GE to Charles Lee Lewes, Shottermill, 4 June [1871]
Title
GE to Charles Lee Lewes, Shottermill, 4 June [1871]
Title
GE to Charles Lee Lewes, Shottermill, 4 June [1871]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Charles Lee Lewes
Date(s)
- 1871-06-04
Place
Shottermill
Letter Content
GE to Charles Lee Lewes, Shottermill, 4 June [1871]
MS: The London Library. Endorsed: /71. Published: Paterson, pp. 147-148.
Shotter Mill | Petersfield. | June 4.
Dearest Boy
I feel myself a culprit, that I have to be troublesome to you and again cause you a d'e9tour on your way home. When I came away I unhappily left behind me a volume belonging to the London Library, and it is now required by some other subscriber. The volume is Wolff's Prolegomena to Homer which I have had in my possession ever since November, and had read through a long while ago. But I still kept it, because I wished to read it again, and relied too confidently on the unlikelihood that anyone else would ask for it. Now, however, by way of Nemesis, some student turns up who wants the said volume. You see, all wrong-doing strikes the innocent more than the guilty, and so in consequence of my mistake you are bothered. I am much afraid lest you should have trouble in finding the volume, but this much is certain: that it is in one or other of the bookcases in my study. It is less certain, but very probable, that it is in the upper shelves, or else in the middle cupboard of the long bookcase which used to be in the drawing-room in Blandford Square. Its appearance is this: an octavo volume with a brown calf back split on one side, lettered dully with (I think) Homerus Wolfii. When you have found it, will you be so good as to despatch it to the London Library? As Pater says, if I had consulted him, he would have told me to bring it down here, and then we could have returned it immediately on receiving notice that it was wanted. But wisdom has come too late.
I was made happy by your and Gertrude's letters, which gave me an idea that you were enjoying this young time of the year and of life.
Always your loving
Mutter.
I have been ill all week with a cold which I took on Sunday last, and which brought on inflamed gums, headache and general disorder of functions. 287 Pater is jolly.
MS: The London Library. Endorsed: /71. Published: Paterson, pp. 147-148.
Shotter Mill | Petersfield. | June 4.
Dearest Boy
I feel myself a culprit, that I have to be troublesome to you and again cause you a d'e9tour on your way home. When I came away I unhappily left behind me a volume belonging to the London Library, and it is now required by some other subscriber. The volume is Wolff's Prolegomena to Homer which I have had in my possession ever since November, and had read through a long while ago. But I still kept it, because I wished to read it again, and relied too confidently on the unlikelihood that anyone else would ask for it. Now, however, by way of Nemesis, some student turns up who wants the said volume. You see, all wrong-doing strikes the innocent more than the guilty, and so in consequence of my mistake you are bothered. I am much afraid lest you should have trouble in finding the volume, but this much is certain: that it is in one or other of the bookcases in my study. It is less certain, but very probable, that it is in the upper shelves, or else in the middle cupboard of the long bookcase which used to be in the drawing-room in Blandford Square. Its appearance is this: an octavo volume with a brown calf back split on one side, lettered dully with (I think) Homerus Wolfii. When you have found it, will you be so good as to despatch it to the London Library? As Pater says, if I had consulted him, he would have told me to bring it down here, and then we could have returned it immediately on receiving notice that it was wanted. But wisdom has come too late.
I was made happy by your and Gertrude's letters, which gave me an idea that you were enjoying this young time of the year and of life.
Always your loving
Mutter.
I have been ill all week with a cold which I took on Sunday last, and which brought on inflamed gums, headache and general disorder of functions. 287 Pater is jolly.
Signature
Mutter.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Charles Lee Lewes, Shottermill, 4 June [1871], 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/92221