John Blackwood to GE, Edinburgh, 30 December 1874
Title
John Blackwood to GE, Edinburgh, 30 December 1874
Title
John Blackwood to GE, Edinburgh, 30 December 1874
Sender
John Blackwood
Recipient
George Eliot
Date(s)
- 1874-12-30
Place
Edinburgh
Letter Content
John Blackwood to GE, Edinburgh, 30 December 1874
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Randolph Crescent
December 30/74.
My Dear Mrs. Lewes
I must not let the year slip away without writing all good wishes to Lewes and you in that which is now so close upon us. I do hope you are both well and facing the cold manfully. We are all well and happy, bar an obstinate little cough which keeps me off the Ice, as Curling, which next to Golf is the best game in the world, keeps one hanging about in the cold too much. I went out to the ice however yesterday to see my son and daughter skating and they were a neat little pair, though I say it. He is, I am sorry to say backward in all his studies, but he is a clever fellow. He did make me laugh this morning at breakfast. On pretext of seeing whether it would suit the ladies he had gone last night to the minor theatre here and gave a doubtful answer to his sister's question. I asked "Is it low?" "The dresses are," was his brief reply.
Will you look at a story Giannetto which begins the January number of Maga? There is only another part of it, and it strikes me as one of the most perfect stories of its kind I ever read. The writer is a young lady (23) 175 "a leddy o' high degree." In such cases one has usually to exhaust oneself in excuses, and my surprise and pleasure were great when I found this tale so good that I not only agreed to publish it as a little volume, but said I should like the readers of the Magazine to have the first of it. I shall be curious to hear what you think of it.
Pray give me any news of your approaching work and believe me
always yours truly
John Blackwood.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Randolph Crescent
December 30/74.
My Dear Mrs. Lewes
I must not let the year slip away without writing all good wishes to Lewes and you in that which is now so close upon us. I do hope you are both well and facing the cold manfully. We are all well and happy, bar an obstinate little cough which keeps me off the Ice, as Curling, which next to Golf is the best game in the world, keeps one hanging about in the cold too much. I went out to the ice however yesterday to see my son and daughter skating and they were a neat little pair, though I say it. He is, I am sorry to say backward in all his studies, but he is a clever fellow. He did make me laugh this morning at breakfast. On pretext of seeing whether it would suit the ladies he had gone last night to the minor theatre here and gave a doubtful answer to his sister's question. I asked "Is it low?" "The dresses are," was his brief reply.
Will you look at a story Giannetto which begins the January number of Maga? There is only another part of it, and it strikes me as one of the most perfect stories of its kind I ever read. The writer is a young lady (23) 175 "a leddy o' high degree." In such cases one has usually to exhaust oneself in excuses, and my surprise and pleasure were great when I found this tale so good that I not only agreed to publish it as a little volume, but said I should like the readers of the Magazine to have the first of it. I shall be curious to hear what you think of it.
Pray give me any news of your approaching work and believe me
always yours truly
John Blackwood.
Signature
John Blackwood.
Citation
John Blackwood, John Blackwood to GE, Edinburgh, 30 December 1874, 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/95269