GE to John Chapman, Coventry, 9 May [1851]
Title
GE to John Chapman, Coventry, 9 May [1851]
Title
GE to John Chapman, Coventry, 9 May [1851]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
John Chapman,
Date(s)
- 1851-05-09
Place
COVENTRY
Letter Content
GE to John Chapman, Coventry, 9 May [1851]
Text: B. C. Williams, George Eliot, New York, Macmillan, 1936, pp. 71-72. MS: Listed by Paul Victorius, London, Catalogue 1 (1935), item 83.
Rosehill | May 9.
Dear Mr. Chapman:
I often seem to write pettishly when I only mean to write emphatically, so your canons of interpretation must be liberal.
I agree to write the article on Greg, 950 etc., though I am rather indisposed to do anything in a hurry just now. I suppose it is highly desirable to have it ready for the next number, otherwise I should be glad to defer it until the next but one. Fine May days may come and tempt me to be idle.
I congratulate you on the acquisition of the Westminster. You do not tell me the terms on which you have obtained it -- whether other parties besides yourself have been concerned in the matter.
There is some uncertainty about the arrangements for my seeing the exhibition. 951 Of course, I wish to be in London at the same time with Mrs. Bray, but she and Mr. Bray are invited to stay with Miss Marshall, 952 who has not accommodation for me -- at least she has not asked me to accompany them. However, Mrs. Bray will manage for me somehow, and in the meantime I do not trouble myself.
I do not see that my letters bear so poor a proportion to yours. I generally answer you very promptly, and should do so if you wrote more frequently. Rosehill furnishes no chronicles worth sending to you -- unless you care to know that a nightingale has fallen in love with our Paradise and sings to us night and day.
I make use of the stamp to send you my notice of the "Rationale," 953 which I hope you will approve. Pray be candid -- that is the first, second and third thing I require, though I am a woman and seem pettish. You know you must allow me to criticize your criticism.
I am astonished that your house is not yet full, but it must surely soon be so. It will be vexatious if you have not some compensations for extra turmoil. I should think you are right glad to have Mrs. Chapman again to enliven you all. 954 When you have Mr. Hogg, 955 I hope you will begin to enjoy the exhibition and everything else better than you lately have been able to do.
Yours truly
Marian Evans.
I am pretty well now.
Text: B. C. Williams, George Eliot, New York, Macmillan, 1936, pp. 71-72. MS: Listed by Paul Victorius, London, Catalogue 1 (1935), item 83.
Rosehill | May 9.
Dear Mr. Chapman:
I often seem to write pettishly when I only mean to write emphatically, so your canons of interpretation must be liberal.
I agree to write the article on Greg, 950 etc., though I am rather indisposed to do anything in a hurry just now. I suppose it is highly desirable to have it ready for the next number, otherwise I should be glad to defer it until the next but one. Fine May days may come and tempt me to be idle.
I congratulate you on the acquisition of the Westminster. You do not tell me the terms on which you have obtained it -- whether other parties besides yourself have been concerned in the matter.
There is some uncertainty about the arrangements for my seeing the exhibition. 951 Of course, I wish to be in London at the same time with Mrs. Bray, but she and Mr. Bray are invited to stay with Miss Marshall, 952 who has not accommodation for me -- at least she has not asked me to accompany them. However, Mrs. Bray will manage for me somehow, and in the meantime I do not trouble myself.
I do not see that my letters bear so poor a proportion to yours. I generally answer you very promptly, and should do so if you wrote more frequently. Rosehill furnishes no chronicles worth sending to you -- unless you care to know that a nightingale has fallen in love with our Paradise and sings to us night and day.
I make use of the stamp to send you my notice of the "Rationale," 953 which I hope you will approve. Pray be candid -- that is the first, second and third thing I require, though I am a woman and seem pettish. You know you must allow me to criticize your criticism.
I am astonished that your house is not yet full, but it must surely soon be so. It will be vexatious if you have not some compensations for extra turmoil. I should think you are right glad to have Mrs. Chapman again to enliven you all. 954 When you have Mr. Hogg, 955 I hope you will begin to enjoy the exhibition and everything else better than you lately have been able to do.
Yours truly
Marian Evans.
I am pretty well now.
Signature
Marian Evans.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to John Chapman, Coventry, 9 May [1851], 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/92786