From: Wilhelm HI Bleek (07 May 1874)

From: Wilhelm HI Bleek (07 May 1874)

Correspondence

A letter from Wilhelm Bleek to Sir George Grey, sent from Cape Town on 7 May 1874. Bleek laments Grey's long silence and lack of acknowledgment for books and parcels sent. He reflects on Grey's lasting influence on his language and folklore work and resends his paper on Bushman and Australian mythology. He shares his new linguistic findings, praises Grey's role in preserving and making public Native Literature and informs Grey of his quotation from Grey's Preface to "Ko Nga Moteatea" in his appeal to the colonial government; also of his new Report including Bushman Folklore being prepared. Bushman studies have taken priority over his "Comparative Grammar", though he assures Grey his Library work has not been neglected and part of the inventory is ready for printing. However, his "working power" is impaired due to poor health, including a hemorrhage in March. His collaborator Lucy Lloyd has left for England; their last Bushman informant has also departed and the household is reduced to eleven. Now father to four daughters, Bleek faces the possibility of the end being nearer than he knows, despite wanting to live on for the work and his children. He closes with news from Government House, Natal and a wish to see Grey's handwriting once more.

07 May 1874

Wilhelm Bleek (letter to Sir George Grey 7 May 1874), George Grey (Sir), instructors (|xam), Bushman (folklore and language research), Lucy Lloyd (in Wilhelm Bleek's letter to Sir George Grey 7 May 1874), folklore (and mythology), mythology (folklore), language (Wilhelm Bleek's - research findings), Grey Library (Wilhelm Bleek reports that its revised inventory is ready for publication), inventory (revised), of Grey Library (ready for publication if funds allow), Natal (politics), letter (Wilhelm Bleek has not received one from Sir George Grey since eve of his England departure), A Comparative Grammar of South African Languages (in Wilhelm Bleek's letter to Sir George Grey 7 May 1874), daughters (ages of Wilhelm Bleek's four), children (Wilhelm Bleek's four daughters), family (Wilhelm Bleek's), ill health (Wilhelm Bleek's), death (Wilhelm Bleek's comments on possible), the remaining work (in Wilhelm Bleek's letter to Sir George Grey 7 May 1874)

1. "Ko Nga Moteatea" is a collection of traditional forms of Maori oral history, transcribed by Sir George Grey. 2. For a short summary of this letter, see Dr OH Spohr's typewritten notes on Wilhelm Bleek's letters to Sir George Grey (C10.19.1-26).