John Blackwood to GE, St. Andrews, 10 September 1866
Title
John Blackwood to GE, St. Andrews, 10 September 1866
Title
John Blackwood to GE, St. Andrews, 10 September 1866
Sender
John Blackwood
Recipient
George Eliot
Date(s)
- 1866-09-10
Place
St. Andrews
Letter Content
John Blackwood to GE, St. Andrews, 10 September 1866
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Strathtyrum | St. Andrews | N.B.
September 10/66.
My Dear Madam
I was glad to receive your pleasant note and should have written to you before had I had anything material to tell. There has been a small sale of Felix going on but nothing much to speak of. We printed 5250 and I think we have about 400 on hand. I wish we could get quit of these but from the slow way the book has been dropping off during the last fortnight I fear we must consider the sale in three volumes as about over. The question I have been debating for some time is the form in which we should reprint. Mr. Simpson at first was in favour of trying a one volume edition but you will see however instead he now leans to what I first thought of, an edition like Adam Bede in 2 volumes at 12/. 527 Lewes and you are both excellent judges and I should like to hear what you think.
The libraries have starved the book, or rather their customers, as is proved by the fact of some of them buying quite recently in small numbers. The next time we take the field together I think we must experiment in a new form, but we can keep our own council about this.
I am glad to hear of Thornton doing well. There is a great deal in him, and the other youngster joining him will be a stimulus and comfort to both. Lads at that time are a great anxiety to fathers. My little boy, whose photograph you have, has not reached that stage yet. He is a very thoughtful looking little gentleman. The other day at our luncheon -- his dinner -- he was sitting with a more than usually meditative countenance apparently solving some of the deep problems of life and at last when he declined red currant tart his mother remarked that if he would eat so much fruit in the garden he would give himself a cholic. "I've got one" was the brief reply. Now one cannot imagine either Gladstone or Mill making such an answer in all their days.
We are going to visit some friends in the Highlands for a few days, but address here. In case you should have forgotten dates I mention that the first instalment for Felix becomes due to you on the 14th or 15th of December.
I hope Lewes is well and that your German Campaign has set you both up for the winter.
Dean Ramsay is our Clergyman and a very dear old friend both of my wife and mine. I sent him a copy of the book as a mark of respect and regard. The poor old man had a frightful catastrophe in his house last spring. A favourite niece was tending him in his dressing room when her dress caught fire and she was burnt to death. I went to see him when I came down from London and almost to my surprise he talked freely of it. He said that the scene was so ever present to his eyes that to talk of it to a friend was a kind of relief. A letter from you will I am sure be a gratification to him.
always yours truly
John Blackwood.
Mrs. Lewes.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Strathtyrum | St. Andrews | N.B.
September 10/66.
My Dear Madam
I was glad to receive your pleasant note and should have written to you before had I had anything material to tell. There has been a small sale of Felix going on but nothing much to speak of. We printed 5250 and I think we have about 400 on hand. I wish we could get quit of these but from the slow way the book has been dropping off during the last fortnight I fear we must consider the sale in three volumes as about over. The question I have been debating for some time is the form in which we should reprint. Mr. Simpson at first was in favour of trying a one volume edition but you will see however instead he now leans to what I first thought of, an edition like Adam Bede in 2 volumes at 12/. 527 Lewes and you are both excellent judges and I should like to hear what you think.
The libraries have starved the book, or rather their customers, as is proved by the fact of some of them buying quite recently in small numbers. The next time we take the field together I think we must experiment in a new form, but we can keep our own council about this.
I am glad to hear of Thornton doing well. There is a great deal in him, and the other youngster joining him will be a stimulus and comfort to both. Lads at that time are a great anxiety to fathers. My little boy, whose photograph you have, has not reached that stage yet. He is a very thoughtful looking little gentleman. The other day at our luncheon -- his dinner -- he was sitting with a more than usually meditative countenance apparently solving some of the deep problems of life and at last when he declined red currant tart his mother remarked that if he would eat so much fruit in the garden he would give himself a cholic. "I've got one" was the brief reply. Now one cannot imagine either Gladstone or Mill making such an answer in all their days.
We are going to visit some friends in the Highlands for a few days, but address here. In case you should have forgotten dates I mention that the first instalment for Felix becomes due to you on the 14th or 15th of December.
I hope Lewes is well and that your German Campaign has set you both up for the winter.
Dean Ramsay is our Clergyman and a very dear old friend both of my wife and mine. I sent him a copy of the book as a mark of respect and regard. The poor old man had a frightful catastrophe in his house last spring. A favourite niece was tending him in his dressing room when her dress caught fire and she was burnt to death. I went to see him when I came down from London and almost to my surprise he talked freely of it. He said that the scene was so ever present to his eyes that to talk of it to a friend was a kind of relief. A letter from you will I am sure be a gratification to him.
always yours truly
John Blackwood.
Mrs. Lewes.
Signature
John Blackwood.
Citation
John Blackwood, John Blackwood to GE, St. Andrews, 10 September 1866, 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/95321