GE to Leslie Stephen, London, 7 January 1878
Title
GE to Leslie Stephen, London, 7 January 1878
Title
GE to Leslie Stephen, London, 7 January 1878
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Leslie Stephen
Date(s)
- 1878-01-07
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Leslie Stephen, London, 7 January 1878
MS: Huntington Library. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
January 7. 78.
Dear Mr. Stephen
After you left, 1 it flashed upon me that my memory had dropt some stitches, or paragraphs, in fastening the unacknowledged age of Villemain on the innocent Mr. Mew who writes on Quevedo. The accused (by the Academy) is a writer on Marivaux. 2 I dare say you saw through my inaccuracy, but in case you did not, here is my correction.
This comes of neglecting [cerebral hygiene] by glancing over weekly newspapers and becoming loquacious on the strength or weakness of that [scrappy reading.]
By the way, readiness in accusation unverified or unverifiable is one of the points on which the general conscience wants rousing in relation to what has the pretension to be literature. But you know better than I the many ways in which all good is retarded by unscrupulous writing.
Always yours more or less blunderingly
M. E. Lewes.
MS: Huntington Library. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
January 7. 78.
Dear Mr. Stephen
After you left, 1 it flashed upon me that my memory had dropt some stitches, or paragraphs, in fastening the unacknowledged age of Villemain on the innocent Mr. Mew who writes on Quevedo. The accused (by the Academy) is a writer on Marivaux. 2 I dare say you saw through my inaccuracy, but in case you did not, here is my correction.
This comes of neglecting [cerebral hygiene] by glancing over weekly newspapers and becoming loquacious on the strength or weakness of that [scrappy reading.]
By the way, readiness in accusation unverified or unverifiable is one of the points on which the general conscience wants rousing in relation to what has the pretension to be literature. But you know better than I the many ways in which all good is retarded by unscrupulous writing.
Always yours more or less blunderingly
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Leslie Stephen, London, 7 January 1878, 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/92861