Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott
Title
Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott
Text Read
Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott
Author
Lockhart, John Gibson
Original Source
London: Murray & Whittaker & Co., 1839
Digitized by
Internet Archive
Publication Date
1839
Date(s) of Reading
- 1859-01-12
- 1859-02-19
- 1870-10-27
Evidence
1859-01-12: "Jan. 12. We went into town today, and looked in the Annual Register for cases of inundation. Coming home we saw Erasmus Wilson who had been reading "Hunger and Thirst", and expressed great value for it. Letter from Blackwood today speaking of renewed delight in Adam Bede, and proposing 1st February as the day of publication. Read the article in yesterday's Times on George's Sea-side Studies - highly gratifying. We are still reading Scott's life with strong interest; and G. is reading to me Michelet's book "De l'Amour'." Diary 1854-1861 74
1859-02-19: George Eliot to Sara Sophia Hennell, Wandsworth, 19 February 1859. "Thank you for sending me that authentic word about Miss Nightingale. I wonder if she would rather rest from her blessed labours or live to go on working. Sometimes, when I read of the death of some great, sensitive human being, I have a triumph in the sense that they are at rest, and yet along with that, such deep sadness at the thought that the rare nature is gone for ever into darkness and we can never know that our love and reverence can reach him, that I seem to have gone through a personal sorrow when I shut the book and go to bed. I felt in that way the other night when I finished the Life of Scott aloud to Mr. Lewes. He had never read the book before, and has been deeply stirred by the picture of Scott's character -- his energy and steady work, his grand fortitude under calamity, and the spirit of strict honour to which he sacrificed his declining life. He loves Scott now as well as I do." GEL 3: 15-6.
1870-10-27: "On Monday the 8th of August we went to our favourite Surrey retreat, Limpsfield and enjoyed three weeks there, reading and walking together. The weather was perfect, and the place seemed more lovely to us than before. Aloud I read the concluding part of Walter Scott's Life which we had begun at Harrogate, two volumes of Froude's History of England, and Comte's correspondence with Valat. We returned on Monday the 29th. Before our return we had had a letter from Bertie telling us, to our joy, that he was engaged to a "well-educated young lady, Eliza Stevenson Harrison", and we agreed to write to the young lady's father on the subject to see if any provision could be made for their early marriage. During our stay at Limpsfield I wrote the greater part of "Armgart", and finished it at intervals during September. Since then I have been continually suffering from headache and depression, with almost total despair of future work. I look into this little book now to assure myself that this is not unprecedented." Diary 1861-1877 141
1859-02-19: George Eliot to Sara Sophia Hennell, Wandsworth, 19 February 1859. "Thank you for sending me that authentic word about Miss Nightingale. I wonder if she would rather rest from her blessed labours or live to go on working. Sometimes, when I read of the death of some great, sensitive human being, I have a triumph in the sense that they are at rest, and yet along with that, such deep sadness at the thought that the rare nature is gone for ever into darkness and we can never know that our love and reverence can reach him, that I seem to have gone through a personal sorrow when I shut the book and go to bed. I felt in that way the other night when I finished the Life of Scott aloud to Mr. Lewes. He had never read the book before, and has been deeply stirred by the picture of Scott's character -- his energy and steady work, his grand fortitude under calamity, and the spirit of strict honour to which he sacrificed his declining life. He loves Scott now as well as I do." GEL 3: 15-6.
1870-10-27: "On Monday the 8th of August we went to our favourite Surrey retreat, Limpsfield and enjoyed three weeks there, reading and walking together. The weather was perfect, and the place seemed more lovely to us than before. Aloud I read the concluding part of Walter Scott's Life which we had begun at Harrogate, two volumes of Froude's History of England, and Comte's correspondence with Valat. We returned on Monday the 29th. Before our return we had had a letter from Bertie telling us, to our joy, that he was engaged to a "well-educated young lady, Eliza Stevenson Harrison", and we agreed to write to the young lady's father on the subject to see if any provision could be made for their early marriage. During our stay at Limpsfield I wrote the greater part of "Armgart", and finished it at intervals during September. Since then I have been continually suffering from headache and depression, with almost total despair of future work. I look into this little book now to assure myself that this is not unprecedented." Diary 1861-1877 141
Citation
Lockhart, John Gibson, Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, George Eliot's Reading, George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/57743