GE to John Blackwood, [Richmond], 14 March 1857
Title
GE to John Blackwood, [Richmond], 14 March 1857
Title
GE to John Blackwood, [Richmond], 14 March 1857
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
John Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1857-03-14
Place
[Richmond]
Letter Content
GE to John Blackwood, [Richmond], 14 March 1857
MS: National Library of Scotland. Mostly published: Cross, 1, 435-436.
March 14. 1857.
My dear Sir
The cheque and the proof have reached me and I am much obliged by your ready attention in both matters.
I am glad you retain a doubt in favour of the [dadger,] and wish I could convert you to entire approval, for I am much more satisfied when your feeling is thoroughly with me. But it would be the death of my story to substitute a dream for the real scene. Dreams usually play an important part in fiction, but rarely, I think, in actual life.
So many of us have reason to know that criminal impulses may be felt by a nature which is nevertheless guarded by its entire constitution from the commission of crime, that I can't help hoping my Caterina will not forfeit the sympathy of all my readers.
The answer you propose to give to curious inquirers is the best possible. For several reasons I am very anxious to retain my incognito for some time to come, and to an author not already famous, anonymity is the highest prestige. Besides, if George Eliot turns out a dull dog and an ineffective writer -- a mere flash in the pan -- I, for one, am determined to cut him on the first intimation of that disagreeable fact.
The Fates have willed that this shall be a very melancholy story, and I am longing to be a little merrier again. Ever, my dear Sir,
Yours very truly (incognito apart)
George Eliot.
John Blackwood Esq.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Mostly published: Cross, 1, 435-436.
March 14. 1857.
My dear Sir
The cheque and the proof have reached me and I am much obliged by your ready attention in both matters.
I am glad you retain a doubt in favour of the [dadger,] and wish I could convert you to entire approval, for I am much more satisfied when your feeling is thoroughly with me. But it would be the death of my story to substitute a dream for the real scene. Dreams usually play an important part in fiction, but rarely, I think, in actual life.
So many of us have reason to know that criminal impulses may be felt by a nature which is nevertheless guarded by its entire constitution from the commission of crime, that I can't help hoping my Caterina will not forfeit the sympathy of all my readers.
The answer you propose to give to curious inquirers is the best possible. For several reasons I am very anxious to retain my incognito for some time to come, and to an author not already famous, anonymity is the highest prestige. Besides, if George Eliot turns out a dull dog and an ineffective writer -- a mere flash in the pan -- I, for one, am determined to cut him on the first intimation of that disagreeable fact.
The Fates have willed that this shall be a very melancholy story, and I am longing to be a little merrier again. Ever, my dear Sir,
Yours very truly (incognito apart)
George Eliot.
John Blackwood Esq.
Signature
George Eliot.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to John Blackwood, [Richmond], 14 March 1857, 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/92560