GE and GHL to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Wandsworth, [30 June 1859]
Title
GE and GHL to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Wandsworth, [30 June 1859]
Title
GE and GHL to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Wandsworth, [30 June 1859]
Sender
George Eliot, George Henry Lewes
Recipient
Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon
Date(s)
- 1859-06-30
Place
Wandsworth
Letter Content
GE and GHL to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Wandsworth, [30 June 1859]
MS: Mr. Philip Leigh-Smith. Hitherto unpublished.
[The beginning of this letter has not been found.] hope we may consider this as an indication that people generally would consider it ill-breeding to speak on the subject to us. The tone of G.E.'s letters to the Times has shown that intrusion of that sort would be held offensive.
Yours ever
Marian.
[In GHL's hand]
P.S. Dear Barbara
Since the above was written we have come to the resolution of no longer concealing the authorship. It makes me angry to think that people should say that the secret has been kept because there was any fear of the effect of the author's name. You may tell it openly to all who care to hear it that the object of anonymity was to get the book judged on its own merits, and not prejudged as the work of a woman, or of a particular woman. It is quite clear that people would have sniffed at it if they had known the writer to be a woman but they can't now unsay their admiration.
If you can get a look at the Revue Des Deux Mondes for 15 June do so. There is an exquisite article on Adam Bede by Emile Mont'e9gut full of reverential and sympathetic criticism.
Ever yours faithfully,
G.H.L.
P.P.S. Entre nous. Please don't write or tell Marian anything unpleasant that you hear unless it is important for her to hear it. She is so very sensitive, and has such a tendency to dwell on and believe in unpleasant ideas that I always keep them from her. What other people would disregard or despise sinks into her mind. She knows nothing of this second postscript, of course.
MS: Mr. Philip Leigh-Smith. Hitherto unpublished.
[The beginning of this letter has not been found.] hope we may consider this as an indication that people generally would consider it ill-breeding to speak on the subject to us. The tone of G.E.'s letters to the Times has shown that intrusion of that sort would be held offensive.
Yours ever
Marian.
[In GHL's hand]
P.S. Dear Barbara
Since the above was written we have come to the resolution of no longer concealing the authorship. It makes me angry to think that people should say that the secret has been kept because there was any fear of the effect of the author's name. You may tell it openly to all who care to hear it that the object of anonymity was to get the book judged on its own merits, and not prejudged as the work of a woman, or of a particular woman. It is quite clear that people would have sniffed at it if they had known the writer to be a woman but they can't now unsay their admiration.
If you can get a look at the Revue Des Deux Mondes for 15 June do so. There is an exquisite article on Adam Bede by Emile Mont'e9gut full of reverential and sympathetic criticism.
Ever yours faithfully,
G.H.L.
P.P.S. Entre nous. Please don't write or tell Marian anything unpleasant that you hear unless it is important for her to hear it. She is so very sensitive, and has such a tendency to dwell on and believe in unpleasant ideas that I always keep them from her. What other people would disregard or despise sinks into her mind. She knows nothing of this second postscript, of course.
Signature
G.H.L.
Citation
George Eliot, George Henry Lewes, GE and GHL to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Wandsworth, [30 June 1859], Complete George Eliot Letters(2026), George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/91860