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. 


"George Eliot." Guardian, 29 Dec. 1880, p. 1838-1839.

"'George Eliot'." Nonconformist and Independent, 30 Dec. 1880, p. 1327.

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

"George Eliot." British Quarterly Review, vol. 45, 1867, pp. 141-78

Stephen, Leslie. "George Eliot." Cornhill Magazine, Feb. 1881, pp. 152–168.

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

Smith, George Barnett. "George Eliot." Saint Paul's Magazine, May 1873, pp. 592–616.

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

The Contemporary Review, vol. 20, Aug. 1872, pp. 403–422.

"General Literature." Economist, 27 Apr. 1861, pp. 455-457.

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

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, 28 May 1907, p. 6.

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

"From Our London Correspondent." York Herald, 3 Feb. 1876, p. 5.

"Fraternal Litigation." St. Louis Globe Democrat, 7 Mar. 1881, p. 2.

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

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

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

"Feminine Fancies, Foibles, and Fashions." Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 6 Mar. 1880, p. 1.

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

"Felix Holt, the Radical [A Review]."Westminster Review, July 1866, pp. 200-207.

"Felix Holt, the Radical [A Review]." Blackwood's Magazine, July 1866, pp. 94-109

Morley, John. "Felix Holt, the Radical." The Saturday Review, 16 June 1866, pp. 722-4

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

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

F. C. "Felix Holt, the Radical." Western Times, 14 Aug. 1866, p. 2.

F. C. "Felix Holt, the Radical." Western Times, 14 Aug. 1866, p. 2.

F. C. "Felix Holt, the Radical." Western Times, 7 Aug. 1866, p. 6.

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

"Felix Holt" The Nonconformist, 25 July 1866, p. 606.

Dallas, E. S. "Felix Holt." The Times, 26 June 1866, p. 6.

"Felix Holt." Pall Mall Gazette, 5 Jul. 1866.

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

Internet Archive Open Library

"Estimate of 'George Eliot.'" St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 27 Dec. 1880, p. 7.

"Estimate of 'George Eliot.'" St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 27 Dec. 1880, p. 7.

Hutton, R.H. Essays on Some of the Modern Guides to English Thought in Matters of Faith. London Macmillan and Co. 1891, Pgs. 153-310.

"[A Review of] Essays on Some of the Modern Guides of English Though in Matters of Faith. " The Guardian, 4 Jan. 1888, p. 20.

"Essays and Leaves from a Note-book." Daily Evening Bulletin, 10 May 1884.

"Epitome of Opinion." Pall Mall Gazette, 24 Dec. 1880, p. 2.

Robertson, Eric S., English Poetesses. Cassell and Company, 1883, Pgs. 326-334.

"English Men and Women of Letters of the 19th Century." Atlanta, 1 Jul. 1889, p. 681-685.

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

"England." Boston Daily Advertiser, 7 Nov. 1868.

"Elizabeth Stuart Phelps on George Eliot." Inter Ocean, 28 Nov. 1876, p. 7.

Robertson, James Craigie. "Eliot's Novels." The Quarterly Review, Oct. 1860, pp. 469–499.

"Echoes of the Week." Illustrated London News, 23 Jun. 1866.

"Echoes of the Week." Illustrated London News, 20 May 1865.

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

"Dramatic and Musical." Northampton Mercury, 23 June 1888, p. 2.

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

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

Bessie Rayner Parkes, Dorothea Casaubon and George Eliot, Contemporary Review, Vol. LXV. Jan-June, 1894.

Belloc, Bessie Rayner. "Dorothea Casaubon and George Eliot." In a Walled Garden. Macmillan & Co., 1895, pp. 1-24.

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

"Dinah Morris." Daily Evening Bulletin, 29 Jan. 1881, p. 3.

"Dignity of Humble Lives." Daily Inter Ocean, 2 Apr. 1881, p. 13.

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

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

Eliot, George. "Detached Thoughts." Wallaroo Times, 15 June 1887, p. 4.

[George Eliot?]. "Despair." Atchison Daily Globe, 25 Aug. 1893.

Picciotto, James. "Deronda the Jew." The Gentleman's Magazine. New York, AMS Press, 1876. pp. 593-603.

"Death of 'George Eliot.'" London Daily News, 24 Dec. 1880, p. 5.

James, Henry. "Daniel Deronda: A Conversation." Atlantic Monthly, Dec. 1876, pp. 684–694.

"Daniel Deronda and the 'Philosopher's Club.'" Boston Daily Advertiser, 19 Aug. 1876.

"Daniel Deronda." Graphic, 16 Sept. 1876, p. 279.

"[A Review of] Daniel Deronda." Guardian, 4 Oct. 1876, p. 1812.

"Daniel Deronda." Nonconformist, 31 May 1876, p. 555.

"Daniel Deronda [A Review]." Athenaeum, 1 July 1876, pp. 14-15

"Daniel Deronda." The Jewish Chronicle, 15 December 1876, pp. 585-6

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

Saintsbury, George. "Daniel Deronda." Academy, 9 Sept. 1876, pp. 253–254.

Colvin, Sidney. "Daniel Deronda." Fortnightly Review, vol. 26, Nov. 1876, pp. 601–616.

"Daniel Deronda — Third Part." Nonconformist, 12 Apr. 1876, p. 363.

"Daniel Deronda." The Saturday Review, 16 September 1876, pp. 356-8.

"Daniel Deronda." Daily Gazette For Middlesbrough, 8 Mar. 1876, p. 3.

"Daniel Deronda." Milwaukee Daily Sentinel, 1 Feb. 1876, p. 3.

"Daniel Deronda." York Herald, 1 Mar. 1876, p. 3.

"Daniel Deronda." York Herald, 1 Feb. 1876, p. 3.

"Daniel Deronda." York Herald, 11 May 1876, p. 3.

"Daniel Deronda." Times, 11 Dec. 1876, p. 6.

"Daniel Deronda." Pall Mall Gazette, 4 Oct. 1876.

"Daniel Deronda." Pall Mall Gazette, 30 Sept. 1876.

"Daniel Deronda." Daily Gazette, 8 Mar. 1876, p. 3.

"Daniel Deronda." Pall Mall Gazette, 30 Sept. 1876, p. 12.

"'Daniel Deronda.'" Pall Mall Gazette, 4 Oct. 1876, p. 10.

"Daniel Deronda." Nottinghamshire Guardian, 8 Sept. 1876, p. 6.

"Daniel Deronda." London Observer, 30 Jan. 1876, p. 7.

Bowker, R. R. "Daniel Deronda." International Review, IV, Jan. 1877, pp. 68–76.

"Current Literature." Daily Evening Bulletin, 19 Sept. 1885.

"Current Literature." Daily Evening Bulletin, 25 Jul. 1884.

"Current Literature." Daily Evening Bulletin, 25 Oct. 1884.

"Current Literature." Illustrated London News, 14 Jul. 1866, p. 43.

"Current Literature." Illustrated London News, 18 Jul. 1863, p. 74.

Colvin, Sydney. "Critical Notices." The Fortnightly Review Volume XII. London, Virtue and Co., 1 January 1873, pp. 142-148.

Colvin, Sydney. The Fortnightly Review Vol XIII. London, Virtue and Co., 1 January 1873.

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

Louch, Rev. Thomas. "Contributor's Column: The Novels of George Eliot." Victorian Express, 19 March 1887, p. 6.

"Conjugal Ethics." St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 21 Feb 1886, p. 13.

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

"Clergymen of the Old School." Star; Guernsey, 8 Jan. 1881.

"Choice Bits." Penny Illustrated Paper, 8 Jul. 1871, p. 7.

"Chips." North-Eastern Daily Gazette, 31 Oct. 1890.

Matheson, Annie. “Children in the Novels of George Eliot.” Macmillan’s Magazine 46, 1882, pp. 488-97.

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

Dickens, Charles. "Charles Dickens and George Eliot." Daily Evening Bulletin, 27 Jan. 1881.

"Charles Dickens and George Eliot." Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 1 Jan. 1881, p. 3.

Dickens, Charles. "Charles Dickens and 'George Eliot.'" Portsmouth Evening News, 1 Jan. 1881, p. 3.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Books Received." Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 15 June 1895, p. 5.

"Books." The Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine, 1 Apr. 1869, p. 215.

"Book Notices." Evening Star, 28 Mar. 1859.

Eliot, George. "Belles Lettres: Three Novels." Westminster Review, LXVI, October 1856, pp. 571-78.

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

"Authors and Their Heroes and Heroines." Daily Picayune, 28 Jun. 1891, p. 12.

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

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

"Art and Literature." Newcastle Courant, 21 Jan. 1881.

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

"Art and Literary Gossip." Manchester Times, 12 Jan. 1884, p. 4.

"Artand Literary Gossip." Manchester Times, 24 Jan. 1885, p. 5.

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

"April Magazines: George Eliot's Women." Newcastle Courant, 20 Apr. 1883.

"April Magazines." Newcastle Courant, 20 Apr. 1883, p. 6.

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

"An Author's Blunders- Slips in the Chronology of 'Adam Bede.'" Daily Evening Bulletin, 15 Sept. 1880, p. 3.

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

"American Estimation of Popular Writers." Aberdeen Journal, 19 June 1886, p. 8.

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

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

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

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

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

Newby, Thos Cautley . "Adam Bede, Jun." Times, 5 Dec. 1859, p. 7.

Forster, John. "Adam Bede." Edinburgh Review [American Edition], July 1859, pp. 223-246.

"Adam Bede [A Review]." The Morning Chronicle, 28 Feb. 1859, p. 6.

Jewsbury, Geraldine. "Adam Bede [A Review]." Athenaeum, 26 Feb. 1859, p. 284.

Dallas, E. S. "Adam Bede." The Times, 12 Apr. 1859, p. 5.

Blackwood's Magazine, vol. 87, May 1860, pp. 490-504

Westminster Review [American Edition], vol. 71, Apr. 1859, pp. 269–283.

"Adam Bede." John Bull and Britannia, 12 Feb. 1859, p. 107.

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

"Adam Bede." Daily Evening Bulletin, 24 Jan. 1881, p. 4.

"Adam Bede." Economist, 5 Mar. 1859, pp. 256-257.

Eliot, George. "Adam Bede." Times, 16 Apr. 1859, p. 7.

Eliot, George. "Adam Bede." Times, 2 Dec. 1859, p. 10.

"Accuracy and Tolerance." Rocky Mountain News, 22 Jan. 1889, p. 2.

James, H. "About Some of the George Eliot's Novels." Treasury of Literature and the Ladies' Treasury, 2 Aug. 1869, p. 56-63.

"About Literature and the Arts." Northampton Mercury, 29 Sept. 1866, p. 3.

"A Word About the Quinns-- And Books." Edgefield Advertiser, 8 Aug, 1866, p. 2.

"A Wise Man." St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 17 Aug. 1879, p. 12.

"A Volume of Poems by George Eliot." Standard, 13 May 1874, p. 5.

"A Valuable Book." Boston Investigator, 11 Apr. 1855.

"A Trouble on Christmas Eve." London Magnet, 20 Jun. 1881, p. 6.

"A Traveller's Experiences in the George Eliot Country." Leicester Chronicle and Leicestershire Mercury, 9 June 1894, p. 3.

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

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

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

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

Eliot, George. "A Prayer by George Eliot." South Australian Weekly Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1881 - 1889), 27 December 1884, p. 16.

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

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

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

"A New Novelist." Saturday Review, vol. 135, 29 May 1858, pp. 566-7.

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

[G. W. S.]. New York Tribune, 26 Jul. 1875.

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

Tozer, F. Eustace. "A Literary Study: George Eliot." Leeds Mercury, 2 June 1888, p. 1.

"A Literary 'Coincidence'-- Where George Eliot got the Drowing Scene for her 'Daniel Deronda.'" Daily Evening Bulletin, 25 Jun. 1877.

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

Lewes, M. E. "A Letter from George Eliot." St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 22 Jan. 1881, p. 10.

Internet Archive Open Library

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

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

Mulock, Dinah. To Novelists - And a Novelist. Macmillan's Magazine, April 1861, pp. 441-8

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

Backus, Truman Jay, and Helen Dawes Brown. The Great English Writers From Chaucer to George Eliot: With Selections Illustrating Their Work. New York: Sheldon & Co., 1889.

Hutton, R.H. "Romola [A Review]." The Spectator, 18 July 1863.

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

"Middlemarch [A Review]." The Observer, 17 December 1871.

"Middlemarch [A Review]." Edinburgh Review, January 1873, pp. 246-63.

"Middlemarch [A Review]." The Saturday Review, 21 December 1872, pp. 796.

"Middlemarch [A Review]." The Saturday Review, 7 December 1872, pp. 733-4.

"Middlemarch [A Review]." Examiner, 7 December 1872, pp. 1204-5.

Hutton, R. H. "Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life [A Review]." British Quarterly Review, vol. 57, 1873, pp. 407–429.

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

James, Henry. "Felix Holt, the Radical [A Review]." The Nation, 16 Aug. 1866, pp. 127–128.

"Daniel Deronda." Examiner, 2 September 1876, pp. 993-4.

"Daniel Deronda [A Review]." Academy, 5 February 1876, p. 120.

Hutton, R. H. "Daniel Deronda [A Review]." The Spectator, 8 Apr. 1876.

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

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

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

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.

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

E. W. B. "'Shepperton Church'." Standard, 2 Aug. 1889, p. 3.

Eliot, George. "'Sayings,' by George Eliot ('Adam Bede')." Williamstown Chronicle (Vic. : 1856 - 1954), 5 April 1873, p. 6.

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

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

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

"'George Eliot' and the Jews." Star; Guernsey, 11 Jan. 1881.

"'George Eliot' and Her Teachings." Age, 27 April 1889, p. 11.

"'George Eliot's' Works." Northampton Mercury, 11 Feb. 1888, p. 6.

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

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

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.

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