GE to John Blackwood, London, 12 January 1861
Title
GE to John Blackwood, London, 12 January 1861
Title
GE to John Blackwood, London, 12 January 1861
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
John Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1861-01-12
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to John Blackwood, London, 12 January 1861
MS: National Library of Scotland. Extract published: Cross, II, 285.
Blandford Square, | N.W.
January 12. 1861.
My dear Sir
The only melancholy items in the list you have sent me are the 740 C.S., and the surplus of the three-volumed Mill. One hopes that another year may reduce the former a little; but I suppose there is no dignified means of reducing the other, is there?
I feel the wisdom of your determination to take back the copies from the Row; indeed, to me personally, the satisfaction is unspeakable of having publishers whose transactions are known to be genuine. There was an article in the Athenaeum some time ago which assumed that Mudie got all novels at his own price: I suppose he takes care not to boast of the exceptions.
I am writing a story 686 which came across my other plans by a sudden inspiration. I don't know at present whether it will resolve itself into a book short enough for me to complete before Easter, or whether it will expand beyond that possibility. It seems to me that nobody will take any interest in it but myself, for it is extremely unlike the popular stories going; but Mr. Lewes declares that I am wrong, and says it is as good as anything I have done. It is a story of old-fashioned village life, which has unfolded itself from the merest millet-seed of thought. I think I get slower and more timid in my writing, but perhaps worry about houses and servants and boys, with want of bodily strength, may have had something to do with that. I hope to be quiet now.
Mr. Lewes is busy with his microscope again and very happy in his work; but everybody we meet tells him how old and thin he looks -- which is not encouraging.
Always yours truly
Marian Evans Lewes.
J. Blackwood Esq.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Extract published: Cross, II, 285.
Blandford Square, | N.W.
January 12. 1861.
My dear Sir
The only melancholy items in the list you have sent me are the 740 C.S., and the surplus of the three-volumed Mill. One hopes that another year may reduce the former a little; but I suppose there is no dignified means of reducing the other, is there?
I feel the wisdom of your determination to take back the copies from the Row; indeed, to me personally, the satisfaction is unspeakable of having publishers whose transactions are known to be genuine. There was an article in the Athenaeum some time ago which assumed that Mudie got all novels at his own price: I suppose he takes care not to boast of the exceptions.
I am writing a story 686 which came across my other plans by a sudden inspiration. I don't know at present whether it will resolve itself into a book short enough for me to complete before Easter, or whether it will expand beyond that possibility. It seems to me that nobody will take any interest in it but myself, for it is extremely unlike the popular stories going; but Mr. Lewes declares that I am wrong, and says it is as good as anything I have done. It is a story of old-fashioned village life, which has unfolded itself from the merest millet-seed of thought. I think I get slower and more timid in my writing, but perhaps worry about houses and servants and boys, with want of bodily strength, may have had something to do with that. I hope to be quiet now.
Mr. Lewes is busy with his microscope again and very happy in his work; but everybody we meet tells him how old and thin he looks -- which is not encouraging.
Always yours truly
Marian Evans Lewes.
J. Blackwood Esq.
Signature
Marian Evans Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to John Blackwood, London, 12 January 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/92604