GE to John Blackwood, London, 22 December 1866
Title
GE to John Blackwood, London, 22 December 1866
Title
GE to John Blackwood, London, 22 December 1866
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
John Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1866-12-22
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to John Blackwood, London, 22 December 1866
MS: National Library of Scotland. Published: TLS, 10 March 1972, p. 282.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
December 22. 1866.
My dear Sir
I was glad to have your letter this morning, for I was thinking of writing to tell you that we had determined on setting out for the South of France next Thursday. Mr. Lewes's increasing debility, causing him more and more frequent interruptions to the possibility of writing, has made me urge him to leave his work unfinished and let it await his return. This, I feel sure is the only wise course.
I am much obliged to you for sending me the estimate of expenses as a basis of judgment. 733
I accept your offer of one thousand pounds (£1000) for my interest in Adam Bede, the Mill on the Floss, Felix Holt, Silas Marner, and the Scenes of Clerical Life, during ten years, with a conditional five hundred pounds (£500), over and above the one thousand, at the end of five years, in case of success according to your estimate.
I propose that, if convenient to you, the £1000 should be paid in two instalments together with the two remaining instalments of the sum agreed upon for the five years' interest in Felix Holt.
The estimate for Romola, as you observe, will be best made when the time for its publication has arrived. If a change in our relations with America should open any new prospects, I feel confidence that you would take these into consideration on my behalf as well as your own. As to Brother Jacob and the Lifted Veil, I abide by your opinion.
That two shilling series of Chapman and Hall is among those that make me shudder by the vitiating ugliness of the outside. Even if the profit were considerable, I should feel it a purgatory to see my books published in such a form. A bright colour is certainly desirable, and I should be glad if a cover for the sixpenny series could be chosen with as much taste as the cover of the two-volumed Felix.
Macmillan, talking with Mr. Lewes the other day, said, "If I were to see Blackwood, I would advise him to publish each tale of the Scenes of Clerical Life separately as a shilling volume." Apparently he is one of the special admirers of the "Scenes."
We have had three days of unbroken fog.
Always yours sincerely
M. E. Lewes.
John Blackwood Esq.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Published: TLS, 10 March 1972, p. 282.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
December 22. 1866.
My dear Sir
I was glad to have your letter this morning, for I was thinking of writing to tell you that we had determined on setting out for the South of France next Thursday. Mr. Lewes's increasing debility, causing him more and more frequent interruptions to the possibility of writing, has made me urge him to leave his work unfinished and let it await his return. This, I feel sure is the only wise course.
I am much obliged to you for sending me the estimate of expenses as a basis of judgment. 733
I accept your offer of one thousand pounds (£1000) for my interest in Adam Bede, the Mill on the Floss, Felix Holt, Silas Marner, and the Scenes of Clerical Life, during ten years, with a conditional five hundred pounds (£500), over and above the one thousand, at the end of five years, in case of success according to your estimate.
I propose that, if convenient to you, the £1000 should be paid in two instalments together with the two remaining instalments of the sum agreed upon for the five years' interest in Felix Holt.
The estimate for Romola, as you observe, will be best made when the time for its publication has arrived. If a change in our relations with America should open any new prospects, I feel confidence that you would take these into consideration on my behalf as well as your own. As to Brother Jacob and the Lifted Veil, I abide by your opinion.
That two shilling series of Chapman and Hall is among those that make me shudder by the vitiating ugliness of the outside. Even if the profit were considerable, I should feel it a purgatory to see my books published in such a form. A bright colour is certainly desirable, and I should be glad if a cover for the sixpenny series could be chosen with as much taste as the cover of the two-volumed Felix.
Macmillan, talking with Mr. Lewes the other day, said, "If I were to see Blackwood, I would advise him to publish each tale of the Scenes of Clerical Life separately as a shilling volume." Apparently he is one of the special admirers of the "Scenes."
We have had three days of unbroken fog.
Always yours sincerely
M. E. Lewes.
John Blackwood Esq.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to John Blackwood, London, 22 December 1866, 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/92643