GE Journal, 1 January 1873
Title
GE Journal, 1 January 1873
Title
GE Journal, 1 January 1873
Sender
GE Journal
Recipient
U
Place
London
Letter Content
GE Journal, ,1 January 1873
MS: Yale. Published: Cross, III, 191-192.
January 1. 1873.
At the beginning of December, the eighth and last book of Middlemarch was published, the three final numbers having been published monthly. No former book of mine has been received with more enthusiasm -- not even Adam Bede, and I have received many deeply affecting assurances of its influence for good on individual minds. Hardly anything could have happened to me which I could regard as a greater blessing, than the growth of my spiritual existence when my bodily existence is decaying. The merely egoistic satisfactions of fame are easily nullified by toothache, and that has made my chief consciousness for the last week. This morning, when I was in pain, and taking a melancholy breakfast in bed, some sweet natured creature sent a beautiful bouquet to the door for me, bound round with the written wish that "every year may be happier and happier, and that God's blessing may ever abide with the immortal author of Silas Marner." Happily my dear husband is well, and able to enjoy these things for me. That he rejoices in them is my most distinct personal pleasure in such tributes.
MS: Yale. Published: Cross, III, 191-192.
January 1. 1873.
At the beginning of December, the eighth and last book of Middlemarch was published, the three final numbers having been published monthly. No former book of mine has been received with more enthusiasm -- not even Adam Bede, and I have received many deeply affecting assurances of its influence for good on individual minds. Hardly anything could have happened to me which I could regard as a greater blessing, than the growth of my spiritual existence when my bodily existence is decaying. The merely egoistic satisfactions of fame are easily nullified by toothache, and that has made my chief consciousness for the last week. This morning, when I was in pain, and taking a melancholy breakfast in bed, some sweet natured creature sent a beautiful bouquet to the door for me, bound round with the written wish that "every year may be happier and happier, and that God's blessing may ever abide with the immortal author of Silas Marner." Happily my dear husband is well, and able to enjoy these things for me. That he rejoices in them is my most distinct personal pleasure in such tributes.
Citation
GE Journal, GE Journal, 1 January 1873, Complete George Eliot Letters(2026), George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/91883