and at Ndola, N.W. Rhodesia, on 15 October. The postage stamp has been torn off.

(With an envelope.)

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Transcript

Trinity College | Cambridge
12 March 1935

My dear Gerald,

As to the point you want my advice on, I think it would be a pity to break off your medical education unless a really good offer in the mining world came along. I am glad that you are getting on satisfactorily and with enjoyment.

This last fortnight I have been rather worse than usual and the doctor has been sending me to bed for week-ends, and this odious weather makes me quite ready to go there. I therefore do not feel that I should ask you to stay here even for two nights, as I cannot be sure of being able to entertain you properly; but if, as you suggest, you came over for the day—including both lunch-eon and dinner I hope—I should be very much pleased to see you, unless some accident should intervene. I have given up the idea of going abroad in this next vacation, and expect to be here all the while.

Thank you for your news about your mother, who I hope is now quite well; and I hope that your ulcerated (a word I deciphered with great doubt and difficulty) throat is healed.

Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.

[Direction on envelope:] G. C. A. Jackson Esq. | Medical School | St Thomas’s Hospital | S. E. 1

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The envelope, which bears a 1½d. stamp, was postmarked at Cambridge at 9.30 p.m. on 12 March.