Contemporaries on George Eliot's Works

An understanding of how George Eliot’s contemporaries were reading and responding to her published works helps us appreciate her reach, her fame, and her historical significance.

In this section, you will find commentary on Eliot's works published in periodicals during and shortly beyond her lifetime.

The George Eliot Archive offers far more reviews and commentary on Eliot's works than any print volume. As a digital scholarly edition, we are able to continuously expand as new items are identified. We have relied on the work of editors of printed collections as our starting point and continued to build our collection well beyond what has been available. Our digital edition more than quadruples the number of previously collected reviews of Middlemarch, facilitating new avenues of inquiry into the novel's early reception.

We also have an extensive collection of articles reporting on and summarizing lectures presented on George Eliot’s works and on her literary influence within and outside of England. As these documents demonstrate, Eliot's writing garnered widespread acclaim from professional critics and common citizens alike, who generally praised the creativity, wit, complex characters, and the moral philosophy incorporated into her writings.


If you are unable to locate a specific review or article about Eliot's works in this section, please let us know. We'll find it, upload it, and send you the link. 


"Woman's and Lover's Calendars." Cornishman, 23 Dec. 1915, p. 2.

"Old Novels and New." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 31 Oct. 1902, p. 6.

"Varieties." Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 19 June 1868, p. 3.

"Museum and Library." Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette, 23 Jan. 1890, p. 3.

"Our Royal Jubilee and Scripture Prophecy." Northampton Mercury, 23 Apr. 1887, p. 9.

"Thoughts for Quiet Moments." Hull Daily Mail, 9 Jan. 1909, p. 2.

"Goole and District Mems." Hull Daily Mail, 20 Feb. 1908, p. 8.

"Literature." Derby Mercury, 18 July 1866, p. 6.

"Books Received." Graphic, 23 May 1874, p. 499.

"The Story of a Remarkable Literary Imposture." Western Mail, 3 Feb. 1885, p. 4.

"The Literary Competition." Aberdeen Journal, 17 Feb. 1897, p. 2.

"Literature." Examiner, 29 Jan. 1876, p. 124.

"Dr. Adler on 'Daniel Deronda.'" Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 12 Dec. 1876, p. 6.

"'Cheverel Manor." Tamworth Herald, 6 Jan. 1906, p. 7.

"Pendeen." Cornishman, 24 Jan. 1923, p. 3.

"English Literature in France." Star; Guernsey, 24 Feb. 1883.

"Multiple News Items." Standard, 21 Feb. 1884, p. 2.

"A Look Round Literature." Morning Post, 18 May 1887, p. 2.

"London Notes." Ipswich Journal, 28 Oct. 1873, p. 2.

"George Eliot's Life." Birmingham Daily Post, 27 Jan. 1885, p. 7.

"Screen Jottings." Hull Daily Mail, 11 May 1917, p. 5.

"Thoughts for Quiet Moments." Hull Daily Mail, 26 Sept. 1908, p. 5.

"Multiple News Items." Dundee Courier and Argus, 28 Feb. 1870.

"News." Dundee Courier and Argus, 21 Apr. 1868.

"Dickens and the Queen." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 5 Nov. 1887, p. 2.

"Hull's Literary Outlook." Hull Daily Mail, 1 Apr. 1924, p. 7.

"The 'Globe' and the 'Daily News.'" Huddersfield Chronicle, 12 Oct. 1887, p. 4.

"Sale of Autograph Letters." Morning Post, 18 July 1898, p. 7.

"George Eliot's Essays." Pall Mall Gazette, 21 Feb. 1884, p. 4.

"'Place and Power.'" Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 13 Sept. 1903, p. 6.

"Our Evening Hymns." Northampton Mercury, 15 May 1886, p. 6.

"Mr. Swinburne's New Volume." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 29 Aug. 1877, p. 3.

"Middlemarch." Graphic, 28 Dec. 1872, p. 610.

"Wilnecote." Tamworth Herald, 10 Mar. 1923, p. 5.

"Literature, Music, Science, and Art." Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 1 May 1868, p. 3.

"The Sunderland Equitable Industrial Society's Library." Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette, 21 Oct. 1884, p. 3.

"Art and Literary." Stirling Observer and Midland Counties Advertiser, 3 May 1866, p. 3.

"Literary, Scientific, and Artistic Notes." Bucks Herald, 30 Sept. 1871, p. 3.

"Literature, Science, and Art." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 1 Jan. 1881, p. 3.

"The Magazines for May." Berrows Worcester Journal, 8 May 1869, p. 6.

"Art and Literary Gossip." Cheshire Observer and General Advertiser, 12 Apr. 1862, p. 2.

"Sir Theodore Martinon Books." Bury and Norwich Post and Suffolk Standard, 11 Oct. 1887, p. 3.

"Lochee." Dundee Courier and Argus, 24 Jan. 1889.

"George Eliot's New Novel." Standard, 29 Apr. 1872, p. 3.

"Theophrastus Such." Standard, 17 June 1879, p. 2.

"Summary of News." Nottinghamshire Guardian, 20 June 1873, p. 4-5.

"George Eliot's New Story." Daily News, 28 Nov. 1871, p. 5.

"Moreton-In-Marsh." Jackson's Oxford Journal, 11 Nov. 1899, p. 3.

"Literary Notices." Newcastle Courant, 5 Apr. 1867, p. 3.

"'George Eliot' and Wirksworth Associations." Derby Mercury, 5 Jan. 1881, p. 2.

"Literature." Aberdeen Journal, 22 Jan. 1873, p. 6.

"American Fiction." Aberdeen Journal, 7 Jan. 1880, p. 2.

"Our Library Table." North Wales Chronicle, 14 July 1866, p. 2.

"Literature." Aberdeen Journal, 4 Jan. 1894, p. 7.

"The Feminine Peril in Fiction." Glasgow Herald, 29 Apr. 1899, p. 9.

"A Link with 'Mr. Gilfil's Love Story.'" Tamworth Herald, 21 June 1924, p. 3.

"Corporation Trading: Anti-Municipal Crusade." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 14 Oct. 1905, p. 4.

"Wisdom About Women." Hull Daily Mail, 27 Dec. 1910, p. 8.

"Religious Services." Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette, 5 Dec. 1887, p. 3.

"Notes." Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 10 July 1895, p. 8.

"Literature, Science, and Art Gossip." Dundee Courier, 23 Sept. 1872.

"Literature of the Week." Hampshire Advertiser County Newspaper, 8 June 1867, p. 7.

"The Rev. H. J. R. Marston on Goldsmith." Berrow's Worcester Journal, 24 May 1884, p. 7.

"Two Books of Criticism." Pall Mall Gazette, 8 Dec. 1891, p. 3.

"Lecture on 'Adam Bede.'" Bristol Mercury, 13 Apr. 1883, p. 6.

"George Eliot." Burlington Weekly Free Press, 5 May 1876.

"George Eliot." Aberdeen Weekly Journal, 30 Apr. 1879.

"George Eliot." St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 11 Mar. 1881, p. 9.

"George Eliot." Boston Daily Advertiser, 21 Mar. 1883, p. 8.

"George Eliot." Milwaukee Sentinel, 14 May 1883, p. 8.

"George Eliot." Pall Mall Gazette, 27 Jan. 1885.

"George Eliot." Daily Picayune, 29 Jun 1888, p. 4.

"George Eliot." Blackburn Standard and Weekly Express, 1 Nov. 1890, p. 3.

"George Eliot." Daily Picayune, 4 Mar. 1895, p. 2.

"George Eliot." Friend of India & Statesman, 30 Oct. 1895, p. 5.

"George Eliot." Daily Inter Ocean, 12 Sept. 1896, p. 13.

"George Eliot." North American, 1 Mar. 1898, p. 5.

"George Eliot." Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette, 23 Oct. 1903, p. 1.

"George Eliot." Devon and Exeter Daily Gazette, 5 Mar. 1910, p. 2.

"Publications Received." Morning Post, 8 Jan. 1898, p. 6.

"Literary and Other Notes." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 12 Jan. 1884, p. 3.

"News." Sheffield Evening Telegraph, 6 Apr. 1888, p. 2.

"Literary Notes." Belfast News-Letter, 7 Dec. 1875.

"Fiction: Past and Present." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 24 Dec. 1904, p. 2.

"Dramatic Recital." Hastings and St. Leonards Observer, 26 Nov. 1892, p. 2.

"George Eliot and Boadicea." London Mainly about People, 16 Mar. 1907, p. 295.

"George Eliot's Life." Liverpool Mercury, 27 Jan. 1885, p. 7.

"Saturday's New Books." Standard, 24 June 1895, p. 3.

"Nodion O'R Brifddinas." Y Goleuad, 30 Apr. 1887, p. 12.

"'George Eliot." Devon and Exeter Gazette, 5 Mar. 1910, p. 2.

"Wit and Humour." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 14 Feb. 1891, p. 2.

"Literature." Morning Post, 22 Dec. 1883, p. 3.

"News." Northampton Mercury, 3 May 1901, p. 8.

"Multiple News Items." Penny Illustrated Paper, 14 Oct. 1871, p. 227.

"Portsmouth Literary and Scientific Society." Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle, 2 Apr. 1881, p. 6.

"George Eliot's Account of 'Dinah Morris." Derbyshire Times, 15 Jan. 1881, p. 6.

"[A Review of] Felix Holt, the Radical." Trewman's Exeter Flying Post, 27 June 1866, p. 6.

"Multiple Classified Advertisements." Boston Investigator, 28 Feb. 1855.

"Multiple Classified Advertisements." Boston Investigator, 3 Jan. 1855.

"The Last Number of the Quarterly Review has a Review of the Novels of 'George Eliot.'" Daily Evening Bulletin, 17 Dec. 1860.

"George Eliot." Queenslander, 3 October 1891, p. 634.

"George Eliot's Characters." Warragul Guardian, 22 November 1895, p. 5.

"George Eliot's Characters." Broadford Courier and Reedy Creek Times, 29 November 1895, p. 6.

"George Eliot's Goal." Queensland Figaro, 15 July 1933, p. 7.

"George Eliot's 'Dinah Morris.'" Telegraph, 17 March 1881, p. 3.

"George Eliot, Prophetess." Hebrew Standard of Australasia, 22 November 1945, p. 7.

"After George Eliot." Herald, 9 January 1918, p. 3.

"George Eliot." Sydney Morning Herald, 14 April 1885, p. 9.

"Sidelights on George Eliot." Daily Telegraph, 24 June 1911, p. 6.

"George Eliot's Heroines." Australian Star, 14 August 1897, p. 8.

"George Eliot's Earnings." Daily Mail, 28 June 1919, p. 12.

"George Eliot's Novels." Courier Mail, 9 June 1934, p. 14.

"George Eliot Staged." Canberra Times, 3 June 1927, p. 14.

"George Eliot's Earnings." Evening Telegraph, 7 April 1902, p. 3.

"George Eliot's MSS." Australasian, 12 September 1891, p. 45.

"George Eliot and Gardening." Telegraph, 11 July 1917, p. 2.

"George Eliot's Forthcoming Novel." Brisbane Courier, 28 March 1876, p. 3.

"George Eliot." Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser, 12 May 1885, p. 2.

"George Eliot's Characters." Cobram Courier, 28 November 1895, p. 6.

"George Eliot's Books." Ovens and Murray Advertiser, 9 June 1877, p. 3.

"A Polish George Eliot." Jewish Herald, 16 September 1910, p. 8.

"George Eliot as Poet." Herald, 30 August 1907, p. 4.

"George Eliot and Gardening." Telegraph, 10 July 1917, p. 2.

"George Eliot's 'Adam Bede.'" Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, 12 August 1893, p. 3.

"Link with George Eliot." Australasian, 14 September 1929, p. 6.

"George Eliot's Company." Australian Worker, 17 September 1914, p. 17.

"George Eliot." Bendigo Advertiser, 21 May 1881, p. 2.

"George Eliot." Queenslander, 18 June 1931, p. 34.

"George Eliot." Evening Journal, 13 May 1890, p. 3.

"George Eliot." Woman Voter, 6 November 1919, p. 4.

"George Eliot." Adelaide Observer, 1 July 1911, p. 6.

"George Eliot." Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 1 January 1881, p. 5.

"George Eliot." Adelaide Observer, 4 December 1875, p. 6.

"George Eliot." Mercury, 31 January 1920, p. 10.

"George Eliot." Sydney Morning Herald, 24 June 1911, p. 4.

"George Eliot." Catholic Press, 8 August 1918, p. 10.

"George Eliot." South Australian Register, 25 November 1875, p. 5.

"George Eliot." Sydney Morning Herald, 2 August 1902, p. 4.

"George Eliot." Register, 24 June 1911, p. 4.

"George Eliot." Telegraph, 1 July 1889, p. 4.

"George Eliot." Table Talk, 25 June 1903, p. 15.

"George Eliot." South Australian Register, 10 May 1876, p. 7.

"George Eliot." Evening Journal, 25 November 1875, p. 3.

"New Novels." The Athenaeum, 6 April 1861, pp. 464-465.

"A Batch of Last Year's Novels." Dublin University Magazine, April 1862, pp. 398-401.

"Felix Holt, the Radical." The Nation, 16 Aug. 1866, pp. 127-128.

"Impressions of Theophrastus Such." The Edinburgh Review. New York, The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, 1879. pp. 287-302.

"Impressions of Theophrastus Such." The Academy, London, Robert Scott Walker, 1879. pp. 555-557.

"Impressions of Theophrastus Such." The Saturday Review, London, 1879. pp. 805-806.

"Art. VI. --- Theophrastus Such." New Haven, The Westminster Review, vol. 112, 1879, pp. 185-196.

“George Eliot as a Poet” Contemporary Review, published in George Eliot’s Poems, NY: Thomas Y Crowell, n.d.

"George Eliot Centenary." Geelong Advertiser, 13 November 1919, p. 3.

"George Eliot's 'Dinah Morris'." Week, 19 March 1881, p. 11.

"George Eliot." South Australian Register, 23 April 1885, p. 5.

"Belles Lettres." Westminster Review, July 1861, pp. 151-152.

"George Eliot on Methodism." Chronicle, 2 January 1897, p. 35.

"George Eliot and Methodism." Express and Telegraph, 26 December 1896, p. 5.

"George Eliot." Australasian, 27 May 1876, p. 8.

"George Eliot." Age, 4 October 1919, p. 23.

"George Eliot's New Novel." Standard, 3 June 1872, p. 2.

"Middlemarch: The Eighth and Last Book." Standard, 4 December 1872, p. 5.

"George Eliot's New Novel." Standard, 8 August 1872, p. 5.

"The Humour of Middlemarch." Spectator, 14 December 1872, pp. 1582-1583

"Literature: George Eliot's New Novel." Manchester Guardian, 21 December 1871, p. 7.

"George Eliot." Australasian, 13 August 1927, p. 62.

"George Eliot." Sydney Jewish News, 21 May 1948.

"George Eliot and Judaism." The Australian Jewish Chronicle, 4 October 1923, p. 16.

"George Eliot's Novel." Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser,8 July 1876, p. 7.

"Adam Bede: George Eliot Originals." Herald, 2 January 1897, p. 1.

"George Eliot on Human Nature." Bacchus Marsh Express, 30 July 1910, p. 3.

"Film Version of George Eliot Book." Daily Telegraph, 7 September 1936, p. 13.

"The Religious Teachings of George Eliot." Daily Telegraph, 7 January 1884, p. 6.

"'George Eliot' in Real Life." Express and Telegraph, 6 November 1897, p. 5.

"Romola: George Eliot's Novel Filmed." Age, 16 July 1927, p. 16.

"George Eliot: Is She Out of Date?" Age, 19 November 1932, p. 5.

"Literature: Essays by George Eliot." Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 10 May 1884, p. 869.

"Romola: Theatre Royal Attraction-- George Eliot's Novel." Newcastle Sun, 11 December 1926, p. 2.

"George Eliot." Adelaide Observer, 11 March 1882, p. 41.

"The Work of George Eliot." Australasian, 1 January 1881, p. 8.

Unknown. "George Eliot: Her Best Characters." Maitland Daily Mercury (NSW : 1894 - 1939), 15 June 1920, p. 8.

Unknown. "George Eliot: Some Sayings from Her Novels." Rutherglen Sun and Chiltern Valley Advertiser (Vic. : 1914 - 1918), 12 May 1914, p. 4.

"Books: George Eliot Through Her Letters." Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), 7 December 1985, p. 2.

Unknown. "George Eliot: Her Felix Holt." Daily News (Perth, WA : 1882 - 1950), 21 September 1907, p. 6.

"George Eliot's Art: Its Real Goal." Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), 23 April 1927, p. 4.

"'Silas Marner:' George Eliot's Novel Filmed." Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW : 1888 - 1954), 21 January 1917, p. 2.

"The Reviewer: George Eliot's Forthcoming Novel."
Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 - 1939), 25 March 1876, p. 12.

"A Nugget of Wisdom: George Eliot's Opinions of Swiss Watches." Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), 29 August 1892, p. 3.

"A Nugget of Wisdom: George Eliot's Opinions of Swiss Watches." Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), 6 July 1891, p. 3.

"George Eliot and Her Teachings." Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), 27 April 1889, p. 13.

"George Eliot's Novels: Cheap Reissues." Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931), 29 November 1913, p. 6.

"George Eliot as a 'Man of Letters.'" Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931), 19 July 1902, p. 6.

"George Eliot: Her Best Characters." Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), 7 February 1920, p. 7.

"Wanamaker's." Daily Republican, 24 Nov. 1885.

"George Eliot's Heroines." The Woman's Herald, 15 Jun. 1893, p. 258.

W. B. D. "George Eliot: A Roundabout Paper." Sydney
Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 11 September 1879, p. 3.

Wedgwood, Julia. The Moral Influence of George Eliot. The Contemporary Review, 1 Jan. 1881, pp. 173–185.

Whipple, Edwin P. "Daniel Deronda." The North American Review, Jan. 1877, pp. 31–52.

Rutherford, Mark. The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford. Edited by Reuben Shapcott, 11th ed., T. Fisher Unwin, 1884.

Whiting, Mary Bradford. “George Eliot as a Character Artist.” Westminster Review 138, 1892, pp. 406-415.

Eliot, George and Esther Wood. Poems, Essays, And Leaves From a Note Book. New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1904.

Woolf, Virginia. "George Eliot." Times Literary Supplement, 20 Nov. 1919, pp. 657–658.

Woolson, Abba Gould. George Eliot and Her Heroines. Harper, 1886.

Woolson, Abba Gould. George Eliot and Her Heroines: A Study. New York, Harper Gamp; brothers, 1886.

"George Eliot's Novels." Telegraph, 11 April 1905, p. 4.

X. "George Eliot's Novels." Week, 17 April 1925, p. 29.

"Felix Holt, the Radical." The North American Review, Oct. 1866, pp. 557–563.

Examiner, 3 Feb 1872, p. 125-6

George Eliot and Personal Responsibility, Six Nineteenth-Century Fictionists, Pgs. 40-61

"George Eliot's Life." Liverpool Mercury, 27 Jan. 1885, p. 7.

"Multiple News Items." Standard, 24 June 1895, p. 3.

"Middlemarch." Leeds Mercury, 14 Dec. 1872, p. 12.

"'Place and Power.'" Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 13 Sept. 1903, p. 6.

"Literary Notes." Morning Post, 10 Feb. 1892, p. 2.

"George Eliot." Rocky Mountain News, 13 May 1883, p. 11.

"The Encyclopedia Britannica: The Third New Volume." Standard, 11 Jul. 1902, p. 4.