GE to Alexander Main, London, 26 January 1872
Title
GE to Alexander Main, London, 26 January 1872
Title
GE to Alexander Main, London, 26 January 1872
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Alexander Main
Date(s)
- 1872-01-26
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Alexander Main, London, 26 January 1872
Text: Main's copy owned by Mr. John R. Sprunt. Extract published: Cross, New Edition, p. 482.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
January 26. 1872.
My dear Mr. Main,
I did see the letter to Mr. Lewes which you wrote about a week ago, 451 and which you rather wished, with your usual delicate sympathy, that I should not see, lest any hint of newspaper chit-chat should pain me. Since then I have wanted to write you a few words of gratitude for that proof of your thoughtful regard, but my strength is rarely sufficient for all the demands of the day, and letter-writing is the work which Mr. Lewes always urges me to leave to him, or to leave undone. You may imagine how much trouble he takes on himself in order to save me.
I have looked through that article in the Spectator 452 by way of an exception which will last me for a long while -- and I want to beg of you not to let such make-shift writing disturb you. The article was written, not by Mr. Hutton, but by some contributor who probably knows but little of my books, and looked over your volume to be furnished with a few cues enabling him to show what he imagined to be his own felicity in finding parallels. You observe that he is so unreflecting as to take the words put dramatically into the mouths of my characters as the expression of my own sentiments. The "earthly wisdom" is put in to round a sentence into conformity with the occasional tone of the Spectator. If it were my habit to read stuff of this kind, the effect would be very injurious to me, and I shall not taste of that cup again for a long while. But what I want now to impress on you is, that you have done a bit of faithful work, and must not mind if the immediate results are scanty.
The weather, I suppose, is as depressing with you as it is here. The low barometer with almost constant rain and fog tells unfavourably on us whose nervous energy is already below the mark. I hope you are strong as well as young.
"Count no author happy until all his books have been written," is my present version of Solon's wisdom, 453 and I am more depressed by the possibility of what is to come than cheered by the sense of what has been already done. You see, I have a great talent for anxiety, especially when I am out of health.
I have not broken my silence to much effect, but at least let this note prove to you that you are borne in the happier thoughts of
Yours always sincerely
M. E. Lewes.
Text: Main's copy owned by Mr. John R. Sprunt. Extract published: Cross, New Edition, p. 482.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
January 26. 1872.
My dear Mr. Main,
I did see the letter to Mr. Lewes which you wrote about a week ago, 451 and which you rather wished, with your usual delicate sympathy, that I should not see, lest any hint of newspaper chit-chat should pain me. Since then I have wanted to write you a few words of gratitude for that proof of your thoughtful regard, but my strength is rarely sufficient for all the demands of the day, and letter-writing is the work which Mr. Lewes always urges me to leave to him, or to leave undone. You may imagine how much trouble he takes on himself in order to save me.
I have looked through that article in the Spectator 452 by way of an exception which will last me for a long while -- and I want to beg of you not to let such make-shift writing disturb you. The article was written, not by Mr. Hutton, but by some contributor who probably knows but little of my books, and looked over your volume to be furnished with a few cues enabling him to show what he imagined to be his own felicity in finding parallels. You observe that he is so unreflecting as to take the words put dramatically into the mouths of my characters as the expression of my own sentiments. The "earthly wisdom" is put in to round a sentence into conformity with the occasional tone of the Spectator. If it were my habit to read stuff of this kind, the effect would be very injurious to me, and I shall not taste of that cup again for a long while. But what I want now to impress on you is, that you have done a bit of faithful work, and must not mind if the immediate results are scanty.
The weather, I suppose, is as depressing with you as it is here. The low barometer with almost constant rain and fog tells unfavourably on us whose nervous energy is already below the mark. I hope you are strong as well as young.
"Count no author happy until all his books have been written," is my present version of Solon's wisdom, 453 and I am more depressed by the possibility of what is to come than cheered by the sense of what has been already done. You see, I have a great talent for anxiety, especially when I am out of health.
I have not broken my silence to much effect, but at least let this note prove to you that you are borne in the happier thoughts of
Yours always sincerely
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Alexander Main, London, 26 January 1872, 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/91993