GE to Mrs. Peter Alfred Taylor, London, 20 October 1875
Title
GE to Mrs. Peter Alfred Taylor, London, 20 October 1875
Title
GE to Mrs. Peter Alfred Taylor, London, 20 October 1875
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Mrs. Peter Alfred Taylor
Date(s)
- 1875-10-20
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Mrs. Peter Alfred Taylor, London, 20 October 1875
Text: Cross, III, 265-266.
The arrangements as to the publication of my next book are already determined on. Ever since [Adam Bede] appeared, I have been continually having proposals from the proprietors or editors of periodicals, 324 but I have always declined them, except in the case of [Romola,] which appeared in the [Cornhill,] and was allowed to take up a varying and unusual number of pages. I have the strongest objection to cutting up my work into little bits; 325 and there is no motive to it on my part, since I have a large enough public already. But, even apart from that objection, it would not now be worth the while of any magazine or journal to give me a sum such as my books yield in separate publication. I had £7000 for [Romola,] but the mode in which [Middlemarch] was issued brings in a still larger sum. I ought to say, however, that the question is not entirely one of money with me: if I could gain more by splitting my writing into small parts, I would not do it, because the effect would be injurious as a matter of art. So much detail I trouble you with to save misapprehension.
Text: Cross, III, 265-266.
The arrangements as to the publication of my next book are already determined on. Ever since [Adam Bede] appeared, I have been continually having proposals from the proprietors or editors of periodicals, 324 but I have always declined them, except in the case of [Romola,] which appeared in the [Cornhill,] and was allowed to take up a varying and unusual number of pages. I have the strongest objection to cutting up my work into little bits; 325 and there is no motive to it on my part, since I have a large enough public already. But, even apart from that objection, it would not now be worth the while of any magazine or journal to give me a sum such as my books yield in separate publication. I had £7000 for [Romola,] but the mode in which [Middlemarch] was issued brings in a still larger sum. I ought to say, however, that the question is not entirely one of money with me: if I could gain more by splitting my writing into small parts, I would not do it, because the effect would be injurious as a matter of art. So much detail I trouble you with to save misapprehension.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Mrs. Peter Alfred Taylor, London, 20 October 1875, 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/93582