Elizabeth C. Gaskell to John Blackwood, Manchester, 9 March [1859]
Title
Elizabeth C. Gaskell to John Blackwood, Manchester, 9 March [1859]
Title
Elizabeth C. Gaskell to John Blackwood, Manchester, 9 March [1859]
Sender
Elizabeth C. Gaskell
Recipient
John Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1859-03-09
Place
Manchester
Letter Content
Elizabeth C. Gaskell to John Blackwood, Manchester, 9 March [1859]
MS: National Library of Scotland. Published: J. A. V. Chapple and A. Pollard, The Letters of Mrs. Gaskell, Manchester, [1866], p. 533.
Plymouth Grove | March 9th.
Dear Sir
As you would learn from my letter yesterday I received the copy of "Adam Bede" which you were so kind as to send me quite safely; and I am very much obliged to you for it. I thoroughly admire this writer's works. (I do not call him Mr. Elliott because I know that such is not his real name.) I was brought up in Warwickshire, and recognize the county in long description of natural scenery. I am thoroughly obliged to you for giving it me; it is a book that it is a real pleasure to have. And if for every article in your Magazine, abusive of me, you will only be so kind as to give me one of the works of the author of "Scenes from Clerical Life," I shall consider myself your debtor. You must have been mistaken, or I must have explained myself badly, if you thought I believed that Mr. Aytoun wrote the review of C. Bronte. 429 I know the author's name perfectly well.
I do not remember the title of the article I wrote, and which you published long ago, in 1835 or '36 I think. 430 It was in the days of a very kind friend of mine who was then Editor -- Professor Wilson. My article was a poem on a character whom I subsequently introduced into "Mary Barton"; and I remember it began
"In childhood days I do remember me Of a dark house behind an old elm tree By gloomy streets surrounded" etc. etc.
It was worth very little; but I was very much pleased, and very proud to see it in print. I sent some articles, in prose, afterwards to Blackwood, -- but they were, as I now feel, both poor and exaggerated in tone; and they were never inserted.
Once more let me thank you for your kindness. One of Mrs. Poyser's speeches is as good as a fresh blow of sea-air, and yet she is a true person, and no caricature. -- But I could go on pointing out touches that delight me till you might think it an impertinence.
Yours very truly
E. C. Gaskell.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Published: J. A. V. Chapple and A. Pollard, The Letters of Mrs. Gaskell, Manchester, [1866], p. 533.
Plymouth Grove | March 9th.
Dear Sir
As you would learn from my letter yesterday I received the copy of "Adam Bede" which you were so kind as to send me quite safely; and I am very much obliged to you for it. I thoroughly admire this writer's works. (I do not call him Mr. Elliott because I know that such is not his real name.) I was brought up in Warwickshire, and recognize the county in long description of natural scenery. I am thoroughly obliged to you for giving it me; it is a book that it is a real pleasure to have. And if for every article in your Magazine, abusive of me, you will only be so kind as to give me one of the works of the author of "Scenes from Clerical Life," I shall consider myself your debtor. You must have been mistaken, or I must have explained myself badly, if you thought I believed that Mr. Aytoun wrote the review of C. Bronte. 429 I know the author's name perfectly well.
I do not remember the title of the article I wrote, and which you published long ago, in 1835 or '36 I think. 430 It was in the days of a very kind friend of mine who was then Editor -- Professor Wilson. My article was a poem on a character whom I subsequently introduced into "Mary Barton"; and I remember it began
"In childhood days I do remember me Of a dark house behind an old elm tree By gloomy streets surrounded" etc. etc.
It was worth very little; but I was very much pleased, and very proud to see it in print. I sent some articles, in prose, afterwards to Blackwood, -- but they were, as I now feel, both poor and exaggerated in tone; and they were never inserted.
Once more let me thank you for your kindness. One of Mrs. Poyser's speeches is as good as a fresh blow of sea-air, and yet she is a true person, and no caricature. -- But I could go on pointing out touches that delight me till you might think it an impertinence.
Yours very truly
E. C. Gaskell.
Signature
E. C. Gaskell.
Citation
Elizabeth C. Gaskell, Elizabeth C. Gaskell to John Blackwood, Manchester, 9 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/95559