GHL to Mr. And Mrs. Charles Lewes, London, [19 May 1869]
Title
GHL to Mr. And Mrs. Charles Lewes, London, [19 May 1869]
Title
GHL to Mr. And Mrs. Charles Lewes, London, [19 May 1869]
Sender
George Henry Lewes
Recipient
Mr. And Mrs. Charles Lewes
Date(s)
- 1869-05-19
Place
London
Letter Content
GHL to Mr. And Mrs. Charles Lewes, London, [19 May 1869]
MS: Yale. Endorsed: 19 May 1869. Extracts published: v, 36-37.
The Priory Wednesday.
Dearest Children
Your pleasant letter was very welcome, especially the intimation of the fine weather you have had. Here it has been uniformly bad. We got home on the 5th after a journey to Ravenna, Verona, Brenner Pass, Munich, Paris. Knocked up we were, and have not found London conducive to health; but there is nothing specially to complain of -- only we don't seem to have had a holiday. Grandmamma is amazingly recovered.
Normandy struck us with its English aspect as it strikes you. But Rouen we were delighted with (not having contemplated it from under an umbrella) so much so that we went back to it. At Avranches we were in your hotel, possibly your room, but the weeping mists greatly obscured the landscape and we did not much enjoy it.
Hints about Paris seem difficult to give. Yes -- here is something, when you want a good and cheap luncheon try one of the many Establisements Bouillon -- some are much better than others -- but all are conducted on an excellent plan and as you won't miss the want of elegance for the sake of good food at a third of the ordinary price -- tu m'en diras les nouvelles! Passage Jouffroy has a restaurant where (I'm told) good dinners and dejeuners are to be had reasonably. Don't dine at the Diner Europ'e9en -- no longer good. If you go the Hotel Choiseul tell Mr. Demelette that I wrote to him from Munich to secure rooms but arriving at 5 in the morning instead of 8 at night I found he had no rooms vacant and was forced to go to the Louvre.
A fine day should tempt you to take the omnibus rail to St. Cloud -- dine there at the restaurant on the water at the entrance of the Park and order a matellotte 851 (I really don't know how to spell it!) but spell it how you will the taste is the same. About theatres I can say nothing -- we did not try one of them. The Gobelins is well worth a visit.
Fields of Ticknor and Fields has just been with us offering half share in a uniform edition of the Mutter's works in America -- but as they will certainly be reprinted by Harpers at a very low figure, the price must be so low as not to make a half share much of a pecuniary benefit. He has offered 300'a3 for the right of printing [Agatha] in the Atlantic Monthly and the
Mutter inclines to accept, only demurring to the greatness of the sum. Don't mention this to any one. He says the Spanish Gypsy grows and grows in America -- Longfellow, Lowell, and the Boston set know the lyrics by heart, and are in a high state of enthusiasm.
When we were at Florence on our return the American Ambassador 852 induced us to dine with him as Mrs. Marsh is an invalid and couldn't come out; they promised that no one should be asked. Longfellow called that afternoon on them and begged hard to be invited, he wanted so much to see the Mutter, but Mrs. Marsh was inexorable, she had pledged her word. When we learnt this we were sorry and then Mrs. Marsh sent a note to Longfellow to ask him to come in the evening but he was out, and the next morning we were off for Ravenna!
I have a heap of things to do and can't stop to say more than that we both send our dearest love to you both.
Pater.
MS: Yale. Endorsed: 19 May 1869. Extracts published: v, 36-37.
The Priory Wednesday.
Dearest Children
Your pleasant letter was very welcome, especially the intimation of the fine weather you have had. Here it has been uniformly bad. We got home on the 5th after a journey to Ravenna, Verona, Brenner Pass, Munich, Paris. Knocked up we were, and have not found London conducive to health; but there is nothing specially to complain of -- only we don't seem to have had a holiday. Grandmamma is amazingly recovered.
Normandy struck us with its English aspect as it strikes you. But Rouen we were delighted with (not having contemplated it from under an umbrella) so much so that we went back to it. At Avranches we were in your hotel, possibly your room, but the weeping mists greatly obscured the landscape and we did not much enjoy it.
Hints about Paris seem difficult to give. Yes -- here is something, when you want a good and cheap luncheon try one of the many Establisements Bouillon -- some are much better than others -- but all are conducted on an excellent plan and as you won't miss the want of elegance for the sake of good food at a third of the ordinary price -- tu m'en diras les nouvelles! Passage Jouffroy has a restaurant where (I'm told) good dinners and dejeuners are to be had reasonably. Don't dine at the Diner Europ'e9en -- no longer good. If you go the Hotel Choiseul tell Mr. Demelette that I wrote to him from Munich to secure rooms but arriving at 5 in the morning instead of 8 at night I found he had no rooms vacant and was forced to go to the Louvre.
A fine day should tempt you to take the omnibus rail to St. Cloud -- dine there at the restaurant on the water at the entrance of the Park and order a matellotte 851 (I really don't know how to spell it!) but spell it how you will the taste is the same. About theatres I can say nothing -- we did not try one of them. The Gobelins is well worth a visit.
Fields of Ticknor and Fields has just been with us offering half share in a uniform edition of the Mutter's works in America -- but as they will certainly be reprinted by Harpers at a very low figure, the price must be so low as not to make a half share much of a pecuniary benefit. He has offered 300'a3 for the right of printing [Agatha] in the Atlantic Monthly and the
Mutter inclines to accept, only demurring to the greatness of the sum. Don't mention this to any one. He says the Spanish Gypsy grows and grows in America -- Longfellow, Lowell, and the Boston set know the lyrics by heart, and are in a high state of enthusiasm.
When we were at Florence on our return the American Ambassador 852 induced us to dine with him as Mrs. Marsh is an invalid and couldn't come out; they promised that no one should be asked. Longfellow called that afternoon on them and begged hard to be invited, he wanted so much to see the Mutter, but Mrs. Marsh was inexorable, she had pledged her word. When we learnt this we were sorry and then Mrs. Marsh sent a note to Longfellow to ask him to come in the evening but he was out, and the next morning we were off for Ravenna!
I have a heap of things to do and can't stop to say more than that we both send our dearest love to you both.
Pater.
Signature
Pater.
Citation
George Henry Lewes, GHL to Mr. And Mrs. Charles Lewes, London, [19 May 1869], 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/94922