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. 


"Yesterday's New Books." Standard, 14 Aug. 1895, p. 3.

"Yesterday's New Books." Standard, 11 Sept. 1895, p. 3.

"Books Received." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 11 Sept. 1895, p. 8.

"Alas for Brains." Leed's Times, 5 Oct. 1895, p. 6.

"Alas for Brains." Leeds Times, 5 Oct. 1895, p. 6.

"Yesterday's New Books." Standard, 15 Oct. 1895, p. 3.

"Concerning Four Great Writers." St. James's Gazette, 17 Oct. 1895, p. 5.

"George Eliot's Influence." Newcastle Courant, 19 Oct. 1895, p. 2.

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

"Some 'New' Humourists." Independent and Nonconformists, 14 Nov. 1895, p. 381.

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

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

"Yesterday's New Books." Standard, 29 Nov. 1895, p. 3.

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

"New Books of Yesterday." Glasgow Herald, 11 Dec. 1895, p. 10.

"Books Received." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 13 Dec. 1895, p. 8.

"Yesterday's New Books." Standard, 25 Dec. 1895, p. 3.

"Literary Notices." Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 15 Jan. 1896, p. 6.

"Books Received." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 29 Jan. 1896, p. 8.

"Notes." Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 30 Jan. 1896, p. 7.

Primrose, Deborah. "Fetishism." Hearth and Home, 30 Jan. 1896, p. 440.

[M. E. C.] "The Influence of George Eliot's Early Novels." The Guardian, 27 May 1896, p. 830.

"The Influence of George Eliot's Later Novels." Guardian, 3 Jun. 1896, p. 867.

B. A. B. "Worth the Reading." Morning Oregonian, 6 Sept. 1896, p. 12.

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

"Analytic Study of Literature." Galveston Daily News, 7 Nov. 1896.

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

Linton, Eliza Lynn. "George Eliot." Women Novelists of Queen Victoria's Reign: A Book of Appreciations, Hurst and Blackett, 1897, pp. 63–115.

Davidson, Hannah Amelia. The Study of Romola. Study Guide Series, 1897.

Linton, Eliza Lynn. "George Eliot." Women Novelists of Queen Victoria's Reign: A Book of Appreciations, London, Hurst & Blackett, limited, 1897, pp. 61-115.

"Adam Bede." Herald, 2 Jan. 1897, p. 1.

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

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

"Women Who Shine." Dundee Courier and Argus, 8 Feb. 1897, p. 6.

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

"George Eliot Criticised." London Mid Surrey Times and General Advertiser, 7 Aug. 1897, p. 3.

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

"Our London Letter." Bristol Times and Mirror, 8 Sept. 1897, p. 8.

"Scenes of Clerical Life." Hull Daily Mail, 8 Sept. 1897, p. 5.

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

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

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

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

Eliot, George. "Sayings of George Eliot." Maitland Daily Mercury, 17 September 1898, p. 5.

"Eyes in Fiction." St. James's Gazette, 13 Oct. 1898, p. 12.

Oliphant, James. "George Eliot." Victorian Novelists. London, Blackie & Son, 1899, pp. 78-143.

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

"The Humour of George Eliot." Blackburn Weekly Standard and Express, 27 May 1899, p. 9.

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

London Independent, 16 Nov. 1899, p. 2.

"Victorian Novelists." St. James's Gazette, 27 Jan. 1900, p. 12.

"St. Paul's Literary Society: Miss Serrell's Paper." Mercury and Observer, 20 Oct. 1900, p. 5.

Howells, W.D., Heroines of Fiction, Harper and Brothers Publishing, New York & London 1901, Pgs. 102-113.

Brownell, W. C. "George Eliot." Victorian Prose Masters; Thackeray - Carlyle - George Eliot - Mathew Arnold - Ruskin - George Meredith. New York, Charles Scribner's Son, 1901, pp. 99-145.

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

"A Reviving Fame." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 12 June 1901, p. 4.

Hyatt, Alfred. "Arts and Letters." London Middlesex Gazette, 12 Oct. 1901, p. 7.

Stephen, Leslie. George Eliot. Macmillan & Co., 1902.

Stephen, Leslie. George Eliot. London, Macmillan & co. ltd, 1902.

Bonnell, Henry Houston. "George Eliot: The Literature of Power and Cup of Strength." Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, Jane Austin. New York, Longmans, Green, and co., 1902, pp. 131-322.

Bonnell, Henry H. (Henry Houston). Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot, Jane Austen: Studies In Their Works. New York [etc.]: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1902.

"The French George Eliot." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 10 Jan. 1902, p. 4.

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

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

[A. R.] "George Eliot." Westminster Budget, 18 Jul. 1902, p. 21.

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

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

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

"Three Women Novelists." Westminster Budget, 6 Mar. 1903, p. 23.

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

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

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

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

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

"George Eliot." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 21 Nov. 1903, p. 2.

https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433076086416

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

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

"Mr. Herbert Spencer's Autobiography." Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 31 Mar. 1904, p. 9.

F. D. U. "'George Eliot' and Wirksworth." Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 23 May 1904, p. 7.

"Yesterday's New Books." Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 27 May 1904, p. 3.

"The Popularity-monger." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 25 June 1904, p. 2.

[R. W. L.] "The Book World: Women Novelist of To-Day." Black And White, 01 Oct. 1904, p. 484.

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

Collins, John Churchton. Studies in Poetry and Criticism. London, G. Bell and Sons, 1905.

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

Eliot, George. "Gems From George Eliot." Maitland Daily Mercury, 21 May 1907, p. 2.

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

"No Great Poet." Western Times, 24 Oct. 1905, p. 3.

Sweetser, Kate Dickinson. Boys and Girls From George Eliot. New York: Duffield & Company, 1906.

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

"Instinctive Horror." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 13 Apr. 1906, p. 8.

Eliot, George. "George Eliot on Women." Sunday Sun, 2 September 1906, p. 10.

Mottram, William. The True Story of George Eliot In Relation to "Adam Bede": Giving the Real Life History of the More Prominent Characters. American ed. Chicago: McClurg, 1906.

"Cambridge University Local Lectures." Cornishman, 22 Nov. 1906, p. 2.

Eliot, George. "George Eliot on Women." Sunday Sun, 2 September 1906, p. 10.

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

Eliot, George. "Gems From George Eliot." Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, 30 March 1907, p. 11.

Eliot, George. "Gems From George Eliot." Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser, 12 April 1907, p. 2.

"A New Midland Industry." Tamworth Herald, 18 May 1907, p. 7.

Eliot, George. "Gems From George Eliot." Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser, 28 May 1907, p. 6.

"A George Eliot Memorial." Tamworth Herald, 8 June 1907, p. 2.

"Gone!" Hull Daily Mail, 27 June 1907, p. 3.

"To Day's Books." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 12 July 1907, p. 10.

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

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

"To-day's Books." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 18 Nov. 1907, p. 3.

"Manchester Literary Club." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 26 Nov. 1907, p. 10.

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

Eliot, George. "Women: George Eliot." Worker, 23 May 1908, p. 10.

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

Eliot, George, 1819-1880. "George Eliot on Human Nature." Traralgon Record (Traralgon, Vic. : 1886 - 1932), 6 November 1908, p. 5.

Eliot, George. "George Eliot on Human Nature." Bairnsdale Advertiser and Tambo and Omeo Chronicle (Vic. : 1882 - 1918), 7 November 1908.

Eliot, George. "George Eliot on Human Nature." Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 - 1954), 14 November 1908, p. 6.

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

Eliot, George. "George Eliot on Human Nature." Camperdown Chronicle (Vic. : 1877 - 1954), 16 November 1908, p. 6.

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

"To-day's Books." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 9 Mar. 1909, p. 9.

Boyce, Arthur E. "Letters on Men and Things: On George Eliot." Kentish Mail Greenwich and Deptford Observer, 12 Mar. 1909, p. 3.

Boyce, Arthur E. "Letters on Men and Things: On George Eliot (Continued)." Kentish Mail Greenwich And Deptford Observer, 19 Mar. 1909, p. 3.

"Books Received." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 25 Sept. 1909, p. 11.

Olcott, Charles S. "George Eliot: Scenes and People In her Novels." Cassell, 1910.

Olcott, Charles S. (Charles Sumner). George Eliot, Scenes And People In Her Novels. New York: T. Y. Crowell & co, 1910.

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

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

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

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

Eliot, George. "George Eliot: Some Sayings from Her Novels." Border Morning Mail and Riverina Times (Albury, NSW : 1903 - 1920), 16 November 1910.

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

Olcott, Charles S., George Eliot: Scenes and People in Her Novels, London ; Cassell, 1911.

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

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

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

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

"Memories of Old Surrey." Standard, 25 Jul. 1911, p. 12.

George Eliot. "George Eliot on Women." Wollondilly Press, 13 September 1911, p. 3.

Eliot, George. "George Eliot on Women." Tumut and Adelong Times, 15 September 1911, p. 3.

Eliot, George. "George Eliot on Women." Picton Post, 27 September 1911, p. 7.

Eliot, George. "George Eliot: Some Sayings from Her Novels." Northern Times (Carnarvon, WA : 1905 - 1952), 14 October 1911, p. 6.

George Eliot. "George Eliot on Women." Queanbeyan Age, 26 September 1911, p. 3.

"News." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 18 Oct. 1913, p. 6.

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

"Nuneaton and the Memory of 'George Eliot.'" Tamworth Herald, 27 Dec. 1913, p. 6.

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Brock, Ashford. "The Bookmarker." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 17 Apr. 1914, p. 9.

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

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

Eliot, George. "Sayings From George Eliot." Australian Worker, 10 June 1915, p. 19.

Eliot, George. "Sayings From George Eliot." Zeehan and Dundas Herald, 16 June 1915, p. 4.

Eliot, George. "Sayings From George Eliot." Daily Herald, 7 August 1915, p. 10.

Haskell, Jessica J. "George Eliot's 'The Mill on the Floss'--(I.)" The Journal of Education, 28 Oct 1915, Vol. 82, No. 15 (2051), p. 403, 408.

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

Berle, Lina Wright. George Eliot and Thomas Hardy: A Contrast. Mitchell Kennerley, 1917.

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

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

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

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

Tomlinson, May. “Rosamond and Lydgate.” South Atlantic Quarterly 17, 1918, pp. 320-29.

Johnson, R. Brimley. The Great Four. London [etc.] W. Collins sons & co., ltd. 1918, Pgs. 204-225.

Johnson, R. Brimley. The Great Four. London [etc.] W. Collins sons & co., ltd. 1918, Pgs. 226-244.

Johnson, R. Brimley. "The Woman's Man: An Ideal and a Point of View." The Women Novelists, London, W. Collins sons & co., ltd, 1918, pp. 245-262.

Johnson, R. Brimley. "'Jane Eyre' to 'Scenes of Clerical Life.'" The Women Novelists, London, W. Collins sons & co., ltd, 1918, pp. 179-203.

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

Tomlinson, May. “Dodsons and Tullivers.” Sewanee Review 26 July 1918, pp. 319-27.

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

"Adam Bede's Cottage." Hull Daily Mail, 9 Oct. 1918, p. 3.

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

Tomlinson, May. “The Beginning of George Eliot’s Art: A Study of Scenes of Clerical Life.” Sewanee Review 27, July 1919, pp. 320-329.

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

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

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

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

Elton, Oliver. A Survey of English Literature: 1780-1880. Vol. 2. The Macmillan Company, 1920, pp. 93-99. George Eliot Archive.

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

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

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

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

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

"Interesting Link with 'Adam Bede.'" Tamworth Herald, 31 Mar. 1923, p. 3.

"Diamond Jubilee of 'Romola.'" Daily Mail Atlantic Edition, 20 Jul. 1923, p. 5.

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

"Felsted." Chelmsford Chronicle, 2 Nov. 1923, p. 7.

"'George Eliot." Hull Daily Mail, 19 Dec. 1923, p. 2.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Wickham Bishops." Essex Chronicle, 5 Dec. 1930, p. 12.

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

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

Eliot, George, 1819-1880. "George Eliot on Human Nature." Camperdown Chronicle (Vic. : 1877 - 1954), 20 April 1933, p. 8.

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

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

Eliot, George, 1819-1880. "George Eliot on Human Nature." Camperdown Chronicle (Vic. : 1877 - 1954), 14 May 1935, p. 6.

Eliot, George, 1819-1880. "George Eliot on Human Nature." Camperdown Chronicle (Vic. : 1877 - 1954), 2 December 1937, p. 5.

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

Bennett, Joan. George Eliot: Her Mind and Her Art. Cambridge University Press, 1948.

Bullett, Gerald. George Eliot, Her Life and Books. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1948.

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

Allen, Walter Ernest. George Eliot. New York, Macmillan Publishers, 1964.

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

Hutton, R. H., "Felix Holt," Spectator, vol. 39, 23 June 1866, pp. 692-693.

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

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

B. N. C. "George Eliot's Novels." Calcutta Review, p. 78-89.

Hamilton, C. J. Women Writers: Their Works and Ways Volume 1. London, Ward, Lock, Bowden and co., 1892-93.

Hammond, Eleanor P. "The Use of Episode in the Teaching of Fiction." Modern Language Notes, vol. 17, no. 2. Feb 1902, pp. 33-36.

Fairley, Edwin. "The Art of George Eliot in 'Silas Marner'." The English Journal, Apr 1913, vol 2, no 4, pp. 221-30.

Block, Louis James. "The Poetry of George Eliot." The Sewanee Review, vol. 26, no. 1, Jan 1918, pp. 85-91.