John Blackwood to GE, Edinburgh, 30 March 1859
Title
John Blackwood to GE, Edinburgh, 30 March 1859
Title
John Blackwood to GE, Edinburgh, 30 March 1859
Sender
John Blackwood
Recipient
George Eliot
Date(s)
- 1859-03-30
Place
Edinburgh
Letter Content
John Blackwood to GE, Edinburgh, 30 March 1859
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Edinburgh | March 30/59.
My Dear Sir
Along with this you will receive your copy of the Magazine and I hope you will like the Review of Adam. 78
The demand for Adam goes on and we have decided to print a short edition in the present form. 79 Mudie wishes 100 more but Mr. Langford has only given him 50 as the stock is running low. The Magazine
Review is calculated to tell on the circulation more than any puff, however enthusiastic. From what I hear too I expect that there will be Reviews in other influential quarters, so on the whole I think it was best to reprint in the present form.
Tell Lewes however that I perfectly agree with his views about the reprints of books according to their character. Indeed his views are identical with my own.
I had great pleasure in sending the M.S. of Adam. 80 I have kept the M.S. of Clerical Scenes 81 for myself. It makes one large thick quarto volume. It is one of the strongest practical marks of my admiration for the Scenes that from the first I had ordered the M.S. to be set aside for me. It is an inexplicable thing that all the popularity of Adam has not carried off the fag end of the edition of the Scenes. There has been no demand here and Langford has not reported any in London, so it can only be trifling if any there.
This is unaccountable and forms another instance among many I have seen of how impossible it is even with the best means of judging to predicate with certainty what the public will do about a book. The only principle is to publish according to the best of one's judgment nothing but good books, and if the public is sometimes a stupid beast I am happy to say I have found him a most excellent beast in the main.
The Clerical Scenes will sell in a cheaper form along with Adam. I put a query as to what you were doing with the new Tale. I am very anxious to hear about it. I want a Tale for the Magazine and I know I can trust to George Eliot.
ever yours truly
John Blackwood.
George Eliot, Esq.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Edinburgh | March 30/59.
My Dear Sir
Along with this you will receive your copy of the Magazine and I hope you will like the Review of Adam. 78
The demand for Adam goes on and we have decided to print a short edition in the present form. 79 Mudie wishes 100 more but Mr. Langford has only given him 50 as the stock is running low. The Magazine
Review is calculated to tell on the circulation more than any puff, however enthusiastic. From what I hear too I expect that there will be Reviews in other influential quarters, so on the whole I think it was best to reprint in the present form.
Tell Lewes however that I perfectly agree with his views about the reprints of books according to their character. Indeed his views are identical with my own.
I had great pleasure in sending the M.S. of Adam. 80 I have kept the M.S. of Clerical Scenes 81 for myself. It makes one large thick quarto volume. It is one of the strongest practical marks of my admiration for the Scenes that from the first I had ordered the M.S. to be set aside for me. It is an inexplicable thing that all the popularity of Adam has not carried off the fag end of the edition of the Scenes. There has been no demand here and Langford has not reported any in London, so it can only be trifling if any there.
This is unaccountable and forms another instance among many I have seen of how impossible it is even with the best means of judging to predicate with certainty what the public will do about a book. The only principle is to publish according to the best of one's judgment nothing but good books, and if the public is sometimes a stupid beast I am happy to say I have found him a most excellent beast in the main.
The Clerical Scenes will sell in a cheaper form along with Adam. I put a query as to what you were doing with the new Tale. I am very anxious to hear about it. I want a Tale for the Magazine and I know I can trust to George Eliot.
ever yours truly
John Blackwood.
George Eliot, Esq.
Signature
John Blackwood.
Citation
John Blackwood, John Blackwood to GE, Edinburgh, 30 March 1859, 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/95272