Elizabeth Gaskell to GE, London, 3 June [1859]
Title
Elizabeth Gaskell to GE, London, 3 June [1859]
Title
Elizabeth Gaskell to GE, London, 3 June [1859]
Sender
Elizabeth Gaskell
Recipient
George Eliot
Date(s)
- 1859-06-03
Place
London
Letter Content
Elizabeth Gaskell to GE, London, 3 June [1859]
MS: Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
Cumberland Terrace | Regent's Park. | June 3.
Dear Mr. "Gilbert Elliott," 142
Since I came from Manchester to London I have had the greatest compliment paid me I ever had in my life. I have been suspected of having written "Adam Bede." I have hitherto denied it; but I really think, that as you want to keep your real name a secret, it would be very pleasant for me to blush acquiescence. Will you give me leave?
Well! if I had written Amos Barton, Janet's Repentance and Adam Bede I should neither be to have nor to hold with pride and delight in myself -- so I think it is very well I have not. And please to take notice I knew what was coming up above the horizon from the dawn of the first number of Amos Barton in Blackwood. -- After all it is a pity so much hearty admiration should go unappropriated through the world. So, although to my friends I am known under the name of Mrs. Gaskell, to you I will confess that I am the author of Adam Bede, and remain very respectfully and gratefully yours,
Gilbert Elliot.
MS: Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
Cumberland Terrace | Regent's Park. | June 3.
Dear Mr. "Gilbert Elliott," 142
Since I came from Manchester to London I have had the greatest compliment paid me I ever had in my life. I have been suspected of having written "Adam Bede." I have hitherto denied it; but I really think, that as you want to keep your real name a secret, it would be very pleasant for me to blush acquiescence. Will you give me leave?
Well! if I had written Amos Barton, Janet's Repentance and Adam Bede I should neither be to have nor to hold with pride and delight in myself -- so I think it is very well I have not. And please to take notice I knew what was coming up above the horizon from the dawn of the first number of Amos Barton in Blackwood. -- After all it is a pity so much hearty admiration should go unappropriated through the world. So, although to my friends I am known under the name of Mrs. Gaskell, to you I will confess that I am the author of Adam Bede, and remain very respectfully and gratefully yours,
Gilbert Elliot.
Signature
Gilbert Elliot.
Citation
Elizabeth Gaskell, Elizabeth Gaskell to GE, London, 3 June [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/95565