John Blackwood to GHL, Edinburgh, [17] December 1857
Title
John Blackwood to GHL, Edinburgh, [17] December 1857
Title
John Blackwood to GHL, Edinburgh, [17] December 1857
Sender
John Blackwood
Recipient
George Henry Lewes
Date(s)
- 1857-12-17
Place
Edinburgh
Letter Content
John Blackwood to GHL, Edinburgh, [17] December 1857
MS: Copy, National Library of Scotland.
Edinburgh December 18. 1857.
My dear Lewes
I have read Hunger and Thirst twice with much interest and I am happy to say that I think the Public will take the series greedily. I would strongly urge you to take out the story of the eating of the Negro Boy. It gives one a turn at the start and my brother who has also read the proof with much pleasure made the same objections to it that I feel. A few sentences descriptive of the horrors of hunger would also ballance better with your introductory sketch of the beneficial effects of the stimulus which by the way is particularly good. Do you not take it too much for granted that a loss of 4/10 on weight from hunger is death to man as well as to animals and do you make sufficient allowance for the fatness or condition of the animal or man at the time the abstinence from food begins? You say nothing of the power of the mind in supporting man under Hunger and Thirst and I suppose nothing definite can be said. In the Black Hole of Calcutta 356 one would be disposed to say that the mental Constitution was an element in carrying a man through.
In the magazine it will be better not to give the series the general Title but it would be a shocking bore if any interloper got a hold of it. Do you think we could take any precaution against this, such as registering the first Paper at Stationers Hall under the Title Phys. of C. Life?
Your preface to Sea-Side Studies arrived today. The index is going on rapidly and a proof will be sent to you when ready. How do the illustrations stand? Shall we order the paper or has the engraver done so? We had better see the plates and paper before they are printed off in case of mistakes.
Ever yours truly,
John Blackwood.
G. H. Lewes Esqr.
Return proof as soon as you can.
MS: Copy, National Library of Scotland.
Edinburgh December 18. 1857.
My dear Lewes
I have read Hunger and Thirst twice with much interest and I am happy to say that I think the Public will take the series greedily. I would strongly urge you to take out the story of the eating of the Negro Boy. It gives one a turn at the start and my brother who has also read the proof with much pleasure made the same objections to it that I feel. A few sentences descriptive of the horrors of hunger would also ballance better with your introductory sketch of the beneficial effects of the stimulus which by the way is particularly good. Do you not take it too much for granted that a loss of 4/10 on weight from hunger is death to man as well as to animals and do you make sufficient allowance for the fatness or condition of the animal or man at the time the abstinence from food begins? You say nothing of the power of the mind in supporting man under Hunger and Thirst and I suppose nothing definite can be said. In the Black Hole of Calcutta 356 one would be disposed to say that the mental Constitution was an element in carrying a man through.
In the magazine it will be better not to give the series the general Title but it would be a shocking bore if any interloper got a hold of it. Do you think we could take any precaution against this, such as registering the first Paper at Stationers Hall under the Title Phys. of C. Life?
Your preface to Sea-Side Studies arrived today. The index is going on rapidly and a proof will be sent to you when ready. How do the illustrations stand? Shall we order the paper or has the engraver done so? We had better see the plates and paper before they are printed off in case of mistakes.
Ever yours truly,
John Blackwood.
G. H. Lewes Esqr.
Return proof as soon as you can.
Signature
John Blackwood.
Citation
John Blackwood, John Blackwood to GHL, Edinburgh, [17] December 1857, 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/95350