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On the mount is written, 'Presented to H. Babington Smith Esqr. C. S. I. | Private Secy. to H. E. the Viceroy and G. G. [i.e. Governor General] of India.'

(With a photocopy of an envelope.)

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Transcript

Trinity College | Cambridge
17 Dec. 1926

My dear Gerald,

I have got your letter of Oct. 11 and am glad to hear of your doings, but the earlier letter which you speak of did not find its way to me. I expect it was eaten by a lion, as you may have been by this time.

If I remember right, you were here in May just before I went off to Venice to see my gondolier. I found him better than I expected, as hot weather suits him, and he is still alive, but he’s just gone into hospital with hemorrhage. I stayed there only a few days, and then spent a week or so in Paris. In July and August I was at my old home and other haunts of childhood in Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. At Woodchester, once my grandfather’s parish, there is a Roman pavement, the finest in England, which is uncovered and shown from time to time, and this year was one of those occasions: I spent a week in the place, which I should have enjoyed more if I had not been dragged in to make explanatory speeches to the visitors, owing to the lack of persons in the village who could do it. Then I made a short motoring tour in Derbyshire, to see the most picturesque spots.

I heard from your mother not long ago, but I need not tell you any of her news. I am glad that Africa is geologically a good continent, and I hope its Christmas weather is not too hot.

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 has been marked ‘Answered 24/3/27’, was postmarked at Cambridge at 10.45 p.m.(?) on 17 December. The postage stamp has been torn off.

Transcript

1912 Sept 3. 11.a.m.
R.M.S.P. Arlanza {1}

My very dear Mother,

We are now on our way between Lisbon and Madeira, and are due at the latter about noon tomorrow; after that the long period away from land begins. I did not hear from you at Lisbon, so fear that the mail must have gone before you posted. I hope you got on all right and are having better weather.

We have had glorious weather the whole way so far. Southampton {2} gave us a parting shower and then the sun came out brightly and has never deserted us since. We had a pretty view of the Needles and Isle of Wight and reached Cherbourg about 6 o’clock where we took on a lot of passengers. We sailed again about 10 o’clock. Before breakfast next morning we were passing Ushant and entered the Bay of Biscay. It was quite smooth, though not exactly glassy; very different from last time I crossed it. The day was bright but not hot. The next morning (Sunday) we were across the Bay[,] and passing C. Finisterre and the end of the Pyrenees the coast looked very pretty with the hills (not very high) well wooded and little villages by the shore. It was now very hot but there has always been a fresh wind. We called at Vigo but did not go ashore; however I visited it well with my opera glasses and took some photographs; the town itself is small, primitive, and not very interesting but the Estuary is fine. We go a little way up the river (I dont know its name) and there are some islands at the mouth which make it very pretty. We took on a tremendous crowd of Spanish emigrants here. They are packed close but seem very happy and lively.

I was up early on Monday morning for the sail up the Tagus to Lisbon. The misty morning light made it very delightful. We went ashore after breakfast (Davidson and J. Atkinson {3} did not land) and stayed until 4 o’clock. You hardly realise Lisbon is a capital city; it seems more a sort of market town. It was very interesting looking round[;] we spent most of the time (which passed very quickly) doing the markets and so on. We went round the Cathedral however, which has a fine high dome and saw many interesting things including the mummy of a saint. We lunched off fruit[—]grapes, apricots and figs[,] which were very nice and wonderfully cheap (very nice tasted {4} purple grapes at a penny a pound)[.] We sailed back to the ship in a sailing boat. We spent altogether 2685 reis which sounds ruinous but is about 9/6.

The ship did not sail till about midnight. Today is I think a little cooler and the sea is not so smooth; but our boat is not much disturbed by it. It is a lovely blue sea with brilliant sunshine.

I have a deck-chair up on the observation deck so get plenty of sun and air. I dont read much more than I did in Norway. This boat is just like the Avon {5} so I know my way about well and, as I told you, we have the same captain {6}.

We are at the Captain’s table but he is not coming to meals until we leave Madeira[.] The other occupants are Mr, Mrs & Miss Unwin; Mr. is some man of importance in S. Amer. but we dont know what. Atkinson tells me he (Unwin) is a radical speaker (A. being a Conservative orator). The only other occupant, my neighbour, is Lady Macpherson-Grant {7}. I am afraid she is going to be rather a bore. However we get plenty of fun with Atkinson. Atkinson who is 67 is a wonderful old chap, as hard as nails; he has been everywhere almost and seems to know everybody. He is always bubbling over with mischief. He is a barrister but has given up practising, breeds and runs racehorses, used to play cricket for Yorkshire, has invented a number of mechanical contrivances which have had great success and directs or manages a number of companies. He is a very keen educationalist on the Northampton County Council and was telling me about their scholarships “but . .” he said {8} “we have n’t done like Somerset yet, I always hold up Somerset to them; they got a Senior Wrangler”[.] I had to enlighten him, as he [had] no idea I was a Somerset Scholar {9}.

I had a good long talk with the Chief Officer last night who knew something of Christina. It seems to be a nice place and the climate and weather prospects first rate.

Of course, we eat tremendously, the meals being much like those on the Avon. I have my bath at 7∙30 so get a little exercise before breakfast at 9. Lunch is at 12∙30, tea at 4, and dinner at 7. They have rather more of a gymnasium here than on the Avon; one very good arrangement is an apparatus for rowing, it feels exactly like real rowing.

I shall have to send with this my best wishes for many happy returns of the day; 60 this time isn’t it? I shall have to give a joint birthday and Christmas present when I get back.

Please give my love to Uncle A. Aunt F. and Arthur; I hope you are not in trouble with the floods, but have heard no English news, whatever.

With very dear love to Winnie & yourself from your affectionate son
Stanley

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Letter-head of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company.

{1} ‘R.M.S.P.’ is printed. The Arlanza, a sister-ship of the Titanic, was built in Belfast by Harland & Wolff for the Southampton–River Plate service. She was launched on 23 November 1911 and came into service in April the following year. She was capable of carrying 400 first-class, 230 second-class, and 760 third-class passengers.

{2} The ship left Southampton on Friday, 30 August.

{3} ‘(Assistant)’ has been added below ‘Davidson’ and ‘(Amateur Astron gone with them)’ above Atkinson, all in the same unidentified hand.

{4} A slip for ‘tasting’.

{5} The R.M.S.P. Avon, of 11,073 tons, was built in Belfast by Harland & Wolf in 1907.

{6} Captain Pope.

{7} Either Frances Elizabeth, the widow of Sir George Macpherson-Grant, 3rd Bt, or Mary (d. 1914), the wife of Sir John Macpherson-Grant, 4th Bt.

{8} This word, which is at the end of a line, is followed by superfluous inverted commas.

{9} Eddington won a Somerset County Council Scholarship in 1898. See Douglas, p. 4.

Correspondents include Ramanujan himself, J E Littlewood, G N Watson, G H Hardy, A S Ramalingam, F Dewsbury, J J Hensman, S Lakshmi Narasimhan, K Ramunni Menon, K Ananda Rao, P V Seshu Ayyar and H Heilbronn.

Also includes minutes of the congratulatory meeting held in honour of Ramanujan and K Ananda Rao.

Log Cottage, Hindhead.—Acknowledges the receipt of ‘Bully’s’ letter. Discusses arrangements for meeting next Saturday, and refers to the visit of some factory girls.

(The letter includes sketches by someone identified as ‘Multy’.)

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Transcript

Log Cottage | Hindhead
8. Aug. 87.

Dear Bully,

Was it not an odd co-incidence? I had just finished that nice little letter to you when yours came yesterday. After deliberation, I decided that it should go, so that you might be the better able to gauge the revolution of feeling that took place in our ’earts on reading your scrummy (that’s Multy’s) invitation for next Saturday. I have not time to-day to enlarge upon the subject, but Multy has some good sketches which she is doing to enclose in this with a few joint appropriate remarks.

Likewise also is it an odd co-incidence that the day on which we are to have the honour of being presented to les nôtres, our two Mums & the Dad (that sounds rather naughty, & you so young too!) will be staying here & are hoping to see the author of the blouse. Don’t be alarmed they are good sort of folk and ripe for fun at any time.

Our factory girls were a great joke, they stayed from Saturday till Tuesday & thought iverry-think real ’ansim, strite they did. Was the blot that you made in describing your night in the boys’ camp done intentionally and were we to imagine it walking off the paper? Three more of Multys sketches represent what we imagine your feelings to have been on that occasion.

[There follow three pencil sketches of facial expressions, the first apparently asleep, captioned ‘In for the 9 hours’; the second apparently waking and yawning, captioned merely with a blot; and the third screwed up, captioned ‘—!’]

You will come then won’t you (to lunch if possible) next Saturday? though it be through hail, snow, ice thunder, lightning fire, water or sunshine & we will follow thee withersoever thou goest and eat and drink with thee.

Don’t get too legal or too mathematical or too economical, mais restez toujours l’incomparable Bully de nos amies

E. B.

[On a separate sheet are eight more sketches of facial expressions, captioned as follows:]
I July 26th No letter from Bully for a week!
II Aug: 2nd Still silence
III Aug: 7th A.M. Bully chucked!
IV Aug: 7th p.m. Letter!
V E. “My Mother will be here on the 14th!”
VI B. “My Mother will be here on the 14th too!”
VII Both. Phewwww! . . . .
VIII Never mind—BULLY’S COMING –!–

Sackville Street. Gives a defence of the Austrian loan

Paris. objection of members to being liable to serve in the national guard; signed by Armand Bazard, Prospere Enfantine, Duget, Barrault, Fourrel, Michel Chevalier, Charles Duveyrier, Edmond Talabot, Abel Transon, P Cazeaux, G d'Eichthal, Henry and St Cheron

Kirkaldy. Apologises for the letter sent the previous day

32 Sackville Street. Requests sending of "above articles" and of new catalogue

Criticizes Hume's 'Dialogues concerning natural religion'

Groningen. Discusses Mr Gordon and his advisers, ceremonials of the Dutch, subject of previous letter (undisclosed), request to be addressed without clerical titles "for I am a downright layman"

(It is not clear which letters this envelope formerly contained.)

Transcript

Savoy-Hotel, Hauptbahnhof, Hamburg
5 Aug. 1913 {1}

My very dear Mother

Dyson and I travelled here together by the night train from Bonn, and arrived here about 7∙30 this (Tuesday) morning. The two conferences overlap by one day, so we miss the last day of the Bonn meetings. I have been enjoying the affair immensely, and had no idea it would be such a jolly and lively time. There were about 100 astronomers there, many with wives, etc; and I got to know most of them. Schwarzschild was staying at our hotel & we saw a good deal of him. The meetings were mainly devoted to business (not papers), and as there was very little to do we had not too much work—in fact it was rather an excuse for a picnic; but one learns a lot by seeing and talking to the different people. The weather has been glorious and very hot every day except Saturday (which was overcast but fine). We had two municipal banquets, viz at Bonn & Cologne—both very enjoyable. At Cologne a most splendid band played during the meal one of the best I have heard; and the Gürzenich, where the meal was, is a beautiful old hall with Gothic roof. Whilst at Cologne we had a good look round the Cathedral and saw the treasure chamber with the skulls of the three Magi. On Sunday we left Bonn before 9 a.m. by electric tram, and had a ten mile walk through the woods of the Siebengebirge ending up at the Drachenfels castle, and returned in a launch by the river. About 30 of us went (the rest going a motor trip) practically all the English Astronomers went the walk, only one American, Schwa[r]zschild, Hertzsprung[,] Jules Baillaud and a number of miscellaneous nationalities. Two ladies Miss Hills & Mrs Hertzsprung (late Miss Kapteyn) went with us. As we had all day we did not have to hurry much; the views were very fine. We had a good deal of amusement—including a race. “Schwarzschild & five mad Englishmen” (the latter including Dyson & myself) got photographed at one of those places where they give you them finished in five minutes, posed in a motor-car and with a wooden donkey—it makes an amusing group. One afternoon Sampson Stratton Hubrecht & I went on {2} the river to Strandbad, a bathing place and had a very enjoyable bathe—it was a very hot afternoon. We have also bathed two or three times in a covered place at Bonn. There was a very nicely arranged garden party at the Observatory at Bonn (Küstner’s place) on Friday.

I got to know two Russian astronomers Backlund & Belopolski who are most delightful men—Backlund in particular is very good company[.] He reminds one a bit of Atkinson, but he is quite a first-rate astronomer. He has often been to England but somehow I have always missed him. The meeting of the Astronomische Gesellschaft here will be larger, less select and probably more serious; I do not think it will be quite so lively, but there are a number of excursions & entertainments planned.12 The Goldener Stern at Bonn was an excellent Hotel[;] this one here is not so good; but they were very slow over serving meals everywhere in Bonn; lunch although, {3} only 3 courses, always took about 2 hours to serve.

With very dear love from
your affectionate son
Stanley.

The cigars here are excellent & very cheap.

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The letter has been docketed ‘Bonn 1913 | Hamburg’.

{1} The first two figures of the year are printed.

{2} This is probably the intended word, though, perhaps as the result of an alteration, what is written resembles ‘top’.

{3} The comma ought to precede the word.

(Undated. Francis Noel Pethick died in 1904.)

Trinity College, Cambridge. - Goldstein's paper for the CPS [Cambridge University Physics Society] has been sent to Hardy by Hodge, and Hardy 'inevitably began playing about with the integrals'. Has no criticisms of Goldstein's 'way of dealing with them - it is straightforward and effective', but 'the following formal connections' may be of interest to him. Extensive mathematical notation and discussion follows, and the end of which Hardy concludes 'So your way of attacking the integral seems, in practise at any rate, much better than mine'. In a postscript he adds 'Some of your formulae set nasty problems for the printers', and suggests some changes.

In pencil; written on the back of what seem to be proof sheets for a mathematical paper by Hardy. Envelope addressed to Goldstein as 'Dr S. Goldstein, National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex' and postmarked 'Cambridge 5 15 PM 1 Feb 1944'.