William Blackwood to GHL, Edinburgh, 9 March 1859
Title
William Blackwood to GHL, Edinburgh, 9 March 1859
Title
William Blackwood to GHL, Edinburgh, 9 March 1859
Sender
William Blackwood
Recipient
George Henry Lewes
Date(s)
- 1859-03-09
Place
Edinburgh
Letter Content
William Blackwood to GHL, Edinburgh, 9 March 1859
Text: Blackwood Letter Book, National Library of Scotland.
5 George Street, Edinburgh 9. March 1859.
My Dear Lewes
We received yesterday the inclosed letter from Mr. Hargreaves 426 one of poor Johnston's executors. From it you will see that Johnston, short time as he lived after the completion of the Chemistry of Common Life, 427 had corrected a copy which has been only now sent to us. This delay is most provoking as from the glance I have given through the annotated copy, Johnston appears to have gone about the work systematically and to have collected many more interesting facts and illustrations for his various chapters which would have added greatly to the interest and 'e9clat of a new edition both from their intrinsic merit and as being the last corrections of the Author.
We send you this corrected copy and will feel obliged if you will look through it and give us your opinion as to whether any of the new matter can be given in an appendix or whether the whole should be reserved for another impression. All that has been done appears to me merely additional explanation and illustration, not correction of statements or opinions, so that we feel we can with perfect good faith reserve it. Nearly the whole of your edition is printed off so that it would be a very heavy sacrifice to cancel it. When we purchased from the executors about three years ago all the author's interest in this and his other works, we specially noticed to them the necessity there would be for corrected editions and how our having to calculate upon this was a matter we had to take into consideration in making our offer. We also inquired generally about the papers Johnston had left. We never thought therefore of applying again to them on the subject when we proposed to you to edit the Chemistry. With the writer of the inclosed we have not had correspondence but with his coexecutor Mr. Shields 428 we settled everything in the most friendly way about the estate and have occasionally corresponded since, so that we can only look upon our not having [had] sooner put into our hands the corrected copy as an unfortunate oversight.
Text: Blackwood Letter Book, National Library of Scotland.
5 George Street, Edinburgh 9. March 1859.
My Dear Lewes
We received yesterday the inclosed letter from Mr. Hargreaves 426 one of poor Johnston's executors. From it you will see that Johnston, short time as he lived after the completion of the Chemistry of Common Life, 427 had corrected a copy which has been only now sent to us. This delay is most provoking as from the glance I have given through the annotated copy, Johnston appears to have gone about the work systematically and to have collected many more interesting facts and illustrations for his various chapters which would have added greatly to the interest and 'e9clat of a new edition both from their intrinsic merit and as being the last corrections of the Author.
We send you this corrected copy and will feel obliged if you will look through it and give us your opinion as to whether any of the new matter can be given in an appendix or whether the whole should be reserved for another impression. All that has been done appears to me merely additional explanation and illustration, not correction of statements or opinions, so that we feel we can with perfect good faith reserve it. Nearly the whole of your edition is printed off so that it would be a very heavy sacrifice to cancel it. When we purchased from the executors about three years ago all the author's interest in this and his other works, we specially noticed to them the necessity there would be for corrected editions and how our having to calculate upon this was a matter we had to take into consideration in making our offer. We also inquired generally about the papers Johnston had left. We never thought therefore of applying again to them on the subject when we proposed to you to edit the Chemistry. With the writer of the inclosed we have not had correspondence but with his coexecutor Mr. Shields 428 we settled everything in the most friendly way about the estate and have occasionally corresponded since, so that we can only look upon our not having [had] sooner put into our hands the corrected copy as an unfortunate oversight.
Citation
William Blackwood, William Blackwood to GHL, Edinburgh, 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/95666