John Blackwood to GE, St. Andrews, 29 July 1872
Title
John Blackwood to GE, St. Andrews, 29 July 1872
Title
John Blackwood to GE, St. Andrews, 29 July 1872
Sender
John Blackwood
Recipient
George Eliot
Date(s)
- 1872-07-29
Place
St. Andrews
Letter Content
John Blackwood to GE, St. Andrews, 29 July 1872
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Strathtyrum | St. Andrews | N.B.
July 29/72.
My Dear Mrs. Lewes
I cannot adequately express my admiration for Book VI. Every book seems to go on becoming what one could not have thought possible -- better than its predecessor.
I dallied for days over this Book, pausing and reading and rereading, and now when I sit down to write to you, instead of doing so out of hand I find myself turning over the sheets of the Book, looking at the different points and wondering what is most perfect, until if I do not take care the morning will be gone and no letters written at all, as has happened to me more than once before. When things please me particularly I sit back in my chair and begin dreaming. Just at the opening of this Book what can be more perfect than Dorothea and Celia, and Sir James' equivocal reply "Not if he had been like Casaubon" 566 has my entire sympathy. There are some truly exquisite touches in those two interviews with Will Ladislaw. 567
Lydgate had very great merit in not taking a stick to Rosamond. You have painted that heartless [one word illegible] obstinate devil with a vengeance. It is a most highly polished picture, painted on the hardest possible bit of panel.
That scene in the Garth family 568 is famous. One feels almost uncomfortably in the thick of it, rather afraid of sticky fingers on one's garments. I have assisted at such scenes.
I was extremely glad to hear from Lewes that you had benefited so much by the quiet of the country, but I wish he gave a better account of himself. If it suits you I quite approve of the plan of only allowing a month between the publication of the last two parts so as to wind up on the first of December. I return Mr. Charles Ritter's most gratifying letter. It is a tribute.
You should have heard from me sooner but I have been sorely oppressed, in fact nearly had my brains blown out with M.S.S. You know that I always walk through the world with people pointing M.S.S. instead of pistols at my head, and on my return I found a tremendous accumulation of revolvers in my room. Our expedition abroad was a great affair, and my daughter's enjoyment of it was a treat in itself. I think Venice and Como (Belaggio) were our greatest delights.
In travelling my wife attempted to read the fifth Book of Middlemarch but failed, saying, "It is utterly impossible to read Middlemarch with your head and heart half out of the window." This is quite so. It requires the most undivided attention. I know that if a line or a word escapes me I find out as I read on that I have missed something and I turn back.
We passed about a week on the Lake of Como, and certainly it is a place where one can enjoy doing nothing. The following incident at the Villa Sommariva 569 will have your sympathy. My daughter exclaimed, "What a lovely lizard," as one glittered along the edge of the path. This attracted the attention of the young Tom Tulliver, our guide, who promptly stamped it out. The young lady forgot her dignity, exclaiming "Oh you little brute," and only checked herself when on the point of seizing him by the collar.
Tell Lewes I am having over the Tables of the sales of Middlemarch and will write to him with the result in a few days. 570
With many congratulations on the success and approaching completion of your labours believe me, Dear Mrs. Lewes
always yours truly
John Blackwood.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Strathtyrum | St. Andrews | N.B.
July 29/72.
My Dear Mrs. Lewes
I cannot adequately express my admiration for Book VI. Every book seems to go on becoming what one could not have thought possible -- better than its predecessor.
I dallied for days over this Book, pausing and reading and rereading, and now when I sit down to write to you, instead of doing so out of hand I find myself turning over the sheets of the Book, looking at the different points and wondering what is most perfect, until if I do not take care the morning will be gone and no letters written at all, as has happened to me more than once before. When things please me particularly I sit back in my chair and begin dreaming. Just at the opening of this Book what can be more perfect than Dorothea and Celia, and Sir James' equivocal reply "Not if he had been like Casaubon" 566 has my entire sympathy. There are some truly exquisite touches in those two interviews with Will Ladislaw. 567
Lydgate had very great merit in not taking a stick to Rosamond. You have painted that heartless [one word illegible] obstinate devil with a vengeance. It is a most highly polished picture, painted on the hardest possible bit of panel.
That scene in the Garth family 568 is famous. One feels almost uncomfortably in the thick of it, rather afraid of sticky fingers on one's garments. I have assisted at such scenes.
I was extremely glad to hear from Lewes that you had benefited so much by the quiet of the country, but I wish he gave a better account of himself. If it suits you I quite approve of the plan of only allowing a month between the publication of the last two parts so as to wind up on the first of December. I return Mr. Charles Ritter's most gratifying letter. It is a tribute.
You should have heard from me sooner but I have been sorely oppressed, in fact nearly had my brains blown out with M.S.S. You know that I always walk through the world with people pointing M.S.S. instead of pistols at my head, and on my return I found a tremendous accumulation of revolvers in my room. Our expedition abroad was a great affair, and my daughter's enjoyment of it was a treat in itself. I think Venice and Como (Belaggio) were our greatest delights.
In travelling my wife attempted to read the fifth Book of Middlemarch but failed, saying, "It is utterly impossible to read Middlemarch with your head and heart half out of the window." This is quite so. It requires the most undivided attention. I know that if a line or a word escapes me I find out as I read on that I have missed something and I turn back.
We passed about a week on the Lake of Como, and certainly it is a place where one can enjoy doing nothing. The following incident at the Villa Sommariva 569 will have your sympathy. My daughter exclaimed, "What a lovely lizard," as one glittered along the edge of the path. This attracted the attention of the young Tom Tulliver, our guide, who promptly stamped it out. The young lady forgot her dignity, exclaiming "Oh you little brute," and only checked herself when on the point of seizing him by the collar.
Tell Lewes I am having over the Tables of the sales of Middlemarch and will write to him with the result in a few days. 570
With many congratulations on the success and approaching completion of your labours believe me, Dear Mrs. Lewes
always yours truly
John Blackwood.
Signature
John Blackwood.
Citation
John Blackwood, John Blackwood to GE, St. Andrews, 29 July 1872, 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/95335