GHL to Guy Rodgers, London, 8 December 1872
Title
GHL to Guy Rodgers, London, 8 December 1872
Title
GHL to Guy Rodgers, London, 8 December 1872
Sender
George Henry Lewes
Recipient
Guy Rodgers
Date(s)
- 1872-12-08
Place
London
Letter Content
GHL to Guy Rodgers, London, 8 December 1872
MS: First draft, unsigned, in Tinker Collection, Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
December 72.
Sir
In reply to your letter of the 6th addressed to George Eliot (Mrs. Lewes) she requests me to say that some time ago in reference to a like application obligingly made known to her by Mr. Hutton the editor of the Spectator she stated very fully the grounds of her objection to the proposed publication -- grounds not personal but artistic. Without again entering into these she begs you to understand that Dinah Morris was never intended to be a representation of Mrs. Elizabeth Evans; and that any identification of the two (or of any other characters in Adam Bede with real persons) would be protested against as not only false in fact and tending to perpetuate false notions about art, but also as a gross breach of social decorum.
I remain Sir
Mr. Rodgers | 12 Hill Bank | Buxton.
MS: First draft, unsigned, in Tinker Collection, Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
December 72.
Sir
In reply to your letter of the 6th addressed to George Eliot (Mrs. Lewes) she requests me to say that some time ago in reference to a like application obligingly made known to her by Mr. Hutton the editor of the Spectator she stated very fully the grounds of her objection to the proposed publication -- grounds not personal but artistic. Without again entering into these she begs you to understand that Dinah Morris was never intended to be a representation of Mrs. Elizabeth Evans; and that any identification of the two (or of any other characters in Adam Bede with real persons) would be protested against as not only false in fact and tending to perpetuate false notions about art, but also as a gross breach of social decorum.
I remain Sir
Mr. Rodgers | 12 Hill Bank | Buxton.
Citation
George Henry Lewes, GHL to Guy Rodgers, London, 8 December 1872, 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/94549