John Blackwood to GE, Edinburgh, 16 March 1876
Title
John Blackwood to GE, Edinburgh, 16 March 1876
Title
John Blackwood to GE, Edinburgh, 16 March 1876
Sender
John Blackwood
Recipient
George Eliot
Date(s)
- 1876-03-16
Place
Edinburgh
Letter Content
John Blackwood to GE, Edinburgh, 16 March 1876
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
George Street, | Edinburgh.
March 16/76.
My Dear Mrs. Lewes
Sales for the last day or two have been steady but hardly worth reporting and the mute eloquence of the enclosed note touched me so much when Simpson laid it before me with a smile that I said I would send it to you. From the memo. there are purchases, obviously for buyers of the book, not for mere library readers. Book Two is coming up hand over hand upon Book One and must now be between two and three hundred of its predecessor.
Critics both public and private amuse me by their complaint that they do not quite understand Gwendolen. Did they wish you to lay down a chart of her character and fate on the first page? Did they ever fully know any human being at a first meeting or even after years of acquaintance? The objection is in reality the highest compliment, being in fact the plainest confession of the interest excited. I hope you have both enjoyed your expedition to the country 423 and returned with renewed health and spirits. The weather has I fear been against you. We have frost and snow here today, but Willie has gone out to hunt and I saw other maniacs passing the window in red coats as I was dressing.
always yours truly
John Blackwood.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
George Street, | Edinburgh.
March 16/76.
My Dear Mrs. Lewes
Sales for the last day or two have been steady but hardly worth reporting and the mute eloquence of the enclosed note touched me so much when Simpson laid it before me with a smile that I said I would send it to you. From the memo. there are purchases, obviously for buyers of the book, not for mere library readers. Book Two is coming up hand over hand upon Book One and must now be between two and three hundred of its predecessor.
Critics both public and private amuse me by their complaint that they do not quite understand Gwendolen. Did they wish you to lay down a chart of her character and fate on the first page? Did they ever fully know any human being at a first meeting or even after years of acquaintance? The objection is in reality the highest compliment, being in fact the plainest confession of the interest excited. I hope you have both enjoyed your expedition to the country 423 and returned with renewed health and spirits. The weather has I fear been against you. We have frost and snow here today, but Willie has gone out to hunt and I saw other maniacs passing the window in red coats as I was dressing.
always yours truly
John Blackwood.
Signature
John Blackwood.
Citation
John Blackwood, John Blackwood to GE, Edinburgh, 16 March 1876, 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/95198