GE to David Kaufmann, London, 17 April 1879
Title
GE to David Kaufmann, London, 17 April 1879
Title
GE to David Kaufmann, London, 17 April 1879
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
David Kaufmann
Date(s)
- 1879-04-17
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to David Kaufmann, London, 17 April 1879
Text: Athenaeum, 26 November 1881, p. 704.
The Priory, 21, North Bank, Regent's Park, | April 17, '79.
My dear Sir,
Your kind letter has touched me very deeply. I confess that my mind had more than once gone out to you as one from whom I should like to have some sign of sympathy with my loss. But you were rightly inspired in waiting till now, for during many weeks I was unable even to listen to the letters which my generous friends were continually sending me. Now, at last, I am eagerly interested in every communication that springs out of an acquaintance with my husband and his works.
I thank you for telling me about the Hungarian translation of his [History of Philosophy,] 225 but what would I not have given if the volumes could have come a few days before his death; for his mind was perfectly clear and he would have felt some joy in that sign of his work being effective. I do not know whether you enter into the comfort I feel that he never knew he was dying, and fell gently asleep after ten days of illness in which the suffering was comparatively mild. . . .
One of the last things he did at his desk was to despatch a manuscript of mine to the publishers. The book (not a story and not bulky) is to appear near the end of May, and as it contains some words I wanted to say about the Jews, I will order a copy to be sent to you.
I hope that your labours have gone on uninterruptedly for the benefit of others, in spite of public troubles. The aspect of affairs with us is grievous -- industry languishing, and the best part of our nation indignant at our having been betrayed into an unjustifiable war (in South Africa).
I have been occupied in editing my husband's MSS., so far as they are left in sufficient completeness to be prepared for publication without the obtrusion of another mind instead of his. A brief volume on [The Study of Psychology] will appear immediately, and a further volume of psychological studies will follow in the autumn. But his work was cut short while he still thought of it as the happy occupation of far-stretching months. Once more let me thank you for remembering me in my sorrow, and believe me
Yours with high regard,
M. E. Lewes.
Text: Athenaeum, 26 November 1881, p. 704.
The Priory, 21, North Bank, Regent's Park, | April 17, '79.
My dear Sir,
Your kind letter has touched me very deeply. I confess that my mind had more than once gone out to you as one from whom I should like to have some sign of sympathy with my loss. But you were rightly inspired in waiting till now, for during many weeks I was unable even to listen to the letters which my generous friends were continually sending me. Now, at last, I am eagerly interested in every communication that springs out of an acquaintance with my husband and his works.
I thank you for telling me about the Hungarian translation of his [History of Philosophy,] 225 but what would I not have given if the volumes could have come a few days before his death; for his mind was perfectly clear and he would have felt some joy in that sign of his work being effective. I do not know whether you enter into the comfort I feel that he never knew he was dying, and fell gently asleep after ten days of illness in which the suffering was comparatively mild. . . .
One of the last things he did at his desk was to despatch a manuscript of mine to the publishers. The book (not a story and not bulky) is to appear near the end of May, and as it contains some words I wanted to say about the Jews, I will order a copy to be sent to you.
I hope that your labours have gone on uninterruptedly for the benefit of others, in spite of public troubles. The aspect of affairs with us is grievous -- industry languishing, and the best part of our nation indignant at our having been betrayed into an unjustifiable war (in South Africa).
I have been occupied in editing my husband's MSS., so far as they are left in sufficient completeness to be prepared for publication without the obtrusion of another mind instead of his. A brief volume on [The Study of Psychology] will appear immediately, and a further volume of psychological studies will follow in the autumn. But his work was cut short while he still thought of it as the happy occupation of far-stretching months. Once more let me thank you for remembering me in my sorrow, and believe me
Yours with high regard,
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to David Kaufmann, London, 17 April 1879, 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/92268