GHL to Georg Kestner, London, 20 May 1863
Title
GHL to Georg Kestner, London, 20 May 1863
Title
GHL to Georg Kestner, London, 20 May 1863
Sender
George Henry Lewes
Recipient
Georg Kestner
Date(s)
- 1863-05-20
Place
London
Letter Content
GHL to Georg Kestner, London, 20 May 1863
MS: Yale. Endorsed: Dieser an mich gerichte Brief ist mir von Mr. Hermann Kindt zugesandt am 17 Mai 1863. G. Kestner.
6 Blandford Square | London | 20th May 1863.
My dear Sir
Mr. Kindt has kindly offered to be the medium of my gratitude, as he has already been the medium of your friendliness. The portraits of your mother and father, 595 and your brother, were most acceptable presents: Lotte 596 being especially charming in that larger lithography, and I shall place her on my walls beside the "Old Jupiter" 597 who so well knew how to appreciate her. On looking into that sweet face one cannot help imagining how different would have been the current of his life, had he known and loved her before your father -- assuredly very different would have been the influence of such a woman, from that of the Frau von Stein 598 or the Vulpius 599 But as in that case you would not have been, perhaps you prefer the historical to the imaginative fact! and as in that case also we should not have [Werther,] we also may be content. Had Goethe been happily married we might have wanted his greatest work! Ainsi tout est pour le mieux dans ce meilleur des mondes. 600
I hope that my wanderings may some day bring me near Hanover, in which case I shall gratify myself by personally expressing to you what cannot be adequately expressed by letter. Meanwhile Believe, my dear Sir,
Your much obliged
G. H. Lewes.
MS: Yale. Endorsed: Dieser an mich gerichte Brief ist mir von Mr. Hermann Kindt zugesandt am 17 Mai 1863. G. Kestner.
6 Blandford Square | London | 20th May 1863.
My dear Sir
Mr. Kindt has kindly offered to be the medium of my gratitude, as he has already been the medium of your friendliness. The portraits of your mother and father, 595 and your brother, were most acceptable presents: Lotte 596 being especially charming in that larger lithography, and I shall place her on my walls beside the "Old Jupiter" 597 who so well knew how to appreciate her. On looking into that sweet face one cannot help imagining how different would have been the current of his life, had he known and loved her before your father -- assuredly very different would have been the influence of such a woman, from that of the Frau von Stein 598 or the Vulpius 599 But as in that case you would not have been, perhaps you prefer the historical to the imaginative fact! and as in that case also we should not have [Werther,] we also may be content. Had Goethe been happily married we might have wanted his greatest work! Ainsi tout est pour le mieux dans ce meilleur des mondes. 600
I hope that my wanderings may some day bring me near Hanover, in which case I shall gratify myself by personally expressing to you what cannot be adequately expressed by letter. Meanwhile Believe, my dear Sir,
Your much obliged
G. H. Lewes.
Signature
G. H. Lewes.
Citation
George Henry Lewes, GHL to Georg Kestner, London, 20 May 1863, 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/94525