GE to John Blackwood, [Wandsworth], 25 February 1859
Title
GE to John Blackwood, [Wandsworth], 25 February 1859
Title
GE to John Blackwood, [Wandsworth], 25 February 1859
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
John Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1859-02-25
Place
[Wandsworth]
Letter Content
GE to John Blackwood, [Wandsworth], 25 February 1859
MS: National Library of Scotland. Mostly published: Cross, II, 88-90.
February 25. 59.
My dear Sir
The folio of notices duly came and are returned by today's post. The friend at my elbow ran through them for me, and read aloud some specimens to me, some of them ludicrous enough. The Edinburgh Courant has the ring of sincere enjoyment in its tone, and the writer there makes himself so amiable to me that I am sorry he has fallen into the mistake of supposing that Mrs. Poyser's original sayings are remembered proverbs! I have no stock of proverbs in my memory, and there is not one thing put into Mrs. Poyser's mouth that is not fresh from my own mint. Please to correct that mistake if any one makes it in your hearing.
I have not ventured to look into the folio myself, but I learn that there are certain threatening marks in ink by the side of such stock sentences as "best novel of the season" or "best novel we have read for a long while," from such authorities as the Sun or Morning Star or other orb of the newspaper firmament -- as if these sentences were to be selected for reprint in the form of advertisement. I shudder at the suggestion. Am I taking a liberty in intreating you to keep a sharp watch over the advertisements that no hackneyed puffing phrase of this kind may be tacked to my book? One sees them garnishing every other advertisement of Hurst and Blackett's 52 trash: surely no being "above the rank of an idiot" can have his inclination coerced by them, and it would gall me as much as any trifle could, to see my book recommended by such an authority as the writer in Bell's Weekly Messenger 53 who doesn't know how to write decent English. I believe that your taste and judgment will concur with mine in the conviction that no quotations of this vulgar kind can do credit to a book, and that unless something looking like the real opinion of a tolerably educated writer in a respectable journal can be given, it would be better to abstain from "opinions of the press" altogether. I shall be grateful to you if you will save me from the results of any agency but your own -- or at least of any agency that is not under your rigid criticism in this matter.
Pardon me if I am overstepping the author's limits in this expression of my feelings. I confide in your ready comprehension of the irritable class you have to deal with.
Ever yours truly
G. E.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Mostly published: Cross, II, 88-90.
February 25. 59.
My dear Sir
The folio of notices duly came and are returned by today's post. The friend at my elbow ran through them for me, and read aloud some specimens to me, some of them ludicrous enough. The Edinburgh Courant has the ring of sincere enjoyment in its tone, and the writer there makes himself so amiable to me that I am sorry he has fallen into the mistake of supposing that Mrs. Poyser's original sayings are remembered proverbs! I have no stock of proverbs in my memory, and there is not one thing put into Mrs. Poyser's mouth that is not fresh from my own mint. Please to correct that mistake if any one makes it in your hearing.
I have not ventured to look into the folio myself, but I learn that there are certain threatening marks in ink by the side of such stock sentences as "best novel of the season" or "best novel we have read for a long while," from such authorities as the Sun or Morning Star or other orb of the newspaper firmament -- as if these sentences were to be selected for reprint in the form of advertisement. I shudder at the suggestion. Am I taking a liberty in intreating you to keep a sharp watch over the advertisements that no hackneyed puffing phrase of this kind may be tacked to my book? One sees them garnishing every other advertisement of Hurst and Blackett's 52 trash: surely no being "above the rank of an idiot" can have his inclination coerced by them, and it would gall me as much as any trifle could, to see my book recommended by such an authority as the writer in Bell's Weekly Messenger 53 who doesn't know how to write decent English. I believe that your taste and judgment will concur with mine in the conviction that no quotations of this vulgar kind can do credit to a book, and that unless something looking like the real opinion of a tolerably educated writer in a respectable journal can be given, it would be better to abstain from "opinions of the press" altogether. I shall be grateful to you if you will save me from the results of any agency but your own -- or at least of any agency that is not under your rigid criticism in this matter.
Pardon me if I am overstepping the author's limits in this expression of my feelings. I confide in your ready comprehension of the irritable class you have to deal with.
Ever yours truly
G. E.
Signature
G. E.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to John Blackwood, [Wandsworth], 25 February 1859, 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/92570