GE to John Blackwood, London, 10 October 1875
Title
GE to John Blackwood, London, 10 October 1875
Title
GE to John Blackwood, London, 10 October 1875
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
John Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1875-10-10
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to John Blackwood, London, 10 October 1875
MS: National Library of Scotland. Extracts published: Cross, III, 264-265.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
October 10. 75.
My dear Mr. Blackwood
I behaved rather shabbily in not thanking you otherwise than by proxy for the kind letter you sent me to Rickmansworth, but I had a
[bad time] down there and did less of everything than I desired. Last night we returned from our trip -- a very lively word for a journey made in the worst weather -- and since I am on the whole the better for a succession of small discomforts in hotels and struggling walks taken under an umbrella, I have no excuse for not writing a line to my neglected correspondents.
You will laugh at our nervous caution in depositing our MSS at the Union Bank before we set out. We could have borne to hear that our house had been burnt down provided no lives were lost, and our unprinted matter, our oeuvres in'e9dites, were safe out of it. 315
About my unprinted matter -- Mr. Lewes thinks it will not be well to publish the first part till February. 316 December he says will be too soon for the necessary arrangements with America, and January he maintains is a bad month for publishing anything, whereas February is altogether eligible. The four first monthly parts are ready for travelling now. I am a little uncertain about the way the quantities will turn out, but I have divided these two volumes to the best of my calculation. I found that the first volume -- i.e. the first two parts -- would turn out enormously thick on my first plan of division, and have therefore revised the arrangement.
It will be well to begin the printing in good time so that I may not be hurried with the proofs, and I must beg Mr. Simpson to judge for me in that matter with kind carefulness.
I can't say that I am at all satisfied with the book or that I have a comfortable sense of doing in it what I want to do, but Mr. Lewes is satisfied with it and insists that since he is as anxious as possible for it to be fine I ought to accept his impression as trustworthy. So I resign myself.
I read aloud "The Abode of Snow" at Rickmansworth to our mutual delight, and we are both very much obliged to you for the handsome present. But what an amazing creature is this Andrew Wilson to have kept pluck for such travelling while his body was miserably ailing! One would have said that he had more than the average spirit of hardy men to have persevered even in good health after a little taste of the difficulties he describes. The account of the dandi 317 seems something like a cruel punishment of criminals in ancient Tartary. -- Also I found last night, and read, Principal Tulloch's Sermon, 318 besides Mr. Simpson's budget of Dutch and Australian 319 Correspondence, which Mr. Lewes takes charge of.
I wonder if Scotland has continued to have the advantage over us in weather. Wherever we have been, notwithstanding the rain, the trees show little sign of autumnal changes, and if we could have a fortnight of sunshine it would be the most delicious bit of the year for the country -- where I imagine you will feel settled till the end of the month. I hope that you are all well enough to enjoy it thoroughly.
Yours always sincerely
M. E. Lewes.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Extracts published: Cross, III, 264-265.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
October 10. 75.
My dear Mr. Blackwood
I behaved rather shabbily in not thanking you otherwise than by proxy for the kind letter you sent me to Rickmansworth, but I had a
[bad time] down there and did less of everything than I desired. Last night we returned from our trip -- a very lively word for a journey made in the worst weather -- and since I am on the whole the better for a succession of small discomforts in hotels and struggling walks taken under an umbrella, I have no excuse for not writing a line to my neglected correspondents.
You will laugh at our nervous caution in depositing our MSS at the Union Bank before we set out. We could have borne to hear that our house had been burnt down provided no lives were lost, and our unprinted matter, our oeuvres in'e9dites, were safe out of it. 315
About my unprinted matter -- Mr. Lewes thinks it will not be well to publish the first part till February. 316 December he says will be too soon for the necessary arrangements with America, and January he maintains is a bad month for publishing anything, whereas February is altogether eligible. The four first monthly parts are ready for travelling now. I am a little uncertain about the way the quantities will turn out, but I have divided these two volumes to the best of my calculation. I found that the first volume -- i.e. the first two parts -- would turn out enormously thick on my first plan of division, and have therefore revised the arrangement.
It will be well to begin the printing in good time so that I may not be hurried with the proofs, and I must beg Mr. Simpson to judge for me in that matter with kind carefulness.
I can't say that I am at all satisfied with the book or that I have a comfortable sense of doing in it what I want to do, but Mr. Lewes is satisfied with it and insists that since he is as anxious as possible for it to be fine I ought to accept his impression as trustworthy. So I resign myself.
I read aloud "The Abode of Snow" at Rickmansworth to our mutual delight, and we are both very much obliged to you for the handsome present. But what an amazing creature is this Andrew Wilson to have kept pluck for such travelling while his body was miserably ailing! One would have said that he had more than the average spirit of hardy men to have persevered even in good health after a little taste of the difficulties he describes. The account of the dandi 317 seems something like a cruel punishment of criminals in ancient Tartary. -- Also I found last night, and read, Principal Tulloch's Sermon, 318 besides Mr. Simpson's budget of Dutch and Australian 319 Correspondence, which Mr. Lewes takes charge of.
I wonder if Scotland has continued to have the advantage over us in weather. Wherever we have been, notwithstanding the rain, the trees show little sign of autumnal changes, and if we could have a fortnight of sunshine it would be the most delicious bit of the year for the country -- where I imagine you will feel settled till the end of the month. I hope that you are all well enough to enjoy it thoroughly.
Yours always sincerely
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to John Blackwood, London, 10 October 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/92597