GE to Haim Guedalla, London, 2 October 1876
Title
GE to Haim Guedalla, London, 2 October 1876
Title
GE to Haim Guedalla, London, 2 October 1876
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Haim Guedalla
Date(s)
- 1876-10-02
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Haim Guedalla, London, 2 October 1876
MS: Jewish Museum, London. Extracts published: Anglo-Jewish Letters, ed. Cecil Roth, 1938, p. 311.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
October 2. 76.
My dear Sir
I have just received your letter of yesterday 529 with the accompanying pamphlet.
Your request that my former letter to you may be published in the Jewish Chronicle I am obliged to refuse, for reasons which I trust you will not misunderstand.
I have a repugnance to anything like an introduction of my own personality to the public which only an urgent sense of duty could overcome. But over and above this feeling I have a conviction founded on dispassionate judgment, that any influence I may have as an author would be injured by the presentation of myself in print through any other medium than that of my books. False statements are frequently made both in British and American newspapers about my history and opinions, but I shall never break silence in an effort at contradiction until I perceive that some one else is being injured by those falsities in any way that my protest can hinder.
It is my function as an artist to act (if possible) for good on the emotions and conceptions of my fellow-men. But, as you are aware, when anyone who can be called a public person makes a casual speech or writes a letter that gets into print, his words are copied, served up in a work of commentary, misinterpreted, misquoted, and made matter of gossip for the emptiest minds. By giving occasion for more of this frivolous (if not vitiating) kind of comment than already exists in sickening abundance, I should be stepping out of my proper function and acting for what I think an evil result.
All this seems a great deal to say 'e0 propos of that brief note to which your request has reference, but I have said it in order that you may not suppose my refusal to rest on any but general grounds. If I could consent to the publication of my letters at all, I should certainly consent to the publication of what I wrote to you. I think that I used no expression which my feelings would not induce me to amplify. I remain, my dear Sir,
Sincerely yours
M. E. Lewes.
H. Guedalla Esq.
MS: Jewish Museum, London. Extracts published: Anglo-Jewish Letters, ed. Cecil Roth, 1938, p. 311.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
October 2. 76.
My dear Sir
I have just received your letter of yesterday 529 with the accompanying pamphlet.
Your request that my former letter to you may be published in the Jewish Chronicle I am obliged to refuse, for reasons which I trust you will not misunderstand.
I have a repugnance to anything like an introduction of my own personality to the public which only an urgent sense of duty could overcome. But over and above this feeling I have a conviction founded on dispassionate judgment, that any influence I may have as an author would be injured by the presentation of myself in print through any other medium than that of my books. False statements are frequently made both in British and American newspapers about my history and opinions, but I shall never break silence in an effort at contradiction until I perceive that some one else is being injured by those falsities in any way that my protest can hinder.
It is my function as an artist to act (if possible) for good on the emotions and conceptions of my fellow-men. But, as you are aware, when anyone who can be called a public person makes a casual speech or writes a letter that gets into print, his words are copied, served up in a work of commentary, misinterpreted, misquoted, and made matter of gossip for the emptiest minds. By giving occasion for more of this frivolous (if not vitiating) kind of comment than already exists in sickening abundance, I should be stepping out of my proper function and acting for what I think an evil result.
All this seems a great deal to say 'e0 propos of that brief note to which your request has reference, but I have said it in order that you may not suppose my refusal to rest on any but general grounds. If I could consent to the publication of my letters at all, I should certainly consent to the publication of what I wrote to you. I think that I used no expression which my feelings would not induce me to amplify. I remain, my dear Sir,
Sincerely yours
M. E. Lewes.
H. Guedalla Esq.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Haim Guedalla, London, 2 October 1876, 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/92516