William Blackwood to John Blackwood, Edinburgh, 1 December 1859
Title
William Blackwood to John Blackwood, Edinburgh, 1 December 1859
Title
William Blackwood to John Blackwood, Edinburgh, 1 December 1859
Sender
William Blackwood
Recipient
John Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1859-12-01
Place
Edinburgh
Letter Content
William Blackwood to John Blackwood, Edinburgh, 1 December 1859
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Edinburgh, 1 December 1859.
My dear John
I have been thinking over G.E's letter a good deal as you may suppose in the course of the day. On the whole I think it puts things fairly enough and that he wishes to continue to publish with us. How far that wish will lead him to accept a reasonable and moderate offer from us in preference to an extravagant one from another quarter I am not so clear about.
In saying that your offer stultified the reasons he gave for not publishing in Maga he overlooks that you said we would give him more for it there than in any other way of publication. I think we would have done so but I would not have it now for Maga. Any failure or fancied failure of it in that case would be most disagreeable. Our practice of never giving an author's name in Maga should be strongly dwelt on and our reason for it. It will soothe his feelings. With regard to A.B. Junr. and our neglect of his wishes we have some cause of complaint against him that he did not show more confidence in our judgment in the matter 'aband did not give us credit to believe that'bb. Neither in honor nor justice could we allow any injury to arise to G.E. from the wretched thing that we could prevent, and he might have given us credit for common sense and knowledge of our business enough to know when we were called upon to come before the public.
The dropping of the incognito is the most serious part of the business and will, I feel satisfied, affect the circulation in families of any future work. 411 Then there is the danger of G.E. coming before the public in his own name from some crotchet or another. I really think we should have some understanding with Lewes about this. Altogether it is a tangled kind of business, and though I feel that we should continue to publish for her as long as we have confidence in her other writings, we shall always, I am afraid, have disagreeables attending it in some shape or another. I think too very strongly that we should not bind ourselves until we have seen the new work.
Aytoun has given me back good St. Stephens; 412 he says it is not at all bad, better in fact than anybody else could have done it, but doubts whether it will tell. Of course we can't give any suggestions.
Hoping you had a pleasant journey and find a pleasant houseful at Arbury,
Ever yours affectionately
W. Blackwood.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Edinburgh, 1 December 1859.
My dear John
I have been thinking over G.E's letter a good deal as you may suppose in the course of the day. On the whole I think it puts things fairly enough and that he wishes to continue to publish with us. How far that wish will lead him to accept a reasonable and moderate offer from us in preference to an extravagant one from another quarter I am not so clear about.
In saying that your offer stultified the reasons he gave for not publishing in Maga he overlooks that you said we would give him more for it there than in any other way of publication. I think we would have done so but I would not have it now for Maga. Any failure or fancied failure of it in that case would be most disagreeable. Our practice of never giving an author's name in Maga should be strongly dwelt on and our reason for it. It will soothe his feelings. With regard to A.B. Junr. and our neglect of his wishes we have some cause of complaint against him that he did not show more confidence in our judgment in the matter 'aband did not give us credit to believe that'bb. Neither in honor nor justice could we allow any injury to arise to G.E. from the wretched thing that we could prevent, and he might have given us credit for common sense and knowledge of our business enough to know when we were called upon to come before the public.
The dropping of the incognito is the most serious part of the business and will, I feel satisfied, affect the circulation in families of any future work. 411 Then there is the danger of G.E. coming before the public in his own name from some crotchet or another. I really think we should have some understanding with Lewes about this. Altogether it is a tangled kind of business, and though I feel that we should continue to publish for her as long as we have confidence in her other writings, we shall always, I am afraid, have disagreeables attending it in some shape or another. I think too very strongly that we should not bind ourselves until we have seen the new work.
Aytoun has given me back good St. Stephens; 412 he says it is not at all bad, better in fact than anybody else could have done it, but doubts whether it will tell. Of course we can't give any suggestions.
Hoping you had a pleasant journey and find a pleasant houseful at Arbury,
Ever yours affectionately
W. Blackwood.
Signature
W. Blackwood.
Citation
William Blackwood, William Blackwood to John Blackwood, Edinburgh, 1 December 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/95670