La Beata [The Blessed One] (Italian)
Title
La Beata [The Blessed One] (Italian)
Text Read
La Beata [The Blessed One] (Italian)
Author
Trollope, Thomas Adolphus
Original Source
London: Chapman & Hall, 1861
Digitized by
HathiTrust
Publication Date
1861
Date(s) of Reading
- 1861-07-01
- 1861-07-02
- 1861-07-05
Evidence
1861-07-01: "1. Finished reading the four last volumes of the "Histoire des Ordres Religieux". Began "La Beata", a story of Florentine life by T.A. Trollope. I am also reading Sachetti's Novelle, and Sismondi's History of the Italian Republics." Diary 1861-1877 96
1861-07-02: "2. Desultory morning, from feebleness of head. Osservatore Fiorentino and Tenneman's Manual of Philosophy. In the evening La Beata." Diary 1861-1877 96
1861-07-05: George Eliot to Mrs. Thomas Adolphus Trollope, 5 July 1861. "While I am reading La Beata I constantly feel as if Mr. Trollope were present telling it all to me vivâ voce. It seems to me more thoroughly and fully like himself than any of his other books. And in spite of our having had the most of his society away from you, you are always part of his presence to me in a hovering aerial fashion. So it seems quite natural that a letter addressed to him should have a postscript addressed to you. Pray reckon it amongst the good you do in this world, that you come very often into our thoughts and conversation. We see comparatively so few people that we are apt to recur to recollections of those we like best with almost childish frequency, and a little fresh news about you would be a welcome variety, especially the news that you had quite shaken off that spine indisposition which was still clinging to you that last morning when we said our good-byes. We have enough knowledge about you and your world to interpret all the details you can give us. But our words about our own home doings would be very vague and colourless to you. You must always imagine us coming to see you and wanting to know as much about you as we can, and like a charming hostess gratify that want. I must thank you for the account of Cavour in The Athenaeum, which stirred me strongly. I am afraid I have what The Saturday Review would call ‘a morbid delight in deathbeds’ -- not having reached that lofty superiority which considers it bad taste to allude to them." GEL 3: 435-6
1861-07-02: "2. Desultory morning, from feebleness of head. Osservatore Fiorentino and Tenneman's Manual of Philosophy. In the evening La Beata." Diary 1861-1877 96
1861-07-05: George Eliot to Mrs. Thomas Adolphus Trollope, 5 July 1861. "While I am reading La Beata I constantly feel as if Mr. Trollope were present telling it all to me vivâ voce. It seems to me more thoroughly and fully like himself than any of his other books. And in spite of our having had the most of his society away from you, you are always part of his presence to me in a hovering aerial fashion. So it seems quite natural that a letter addressed to him should have a postscript addressed to you. Pray reckon it amongst the good you do in this world, that you come very often into our thoughts and conversation. We see comparatively so few people that we are apt to recur to recollections of those we like best with almost childish frequency, and a little fresh news about you would be a welcome variety, especially the news that you had quite shaken off that spine indisposition which was still clinging to you that last morning when we said our good-byes. We have enough knowledge about you and your world to interpret all the details you can give us. But our words about our own home doings would be very vague and colourless to you. You must always imagine us coming to see you and wanting to know as much about you as we can, and like a charming hostess gratify that want. I must thank you for the account of Cavour in The Athenaeum, which stirred me strongly. I am afraid I have what The Saturday Review would call ‘a morbid delight in deathbeds’ -- not having reached that lofty superiority which considers it bad taste to allude to them." GEL 3: 435-6
Citation
Trollope, Thomas Adolphus, La Beata [The Blessed One] (Italian), George Eliot's Reading, George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/57467