GE to John Blackwood, Hastings, 19 March 1861
Title
GE to John Blackwood, Hastings, 19 March 1861
Title
GE to John Blackwood, Hastings, 19 March 1861
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
John Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1861-03-19
Place
Hastings
Letter Content
GE to John Blackwood, Hastings, 19 March 1861
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Stratford Place 717 | Hastings | March 19. 61.
My dear Sir
We have just had a telegraphic message from Mr. Langford saying that you have not received the last three sheets of "Silas." We left them yesterday with strict orders to the servant to post them, and I hope that by this time they have reached you.
If not, pray see that the punctuation in Silas's last speech to Mrs. Winthrop is corrected. It ought to stand thus: "and now she says she'll never leave me, I think I shall trusten till I die." In the proof there was a full stop after me, instead of a comma. Also Sytherley ought to be Lytherley. Again, where I am speaking of Eppie's thoughts, please to put "that black featureless shadow which held" etc. instead of "that held." And a few lines lower down 'abthe same'bb a similar juxtaposition of the demonstrative "that" and the relative "that" occurs: please to alter the second "that" into which. The other mistakes, I believe, are such as a careful reader might correct. There were several dashes which I had altered to commas or semi-colons.
But it is a disagreeable business, and I should feel relieved if you were able to send me word that you got the sheets with my corrections. It has just occurred to me that the reader had left "dread created on Nancy's mind" instead of in. And, by the by, I was going to miss quite the worst error. Eppie is made to say, in the proof, "What could I care for them?" I wrote: "What could I care for then?" 718
We shall stay here for a week -- perhaps for a fortnight. I feel already a new creature with a day's draught of sea-air.
Ever yours truly
M. E. Lewes.
J. Blackwood Esq.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Stratford Place 717 | Hastings | March 19. 61.
My dear Sir
We have just had a telegraphic message from Mr. Langford saying that you have not received the last three sheets of "Silas." We left them yesterday with strict orders to the servant to post them, and I hope that by this time they have reached you.
If not, pray see that the punctuation in Silas's last speech to Mrs. Winthrop is corrected. It ought to stand thus: "and now she says she'll never leave me, I think I shall trusten till I die." In the proof there was a full stop after me, instead of a comma. Also Sytherley ought to be Lytherley. Again, where I am speaking of Eppie's thoughts, please to put "that black featureless shadow which held" etc. instead of "that held." And a few lines lower down 'abthe same'bb a similar juxtaposition of the demonstrative "that" and the relative "that" occurs: please to alter the second "that" into which. The other mistakes, I believe, are such as a careful reader might correct. There were several dashes which I had altered to commas or semi-colons.
But it is a disagreeable business, and I should feel relieved if you were able to send me word that you got the sheets with my corrections. It has just occurred to me that the reader had left "dread created on Nancy's mind" instead of in. And, by the by, I was going to miss quite the worst error. Eppie is made to say, in the proof, "What could I care for them?" I wrote: "What could I care for then?" 718
We shall stay here for a week -- perhaps for a fortnight. I feel already a new creature with a day's draught of sea-air.
Ever yours truly
M. E. Lewes.
J. Blackwood Esq.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to John Blackwood, Hastings, 19 March 1861, 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/92585