GE to John Blackwood, London, 21 February 1872
Title
GE to John Blackwood, London, 21 February 1872
Title
GE to John Blackwood, London, 21 February 1872
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
John Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1872-02-21
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to John Blackwood, London, 21 February 1872
MS: National Library of Scotland. Extracts published: Cross, III, 151-152.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
February 21. 72.
My dear Mr. Blackwood
To hear of a friend's illness after he has got well through it, is the least painful way of learning the bad news. I hope that your attack has been a payment of insurance.
You probably know what it grieved us deeply to learn the other day -- that our excellent friend Mr. William Smith is dangerously ill. Mrs. Smith wrote to us asking Mr. Lewes to cheer her husband with a letter, and I have begged her to tell us if it would be any comfort for Mr. Lewes to run down to Brighton and see him. The medical attendant says that the case is one of heart disease, and is "very bad." They have been so entirely happy and wrapped up in each other that we cannot bear to think of Mrs. Smith's grief. 463
Thanks for the list of sales since February 12th. Things are encouraging and the voices that reach us are enthusiastic. But you can understand how people's interest in the book heightens my anxiety that the remainder should be up to the mark.
I want to get the Fourth Book into print and shall send the M.S. when the printers are free from the magazine. It has caused me some uneasiness that the Third Part is two sheets less than the First. But Mr. Lewes insisted that the death of old Featherstone was the right point to pause at, and he cites your approbation of the Part as a proof that effectiveness is secured in spite of diminished quantity. Still it irks me to ask 5/- for a smaller amount than that already given at the same price. Perhaps I must regard the value as made up solely by effectiveness, and certainly the book will be long enough.
I am still below par in strength and am too much beset with visitors 464 and kind attentions. I long for the quiet spaces of time and the absence of social solicitations that one enjoys in the country, out of
everybody's reach. Mr. Lewes has been a little tormented with cold and sore throat, and is at this moment lying on the sofa a victim to gum-boil and headache. But he is on the whole tolerably strong.
Our good Mr. Main sent us a letter four sheets long the other day, and full of really remarkable insight into the bearing of what he reads. He is not simply rhapsodic, but likes to give a reason for his faith. Many little indications tell favourably of his nature -- such as his incidental mentionings of his mother. 465
I am glad to hear of the pleasure Middlemarch gives in your household: that makes quite a little preliminary public for me. Mr. Lewes sends his best regards and I am always
Yours very truly
M. E. Lewes.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Extracts published: Cross, III, 151-152.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
February 21. 72.
My dear Mr. Blackwood
To hear of a friend's illness after he has got well through it, is the least painful way of learning the bad news. I hope that your attack has been a payment of insurance.
You probably know what it grieved us deeply to learn the other day -- that our excellent friend Mr. William Smith is dangerously ill. Mrs. Smith wrote to us asking Mr. Lewes to cheer her husband with a letter, and I have begged her to tell us if it would be any comfort for Mr. Lewes to run down to Brighton and see him. The medical attendant says that the case is one of heart disease, and is "very bad." They have been so entirely happy and wrapped up in each other that we cannot bear to think of Mrs. Smith's grief. 463
Thanks for the list of sales since February 12th. Things are encouraging and the voices that reach us are enthusiastic. But you can understand how people's interest in the book heightens my anxiety that the remainder should be up to the mark.
I want to get the Fourth Book into print and shall send the M.S. when the printers are free from the magazine. It has caused me some uneasiness that the Third Part is two sheets less than the First. But Mr. Lewes insisted that the death of old Featherstone was the right point to pause at, and he cites your approbation of the Part as a proof that effectiveness is secured in spite of diminished quantity. Still it irks me to ask 5/- for a smaller amount than that already given at the same price. Perhaps I must regard the value as made up solely by effectiveness, and certainly the book will be long enough.
I am still below par in strength and am too much beset with visitors 464 and kind attentions. I long for the quiet spaces of time and the absence of social solicitations that one enjoys in the country, out of
everybody's reach. Mr. Lewes has been a little tormented with cold and sore throat, and is at this moment lying on the sofa a victim to gum-boil and headache. But he is on the whole tolerably strong.
Our good Mr. Main sent us a letter four sheets long the other day, and full of really remarkable insight into the bearing of what he reads. He is not simply rhapsodic, but likes to give a reason for his faith. Many little indications tell favourably of his nature -- such as his incidental mentionings of his mother. 465
I am glad to hear of the pleasure Middlemarch gives in your household: that makes quite a little preliminary public for me. Mr. Lewes sends his best regards and I am always
Yours very truly
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to John Blackwood, London, 21 February 1872, 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/92639