The Wit and Wisdom of George Eliot, within The Spectator, vol. 45, issue 2272

The Wit and Wisdom of George Eliot, within The Spectator, vol. 45, issue 2272

Unknown

London: The Spectator Limited, 1872. The Spectator, vol. 45, issue 2272, 1872-01-13, pp. 43-4

Internet Archive

1872

George Eliot to Alexander Main, 26 January 1872. “I have looked through that article in the Spectator by way of an exception which will last me for a long while -- and I want to beg of you not to let such make-shift writing disturb you. The article was written, not by Mr. Hutton, but by some contributor who probably knows but little of my books, and looked over your volume to be furnished with a few cues enabling him to show what he imagined to be his own felicity in finding parallels. You observe that he is so unreflecting as to take the words put dramatically into the mouths of my characters as the expression of my own sentiments. The "earthly wisdom" is put in to round a sentence into conformity with the occasional tone of the Spectator. If it were my habit to read stuff of this kind, the effect would be very injurious to me, and I shall not taste of that cup again for a long while. But what I want now to impress on you is, that you have done a bit of faithful work, and must not mind if the immediate results are scanty.” GEL 5: 239-40

Unknown, The Wit and Wisdom of George Eliot, within The Spectator, vol. 45, issue 2272, George Eliot's Reading, George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/57382

https://georgeeliotarchive.org/files/original/839d3506faa6071c8a96fd4c989bfcf5.pdf