GE to John Blackwood, London, 10 November 1875
Title
GE to John Blackwood, London, 10 November 1875
Title
GE to John Blackwood, London, 10 November 1875
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
John Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1875-11-10
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to John Blackwood, London, 10 November 1875
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
November 10/75.
Dear Mr. Blackwood
I want your opinion about the length of the four first Parts of D. D. Mr. Simpson sends me word this morning that Pts. III and IV make respectively 170 and 175 pp. Pts. I and II being 191 and 180. My original division made the two first parts considerably longer -- Pt. I ending at the end of the Archery Ball, and Part II at the end of Mirah's story. 328 But I found that by this arrangement, the first part would be more than 220 pp. and the second at least 190 -- making the 1st vol. tremendously thick. But I fear that the present division may make the two first parts -- the impression from which is of course supremely important -- rather poverty-stricken in point of matter.
What do you think? As to the III and IV Parts -- there are two Books of Middlemarch which are 175 and 176 respectively, but they don't come together. The question of course is rather of matter in relation to interest than in relation to quantity.
If you are for the larger size of Parts I and II and Mr. Lewes concurs, (he is this morning at Cambridge) I could throw the same amount into Parts III and IV -- not less, I fear, because of the difficulty as to properly dividing the subject matter. Unhappily I cannot drill myself into writing according to set lengths.
Charging 5s per Book makes me dreadfully afraid of giving the Public too little for its money. On the other hand, Too Much is the most thankless form of generosity. Please give me your ideas.
Always yours sincerely
M. E. Lewes.
The 2 first volumes would preponderate in the one case -- the 2 last in the other.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
November 10/75.
Dear Mr. Blackwood
I want your opinion about the length of the four first Parts of D. D. Mr. Simpson sends me word this morning that Pts. III and IV make respectively 170 and 175 pp. Pts. I and II being 191 and 180. My original division made the two first parts considerably longer -- Pt. I ending at the end of the Archery Ball, and Part II at the end of Mirah's story. 328 But I found that by this arrangement, the first part would be more than 220 pp. and the second at least 190 -- making the 1st vol. tremendously thick. But I fear that the present division may make the two first parts -- the impression from which is of course supremely important -- rather poverty-stricken in point of matter.
What do you think? As to the III and IV Parts -- there are two Books of Middlemarch which are 175 and 176 respectively, but they don't come together. The question of course is rather of matter in relation to interest than in relation to quantity.
If you are for the larger size of Parts I and II and Mr. Lewes concurs, (he is this morning at Cambridge) I could throw the same amount into Parts III and IV -- not less, I fear, because of the difficulty as to properly dividing the subject matter. Unhappily I cannot drill myself into writing according to set lengths.
Charging 5s per Book makes me dreadfully afraid of giving the Public too little for its money. On the other hand, Too Much is the most thankless form of generosity. Please give me your ideas.
Always yours sincerely
M. E. Lewes.
The 2 first volumes would preponderate in the one case -- the 2 last in the other.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to John Blackwood, London, 10 November 1875, 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/92596