Letter by John Cavafy to C. P. Cavafy

GR-OF CA CA-SF02-S01-SS02-F20-SF001-0031 (406)

ROTATE

MAGNIFY

ENLARGE

DOWNLOAD

DOWNLOAD ALL

DOWNLOAD

[Alexandria] 11 September 1883

My dearest Constantine,
     Your letter 2nd instant came duly to hand, for which I thank you. I hope that ere this reaches you, you will have received the Magazines for August and September: the July number is en retard and I am looking it up at Penasson’s.
     I thought I had informed you of the knightship conferred on Mr. W.B. Forwood: this Gentleman is very well off and a very big swell. As you know his wife is our Mr. Moss’ sister, and our friend R.J.M. is very fond of calling her Lady Forwood.
     The Cholera, thank God, has disappeared: there were no cases here yesterday, and but few in other parts of Egypt. Several people have come back, such as the Nincis, Rallis, Costa, Borg, Albrecht etc. etc. I expect Miani within the next ten days: and right glad I shall be: for, I can assure you, there is no satisfaction in working for a stranger.
     I am pleased to see you like the “Ode to the West Wind”. “An Arabesque” is getting on pretty well, all things considered: but as to glory, print and literary preeminence, ― I am well satisfied to leave such ambitious dreams to providence and fate. ―
     Miéville is gone to take up his new appointment in Brazil. Cooksoon is away on leave of absence and ’tis said may not return. The Consulate is now managed by Mr. Burrell, as Consul, and Mr. Russell as Vice-Consul. The malady has totally disappeared from Cairo, and thither has the Khedive returned. Another piece of news is the indictment and trial of 13 Arabs who were the chief perpetrators of the massacre of June ’82. They have been condemned and shall be hanged shortly.
     Sans autre, I send you greeting and the assurance of the unvarying affection
          Of your loving brother
                    John.

[Alexandria] 11 September 1883

My dearest Constantine,
     Your letter 2nd instant came duly to hand, for which I thank you. I hope that ere this reaches you, you will have received the Magazines for August and September: the July number is en retard and I am looking it up at Penasson’s.
     I thought I had informed you of the knightship conferred on Mr. W.B. Forwood: this Gentleman is very well off and a very big swell. As you know his wife is our Mr. Moss’ sister, and our friend R.J.M. is very fond of calling her Lady Forwood.
     The Cholera, thank God, has disappeared: there were no cases here yesterday, and but few in other parts of Egypt. Several people have come back, such as the Nincis, Rallis, Costa, Borg, Albrecht etc. etc. I expect Miani within the next ten days: and right glad I shall be: for, I can assure you, there is no satisfaction in working for a stranger.
     I am pleased to see you like the “Ode to the West Wind”. “An Arabesque” is getting on pretty well, all things considered: but as to glory, print and literary preeminence, ― I am well satisfied to leave such ambitious dreams to providence and fate. ―
     Miéville is gone to take up his new appointment in Brazil. Cooksoon is away on leave of absence and ’tis said may not return. The Consulate is now managed by Mr. Burrell, as Consul, and Mr. Russell as Vice-Consul. The malady has totally disappeared from Cairo, and thither has the Khedive returned. Another piece of news is the indictment and trial of 13 Arabs who were the chief perpetrators of the massacre of June ’82. They have been condemned and shall be hanged shortly.
     Sans autre, I send you greeting and the assurance of the unvarying affection
          Of your loving brother
                    John.

PHOTO 1
PHOTO 2

DIGITAL OBJECT DESCRIPTION

IDENTITY AREA

REFERENCE CODE:

Records the unique identifier that has been appointed to the unit of description by the archivists, in order to facilitate references made to the fonds on an international level.

GR-OF CA CA-SF02-S01-SS02-F20-SF001-0031 (406)

TITLE:

Records the name of the unit of description.

Letter by John Cavafy to C. P. Cavafy

DATE(S):

Identifies the date of creation of the unit of description.

11/9/1883

LEVEL OF DESCRIPTION:

Identifies the level of arrangement of the unit of description (fonds, sub-fonds, series, sub-series, file, sub-file, item).

Item

EXTENT AND MEDIUM:

Records the extent of the unit of description. In case of an item description, it records the exact dimensions of the item.

44 x 27.5 cm

FORMER REFERENCE CODE:

Records the former identifier of the item as given by the Historical G. P. Savvidis Catalogue.

F52_Φ1-31

CONTEXT AREA

NAME OF CREATOR(S):

Identifies the author or the creator of the unit of description.

Cavafy, John

CONTENT AND STRUCTURE AREA

SCOPE AND CONTENT:

Provides a summary of the scope (such as, time periods, geography) and content of the unit of description.

Handwritten letter by John Cavafy to C. P. Cavafy in the first and third pages of a double sheet letterhead of R. J. Moss & Co., Alexandria. The sender refers to his involvement in poetry. The cholera epidemic is in remission. Political update. (Alexandria)

CONDITIONS OF ACCESS AND USE AREA

CONDITIONS GOVERNING REPRODUCTION:

Specifies the conditions governing the reproduction of the unit of description.

CC BY-SA 4.0 Cavafy Archive Onassis Foundation

LANGUAGE AND SCRIPT NOTES:

Identifies the language(s) and script(s) employed in the unit of description.

English

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS:

Provides information about important physical characteristics of the unit of description.

Writing in ink. Watermark: R. J. Moss & Co., Alexandria. Physical item wear: holes.

NOTES AREA

NOTE:

Provides information that cannot be accommodated in any of the other fields.

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.

Social and political news; reference to John Cavafy’s poem “An Arabesque”. One learns that C. P. Cavafy commented favourably on Shelley’s poem “Ode to the West Wind”.