Memoir of William Edmondstoune Aytoun

Memoir of William Edmondstoune Aytoun

Martin, Sir Theodore

London: Blackwood & Sons, 1867

Internet Archive

1867

George Eliot to John Blackwood, 18 October 1867. “I always hesitate to send you unnecessary letters, because I know you get a superfluity of such things from other quarters. But at last I indulge my inclination to tell you with how much interest I have read Prof. Aytoun's Life, which Mr. Martin has sent me. If he had been of less value himself I should have liked to know about him because of his connection with you and venerable Maga. But I enjoy chiefly the impression which the book gives me of him as a good, loveable man, who must have been very precious to his friends. His unaffected tone about his own works is admirable, and I think that preface to the revised edition of "Bothwell" is a rare indication of candour and self-judgment. I entered keenly into all the details on this last subject, and wish there had been more of them given in the Life -- also more of such delicious bits as that of Col. Hamley's about the old white setter and the field-mouse with the poet's disposition to throw a "decent veil" over the mistakes of his beloved dog. And the fine old mother who lived to renew the present of the bible! Altogether the book seemed very cheering in spite of the sadness cast over the latter years, and the too early death. The breakdown into dyspepsia came home to me more than I like, through Mr. Lewes's experience.” GEL 4: 391-2 

Martin, Sir Theodore, Memoir of William Edmondstoune Aytoun, George Eliot's Reading, George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/57202

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