1872.09.24 English

Letter from Rasmus Malling Hansen to his mother dated 24 September 1872

 

 

COPENHAGEN SEPTEMBER 24, 1872

 

 

 

MY DEAREST MOTHER!

 

 

MY HEARTFELT THANK YOU FOR YOUR LATEST LETTER  DEAR, SWEET MOTHER. MY CÄTHE HAS BEEN MEANING – EVER SINCE YOUR BIRTHDAY – TO WRITE TO YOU, BUT ALAS SHE HASN’T CARRIED IT OUT AS YET; HOWEVER SHE CONVEYS HER BEST REGARDS AND ASKS ME TO TELL YOU THAT SHE INTENDS SHORTLY TO WRITE TO HER DEAR MOTHER-IN-LAW, TO SWEET GRANDMA, WHO  “KNOWS FULLY WELL THAT JULIANE IS NOW A CLEVER AND GOOD GIRL, WHO KNOWS HOW TO HEM PRETTILY”, THAT IS WHAT JULIANE HERSELF SAID TODAY, WHILE ENGELKE THOUGHT SHE WAS PLEASING MOTHER MIGHTILY BY POLISHING THE DOOR LOCKS WITH A WET SPONGE. RECENTLY IMANUEL AND HIS FIANCÉE PAID US A VISIT. HE WAS REALLY SHOWING OFF AND INDEED SHE LOOKED VERY NICE AND IS A REAL BEAUTY. FROM THE OLD KAMMERRAAD[1] HIMSELF I HAVN’T HEARD FOR A LONG TIME.  THE DEAR COUNTESS IS PRESENTLY AT BORUP MANOR, ADDRESS HOVEDGAARD STATION, HORSENS, ACCORDING TO  BOOKSELLER THANING, WHO PROVIDED ME WITH HER ADDRESS. IT IS HER BIRTHDAY OCTOBER 30, ISN’T IT?

 

 

MY DEAR BELOVED CÄTHE IS IN GOOD HEALTH – THANK GOD! – THESE DAYS; HOWEVER SHE HAS CONSIDERABLY MORE WORK INDOORS, SINCE WE DON’T HAVE A HOUSEKEEPER ANYMORE; WE WERE RATHER UPSET AND UNHAPPY WITH THE LAST ONE WE HAD. I WAS VERY ANNOYED THAT THE ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE OF THE INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION COMPLETELY OVERLOOKED THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE INSTITUTE FOR THE DEAF AND MUTE, AND HAS HONOURED KELLER’S[2] WORK OUT OF ALL PROPORTION.

 

 

THE ASSESSMENT CANNOT HAVE BEEN IMPARTIAL, OUR ACHIEVEMENTS ARE IN NO RESPECT INFERIOR TO HIS, AND IN SEVERAL RESPECTS SUPERIOR. FONDEST GREETINGS TO YOU, DEAREST MOTHER FROM ALL OF US, AS WELL AS TO BOTH OF MY DEAR BROTHERS.[3]

 

 

YOUR DEEPLY DEVOTED SON

 

 

Signed with a squiggle                       R. MALLING HANSEN

 

 

[1] During the period of absolute monarchy in Denmark (1665 – 1849), the title of “kammerraad” was given to civil servants in the treasury department. However, at the time of this letter, the title was no longer connected to any job or specific function; rather it was an honorary title, bestowed upon deserving citizens who had displayed specific merits.

[2] Keller was director of an educational institution for special education, located in the provincial town of Fredericia, representing quite a different approach to education of the deaf-mutes.

[3] Indicates that at this time the two younger brothers – Thomas Jens Jørgen Hansen (born 1837) and Johan Frederik Oluf Emanuel Hansen (born 1839) – were living with their mother.

Two persons with the family name of Thaning are mentioned in this letter, and this Thaning family has been close to RMH for many years and is being mentioned in many of the letters. The two Thanings were children of siblings. Bookseller Vilhelm Thaning, 1837 – 1917, (on the picture) was a son of the old vicar in Hunseby, Vilhelm Thaning (1790 – 1848) and his wife Mette Cathrine, née Lyngbye (1798 – 1891). And if someone recognises the family name of the wife, yes, quite correctly, it was the name of RMH’s second mother-in-law - Abelone Antoinette Lyngbye was the mother of his second wife. This is also the explanation why RMH and Anna met each other in the rectory when they were young – she was visiting her relative.
The other Thaning, medical doctor Imanuel Thaning, 1837 -1917, was a son of the brother of the vicar, the land agent of Knuthenborg Estate, Iver Emanuel Thaning (1799 – 1878) and his wife Mathilde Due (1802 – 1883), who was a teacher at Knuthenborg. His fiancée, also mentioned in the letter, was Cathrine Jacobine Fick (1854 – 1937). A third child of the siblings, Mathilde Henriette Thaning, born 1850, married RMH’s brother, Jørgen Hansen. She was the daughter of a third brother of the vicar and land agent, Andreas Thaning (1805 – 1890) and his wife Henriette Vilhelmine, née Tønnesen (1810 – 1904). Both photos: The Royal Library in Copenhagen.