GE to Alexander Main, London, 29 March 1872
Title
GE to Alexander Main, London, 29 March 1872
Title
GE to Alexander Main, London, 29 March 1872
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Alexander Main
Date(s)
- 1872-03-29
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Alexander Main, London, 29 March 1872
MS: The late Arthur Pforzheimer. Envelope: Alexander Main Esq | West Mary Street | Arbroath | N.B. Postmarks: LONDON-N.W | 2 | MR 30 | 72; ARBROATH | D | MR 31 | 72. Endorsed: March 29th '72. Extracts published: Cross, New Edition, pp. 486-487.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
Good Friday Evening.
My dear Mr. Main
The announcement of the fourth Part, Mr. Simpson tells us, was only omitted in the presentation copies, because the slip was not yet ready. My illness would not have prevented the appearance of that part, which is safely in print, and I have not been absolutely disabled. But I have been depressed and retarded by much bodily discomfort, especially during the last fortnight. Did you ever, in your young life, have a whole week of headache? That is what I have just emerged from, having been still under the waves and billows when your letter 495 came. You know already that the thought you give to me and my book is a seed of comfort to me. I should not like the praise if it were not accompanied with the proof that you know what I mean, and care the most for those elements in my writing which I myself care the most for.
Try to keep from forecast of Dorothea's lot, and that sort of construction beforehand which makes everything that actually happens a disappointment. I need not tell you that my book will not present my own feeling about human life if it produces on readers whose minds are really receptive the impression of blank melancholy and despair. I can't help wondering at the high estimate made of Middle-march in proportion to my other books. I suppose the depressed state of my health makes my writing seem more than usually below the mark of my desires, and I am too anxious about its completion -- too fearful lest the impression which it might make (I mean for the good of those who read) should turn to nought -- to look at it in mental sunshine.
I am very glad you like the passages you quote about Mr. Casaubon's and Caleb Garth's experience. You are right in believing that they gave me much delight while I was writing them.
Mr. Lewes is on the whole pretty well, though susceptible to the trying changes in the weather. 496 He is always bright and cheerful -- of the very happiest disposition, without acid and without bitterness. Just now he is absorbed in carrying out some applications of the philosophy of mathematics to mental science; 497 and finds new paths opening before him. He sends his kind regards to you, and I will add that he read your letter twice for the pleasure it gave him. You know he delights in my book much more than I do.
Some time, perhaps, you will tell us exactly how you spend your days. I like to think of your reading what you enjoy aloud to your mother. But I should like also to know what is the general web of your life -- that is, if you are ever inclined to tell. 498 I have established for myself the privilege of being the poorest correspondent in the world, so you see I am fearless in implying that I expect a great deal from you without the least intention of repaying.
Mr. Ralston's Songs of the Russian People 499 contains some exquisite bits of true lyric poetry, and deserves your looking into it. "Olrig Grange" too by some young brother Scotsman of yours 500 has interested us greatly. Always, dear Mr. Main,
Yours with sincere regard
M. E. Lewes.
I was glad to hear from Edinburgh how good the sale of the "Sayings" has been.
MS: The late Arthur Pforzheimer. Envelope: Alexander Main Esq | West Mary Street | Arbroath | N.B. Postmarks: LONDON-N.W | 2 | MR 30 | 72; ARBROATH | D | MR 31 | 72. Endorsed: March 29th '72. Extracts published: Cross, New Edition, pp. 486-487.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
Good Friday Evening.
My dear Mr. Main
The announcement of the fourth Part, Mr. Simpson tells us, was only omitted in the presentation copies, because the slip was not yet ready. My illness would not have prevented the appearance of that part, which is safely in print, and I have not been absolutely disabled. But I have been depressed and retarded by much bodily discomfort, especially during the last fortnight. Did you ever, in your young life, have a whole week of headache? That is what I have just emerged from, having been still under the waves and billows when your letter 495 came. You know already that the thought you give to me and my book is a seed of comfort to me. I should not like the praise if it were not accompanied with the proof that you know what I mean, and care the most for those elements in my writing which I myself care the most for.
Try to keep from forecast of Dorothea's lot, and that sort of construction beforehand which makes everything that actually happens a disappointment. I need not tell you that my book will not present my own feeling about human life if it produces on readers whose minds are really receptive the impression of blank melancholy and despair. I can't help wondering at the high estimate made of Middle-march in proportion to my other books. I suppose the depressed state of my health makes my writing seem more than usually below the mark of my desires, and I am too anxious about its completion -- too fearful lest the impression which it might make (I mean for the good of those who read) should turn to nought -- to look at it in mental sunshine.
I am very glad you like the passages you quote about Mr. Casaubon's and Caleb Garth's experience. You are right in believing that they gave me much delight while I was writing them.
Mr. Lewes is on the whole pretty well, though susceptible to the trying changes in the weather. 496 He is always bright and cheerful -- of the very happiest disposition, without acid and without bitterness. Just now he is absorbed in carrying out some applications of the philosophy of mathematics to mental science; 497 and finds new paths opening before him. He sends his kind regards to you, and I will add that he read your letter twice for the pleasure it gave him. You know he delights in my book much more than I do.
Some time, perhaps, you will tell us exactly how you spend your days. I like to think of your reading what you enjoy aloud to your mother. But I should like also to know what is the general web of your life -- that is, if you are ever inclined to tell. 498 I have established for myself the privilege of being the poorest correspondent in the world, so you see I am fearless in implying that I expect a great deal from you without the least intention of repaying.
Mr. Ralston's Songs of the Russian People 499 contains some exquisite bits of true lyric poetry, and deserves your looking into it. "Olrig Grange" too by some young brother Scotsman of yours 500 has interested us greatly. Always, dear Mr. Main,
Yours with sincere regard
M. E. Lewes.
I was glad to hear from Edinburgh how good the sale of the "Sayings" has been.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Alexander Main, London, 29 March 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/91995