1879.03.31 English

…………………………and she will then sleep over at the Institute untilthere is a room available at the casual ward.                         

                                          Monday (illegible)……….!

 

                                                            Your devoted

 

29 March     1879                                   Johan Keller

 

 

    [1]PERHAPS YOU RECALL THAT A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO I WROTE TO YOU CONCERNING KRISTINE HALLDORA DANIELSDATTER AND THAT I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE HER ACCOMMODATED AT THE CASUAL WARD. SINCE THEN SHE HAS BEEN WORKING AT THE INSTITUTE UNDER MISS ALLEN, BUT SINCE SHE CAN BE DISPENSED WITH I WOULD BE HAPPY TO HAVE HER LODGED AT THE CASUAL WARD, WHERE SHE CAN CERTAINLY BE USEFUL AND ALSO DRAW SOME BENEFIT HERSELF. HENCE, IF YOU COULD KINDLY RECEIVE HER THERE, HOWEVER SHE WOULD CONTINUE TO BE PUT UP FOR THE NIGHT AT THE INSTITUTE UNTIL SUCH TIME THAT THERE IS OVERNIGHT ACCOMMODATION AVAILABLE, I WOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL. I SHALL NOT SEND HER OVER THERE UNTIL I RECEIVE A NOTE FROM THE MATRON OR FROM YOU THAT SHE IS WELCOME.     THE ENCLOSED LETTER[2] MIGHT PERHAPS INTEREST YOU; WOULD THE TASK REFERRED TO BE OF INTEREST TO THE INSTITUTE?    31 MARCH 1879.

 

(added in Keller’s handwriting two lines below):

 

FromPastor  R.Malling-Hansen

 

 

[1] CB: I received this writing ball letter for transcription in October 2009. At the top of the page, Johan Keller has written 5-6 lines in this characteristic style, - elegant, but virtually illegible. He has also added a line below. Oddly enough, the letter does not start with the name of the recipient.
JMC: My guess is that Keller sent this handwritten note (of which the first page is probably missing) to RMH on 29 March 1879, and that RMH has then used the same paper to write his note, using the writing ball two days later. He then sent it back to Keller, who adds one more comment below.

[2] SA: This is the third RMH-letter we know of, written on the 31st March 1879. It is logical to see this letter having a connection with one of the other letters, in which RMH is replying to a enquiry from Director of Danish Folk Museum Bernhard Olsen, saying that he has forwarded Mr Olsen’s enquiry to the director of the casual ward for deaf-mute girls, Johan Keller. This is probably the letter – from Bernhard Olsen – that RMH forwarded to Keller. Perhaps the enquiry had something to do with the Exposition of Applied and Industrial Art in 1879, where Mr Olsen offered to set up a stand for the rural section? Mr Olsen had a keen interest in traditional costumes, and he was the first one to exhibit the objects in interior settings. Among other achievements he founded Danish Folk Museum.

Rasmus Ulrik Bernhard Olsen, 1836-1922. Photo: The Royal Library
Johan Keller, 1830-1884. Photo: The Royal Library