GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, Wandsworth, 15 August [1859]
Title
GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, Wandsworth, 15 August [1859]
Title
GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, Wandsworth, 15 August [1859]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Sara Sophia Hennell
Date(s)
- 1859-08-15
Place
Wandsworth
Letter Content
GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, Wandsworth, 15 August [1859]
MS: Yale. Endorsed: 1859. Extracts published: Cross, II, 128-129.
Holly Lodge | August 15.
Dear Sara
I see nothing at all objectionable of a personal kind now, either in the notes or the text. 253 Print is a great help to one's power of judgment.
I showed Mr. Lewes the note in which you speak directly of your Brother, 254 and he sees nothing that is likely to create objection in the substance though he thought the expression a little awkward. I think you might possibly see some improvement to be made in the sentence I have marked as "not quite clear": obscurity very often lies in the reader's apprehension chiefly, but the slowest of apprehensions is the best criterion for a writer to judge himself by. I have re-read the whole proof, and feel that every serious reader will be impressed with the indications of real truth-seeking and heart-experience in the tone. The style seems to me laboured, and laborious to read, but I dare say when you are farther from the shore you will handle the oar more easily. Beginnings are always troublesome, "misy pantos" as Bulwer would say 255 (I like to follow great models). Even Macaulay's few pages of introduction to his "Introduction" in the English History are the worst bit of writing in the book. I don't mention the style in the spirit or with the pretensions of a critic, but because a remark of that kind is often a useful suggestion in correcting the press. It was no trouble to me to read, so don't talk as if it had been.
Ever yours
Marian.
I don't know specially what is Feuerbach's title, but in a case of personal address, you couldn't be wrong in calling him Doctor. Every German calls everybody Doctor "till further notice."
MS: Yale. Endorsed: 1859. Extracts published: Cross, II, 128-129.
Holly Lodge | August 15.
Dear Sara
I see nothing at all objectionable of a personal kind now, either in the notes or the text. 253 Print is a great help to one's power of judgment.
I showed Mr. Lewes the note in which you speak directly of your Brother, 254 and he sees nothing that is likely to create objection in the substance though he thought the expression a little awkward. I think you might possibly see some improvement to be made in the sentence I have marked as "not quite clear": obscurity very often lies in the reader's apprehension chiefly, but the slowest of apprehensions is the best criterion for a writer to judge himself by. I have re-read the whole proof, and feel that every serious reader will be impressed with the indications of real truth-seeking and heart-experience in the tone. The style seems to me laboured, and laborious to read, but I dare say when you are farther from the shore you will handle the oar more easily. Beginnings are always troublesome, "misy pantos" as Bulwer would say 255 (I like to follow great models). Even Macaulay's few pages of introduction to his "Introduction" in the English History are the worst bit of writing in the book. I don't mention the style in the spirit or with the pretensions of a critic, but because a remark of that kind is often a useful suggestion in correcting the press. It was no trouble to me to read, so don't talk as if it had been.
Ever yours
Marian.
I don't know specially what is Feuerbach's title, but in a case of personal address, you couldn't be wrong in calling him Doctor. Every German calls everybody Doctor "till further notice."
Signature
Marian.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, Wandsworth, 15 August [1859], 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/94128