GE to Alexander Main, London, 13 September 1872
Title
GE to Alexander Main, London, 13 September 1872
Title
GE to Alexander Main, London, 13 September 1872
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Alexander Main
Date(s)
- 1872-09-13
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Alexander Main, London, 13 September 1872
Text: Main's copy owned by Mr. John R. Sprunt. Extract published: Cross, New Edition, p. 493.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
September 13. 72.
Dear Mr. Main,
We start in search of health this afternoon. Our destination, to be reached about the end of next week, is Homburg, where we shall not gamble but drink the waters and cultivate repose of mind. I am at a very low ebb and during the last week I have run down at a quicker rate into a nervous condition in which the chirping of the grasshopper -- if it were to be heard in these parts -- would be a noticeable addition to the sounds already irritating me. My dear husband, I am thankful to say, is in better case, and does everything for me that can be done by proxy. I think you can divine something of his -- not superhuman but exquisitely human goodness.
Middlemarch is done -- all except a small Finale, which I prefer reserving a little. The rest I hope to see the last little proof of at the beginning of next week. I am not fit to write much this morning, but I like to say to you on this bit of paper that the thought of you as one on whom no idea or intention of mine would be lost for want of sympathetic understanding, has been often a strength to me.
I shall always be on this ground gratefully as well as affectionately
Yours
M. E. Lewes.
There is one small point about which I am anxious on your account: it is lest you should block up your way with regard to Blackwood by offering him papers. 594 We have observed that effect in other cases. I think he is likely to ask you for some work or contribution in time, unless some little hitch should be caused by a premature advance. Do something good in another quarter as a guarantee.
Text: Main's copy owned by Mr. John R. Sprunt. Extract published: Cross, New Edition, p. 493.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
September 13. 72.
Dear Mr. Main,
We start in search of health this afternoon. Our destination, to be reached about the end of next week, is Homburg, where we shall not gamble but drink the waters and cultivate repose of mind. I am at a very low ebb and during the last week I have run down at a quicker rate into a nervous condition in which the chirping of the grasshopper -- if it were to be heard in these parts -- would be a noticeable addition to the sounds already irritating me. My dear husband, I am thankful to say, is in better case, and does everything for me that can be done by proxy. I think you can divine something of his -- not superhuman but exquisitely human goodness.
Middlemarch is done -- all except a small Finale, which I prefer reserving a little. The rest I hope to see the last little proof of at the beginning of next week. I am not fit to write much this morning, but I like to say to you on this bit of paper that the thought of you as one on whom no idea or intention of mine would be lost for want of sympathetic understanding, has been often a strength to me.
I shall always be on this ground gratefully as well as affectionately
Yours
M. E. Lewes.
There is one small point about which I am anxious on your account: it is lest you should block up your way with regard to Blackwood by offering him papers. 594 We have observed that effect in other cases. I think he is likely to ask you for some work or contribution in time, unless some little hitch should be caused by a premature advance. Do something good in another quarter as a guarantee.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Alexander Main, London, 13 September 1872, 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/91986