GE to William Blackwood, London, 13 January 1880
Title
GE to William Blackwood, London, 13 January 1880
Title
GE to William Blackwood, London, 13 January 1880
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
William Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1880-01-13
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to William Blackwood, London, 13 January 1880
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
January 13. 80.
My dear Mr. William
I am very much obliged to you for your letter enclosing a cheque for £400, being the remainder of the sum finally awarded to me for the 4 editions of [Theophrastus Such.] But your punctuality makes me more anxious than I should have been on my own account that the 97 copies still on hand should be completely disposed of. I will be hopeful, however, since the public seems well disposed towards me. Mr. Langford told me that 1000 volumes of the cheap edition had been sold since New Year's Day. This is encouraging for us.
I must also thank you for the handsome present of Burton's [History of Queen Anne] 363 which came last night. It is a book that I desired to possess. I admire the getting up greatly. And it was very good of you to send me the little title-page -- but I no longer care for the scraps of my writing. It was my other lost self that cared for them. It would have been a pity, though, that the MSS of Theophrastus should have been missing from the row of Russia backs, for Mr. Lewes had set his mind on their going after our death to the British Museum. 364
The demon of Influenza was particularly spiteful to fasten on you, who so much need health and strength just now. But if you live in the sunlessness that we are enduring here it is no wonder you cannot be well. I have escaped marvellously hitherto with no more serious suffering than headache and depression. But there have been many mornings in which I have written and read by candlelight -- indeed whole days which have thus been turned into night.
Yes, I shall be rejoiced to hear that the valuation has been well got through and that your mind is lightened of that load. It was a satisfaction to know that Mr. Langford had undertaken the task, for I knew that you preferred his doing so.
Yours always sincerely
M. E. Lewes.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
January 13. 80.
My dear Mr. William
I am very much obliged to you for your letter enclosing a cheque for £400, being the remainder of the sum finally awarded to me for the 4 editions of [Theophrastus Such.] But your punctuality makes me more anxious than I should have been on my own account that the 97 copies still on hand should be completely disposed of. I will be hopeful, however, since the public seems well disposed towards me. Mr. Langford told me that 1000 volumes of the cheap edition had been sold since New Year's Day. This is encouraging for us.
I must also thank you for the handsome present of Burton's [History of Queen Anne] 363 which came last night. It is a book that I desired to possess. I admire the getting up greatly. And it was very good of you to send me the little title-page -- but I no longer care for the scraps of my writing. It was my other lost self that cared for them. It would have been a pity, though, that the MSS of Theophrastus should have been missing from the row of Russia backs, for Mr. Lewes had set his mind on their going after our death to the British Museum. 364
The demon of Influenza was particularly spiteful to fasten on you, who so much need health and strength just now. But if you live in the sunlessness that we are enduring here it is no wonder you cannot be well. I have escaped marvellously hitherto with no more serious suffering than headache and depression. But there have been many mornings in which I have written and read by candlelight -- indeed whole days which have thus been turned into night.
Yes, I shall be rejoiced to hear that the valuation has been well got through and that your mind is lightened of that load. It was a satisfaction to know that Mr. Langford had undertaken the task, for I knew that you preferred his doing so.
Yours always sincerely
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to William Blackwood, London, 13 January 1880, 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/94185