Letter by John Cavafy to C. P. Cavafy

GR-OF CA CA-SF02-S01-SS02-F20-SF001-0006 (381)

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                      [Alexandria] 3 October 1882
    Dearest Constantine,
    I am in receipt of your
    lines 25th ultimo handed to me by A-
    ristides, who arrived this morning
    and is well and hearty. I awoke     at 5 a.m today for fear of missing
    him; dressed quickly and walked down
    in the early dawn of day to the
    marina; arrived at the Custom House
    at about 5.45 and thence proceeded
    straight to the Quarantine Office to     see Mr. Liguri, who promised to let
    me have the Government boat.
    This I found ready and waiting for
    me, and so by 7 o’clock Aristides
    was landed in great pomp.
    The letter you refer to about Ingoldsby legends
    etc. etc. I have received, and I believe
    acknowledged receipt of same to you.
    I think I have answered all your
    questions contained in that epistle.
    Constantine Sinadino is now here
    but I cannot find out whether the
    report that he has lost all his for-
    tune is true.
    Daras has not yet returned and
    I haven’t heard of his whereabouts.
    Nicholas Abet, his mother and sister
    are at Naples. Scouffos has
    lately returned to look after the
    property.
    I think I stated in a previous
    letter that Theodore Ralli and family
    had returned ― I now find out
    that only the old man is here,
    the rest being still in Athens, with
    the exception of Ambrose, who I     think is gone to London.
    The key of Peter’s hat-box you will
    find herein, wrapped up in a scrap
    of paper. It makes the letter rather
    heavy, but postages are of no
    consequence.     Goodbye, dear Constantinus, and,
    believe me, I don’t think you “qui-
    xotic” at all, but the wisest of men.
        Yours ever

            Johannes

    “cuius gloria erit, gestes fratris scribere”.
    P.S. Thanks for your inscription
    on the paper covering the sweets
    sent me by Aunt Eveline.
    I will send you by next mail
    “Sunset voices” ― You know several
    parts of the poem but I want
    you to judge of the whole.

    id.

    Another P.S. Stivala is trying hard
    to get you the July and August Nos.
    of Gentleman’s Magazine ―
    October I expect after tomorrow
    and will post next mail ―
    Third and last P.S.
    I came across the following
    passage in Carlyle’s Past and
    Present the other day:     “William the Norman, at the end
    of the campaign, said to his fighters:
    ‘Noble fighters, this is the land we
    have gained; be I Lord in it, ―
    what we will call Law-ward, main-
    tainer and keeper of Heaven’s laws:     be I Law-ward, or in brief or-
    thoepy Lord in it, and be ye
    loyal men around me in it.’”

    Isn’t this an ingenuous definition
    of the word “Lord”? ―

DIGITAL OBJECT DESCRIPTION

IDENTITY AREA

REFERENCE CODE:

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GR-OF CA CA-SF02-S01-SS02-F20-SF001-0006 (381)

TITLE:

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Letter by John Cavafy to C. P. Cavafy

DATE(S):

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3/10/1882

LEVEL OF DESCRIPTION:

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Item

EXTENT AND MEDIUM:

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20.5 x 13 cm

FORMER REFERENCE CODE:

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F49_Φ1-37

CONTEXT AREA

NAME OF CREATOR(S):

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Cavafy, John

CONTENT AND STRUCTURE AREA

SCOPE AND CONTENT:

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Handwritten letter by John Cavafy to C. P. Cavafy on three letterhead of R. J. Moss & Co., Alexandria. Pages 2-5 are numbered. Social news from Alexandria. Quote from Past and Present by Thomas Carlyle.

CONDITIONS OF ACCESS AND USE AREA

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CC BY-SA 4.0 Cavafy Archive Onassis Foundation

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English

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS:

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Writing in ink.

NOTES AREA

NOTE:

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The transcription and editing of the letters of John Constantine Cavafy addressed to C. P. Cavafy was first carried out by Katerina Ghika; said transcriptions were subsequently uploaded to the official website of the Cavafy Archive.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

Literary annotation, providing additional information on the digital object.

John Cavafy informs C. P. Cavafy that he will send him his poem “Sunset Voices”.

ACCESS POINTS

Key-words aiming to facilitate search within the fonds.

SUBJECTS:

Letter

Journals:

Gentleman's Magazine, The

Works by other authors:

"Sunset Voices" [Cavafy, John C.]

Past and Present [Carlyle, Thomas]

The Ingoldsby Legends [Barham, Richard Marris]

PLACES:

PERSONS:

Cavafy, John Constantine

Cavafy, Peter John (junior)

Daras, (?)

Liguri, (?)

Papalamprinou (Fotiadi), Euvoulia

Synadinos, Konstantinos

FAMILIES:

Abet, family

Ralli Theodore M., family

CITATION:

For citation purposes, please use the reference provided here.

Cavafy, John Constantine. “Letter by John Cavafy to C. P. Cavafy”. Letter, 03.10.1882. GR-OF CA CA-SF02-S01-SS02-F20-SF001-0006 (381), Onassis Foundation C. P. Cavafy Fonds. From The Digital Collection of the Cavafy Archive, edited by Onassis Foundation, Athens, last modified 01.10.2025. https://doi.org/10.26256/CA-SF02-S01-SS02-F20-SF001-0006.