GE to William Blackwood, London, 11 March 1868
Title
GE to William Blackwood, London, 11 March 1868
Title
GE to William Blackwood, London, 11 March 1868
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
William Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1868-03-11
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to William Blackwood, London, 11 March 1868
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
March 11. 68.
My dear Sir
The Revise reached me quite safely yesterday. The specimen pages look very handsome, and the length of 28 lines will prevent undue thickness in the volume.
It is necessary to have patience in the printing of a poem, which is properly subjected to a more frequent and fastidious revision than a prose work. I think I am less troublesome than I hear of other authors being with regard to proofs and alterations, and the printing off of these earlier sheets at present is very much to be deprecated. Mr. Lytton 725 had a whole volume of poems in print by him to metamorphose as he chose, a long while before he published. But I shall certainly not linger unduly, and the sooner I can have the proof of the second batch of M.S. (which Mr. John Blackwood told me he had forwarded to Edinbro') 726 the better will be my advance, for when I see what I have done as a whole, I am helped to conclusive determinations. Now I have no copy (beyond fragments) of the M.S. in your hands. I do not remember having made any serious accusation against the printers: I only laughed at the drollery of some mistakes, such as "doff all your I sir."
We are going to the coast next week to try and get some health for me and some zoologizing for Mr. Lewes, who desires his kind remembrances to be offered to you. His "hunting" begins, you see, when yours ends.
Always sincerely yours
M. E. Lewes.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
March 11. 68.
My dear Sir
The Revise reached me quite safely yesterday. The specimen pages look very handsome, and the length of 28 lines will prevent undue thickness in the volume.
It is necessary to have patience in the printing of a poem, which is properly subjected to a more frequent and fastidious revision than a prose work. I think I am less troublesome than I hear of other authors being with regard to proofs and alterations, and the printing off of these earlier sheets at present is very much to be deprecated. Mr. Lytton 725 had a whole volume of poems in print by him to metamorphose as he chose, a long while before he published. But I shall certainly not linger unduly, and the sooner I can have the proof of the second batch of M.S. (which Mr. John Blackwood told me he had forwarded to Edinbro') 726 the better will be my advance, for when I see what I have done as a whole, I am helped to conclusive determinations. Now I have no copy (beyond fragments) of the M.S. in your hands. I do not remember having made any serious accusation against the printers: I only laughed at the drollery of some mistakes, such as "doff all your I sir."
We are going to the coast next week to try and get some health for me and some zoologizing for Mr. Lewes, who desires his kind remembrances to be offered to you. His "hunting" begins, you see, when yours ends.
Always sincerely yours
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to William Blackwood, London, 11 March 1868, 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/94182