Smith, George Barnett (1841-1909)

George Smith published Romola after luring George Eliot away from Blackwood and Sons with a 10,000-pound offer, which, according to George Henry Lewes, was the highest payment offered to any author at the time. After negotiating terms, Eliot accepted 7,000 pounds. Smith also hired Lewes as editor of the Fortnightly Review, which he owned. Neither Eliot's novel nor the journal under Lewes were profitable, so the business relationship soured, though the three remained friendly. When Eliot finished her next novel, Felix Holt, the Radical, Smith rejected it (according to his own accounts), leading Eliot to return to Blackwood, with whom she would publish all her remaining works.

George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org

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