GE to Blanche Southwood Lewes, Witley, 24 July 1879
Title
GE to Blanche Southwood Lewes, Witley, 24 July 1879
Title
GE to Blanche Southwood Lewes, Witley, 24 July 1879
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Blanche Southwood Lewes
Date(s)
- 1879-07-24
Place
Witley
Letter Content
GE to Blanche Southwood Lewes, Witley, 24 July 1879
MS: Mrs. Edward Hanson. Published: Cross, New Edition, pp. 596-597.
The Heights, Witley, | Nr. Godalming.
July 24. 79.
My dear Blanche
I was very much pleased to have a letter from you, and to know all about your Birthday.
"Evenings at Home" is a very pretty book. 304 I read it when I was at school, and I think you will like to read many stories in it over and over again till you know them almost by heart. That is very nice to carry pretty things in your mind so that you can say them to yourself in the dark. I am sure you must have liked being on the river in the steamboat for the first time. The wide river, and the bridges, and the great buildings that can be seen a long way by the waterside, are all very beautiful, are they not? It would seem to you like another and grander sort of picture, after seeing the small pictures on the wall at the Exhibition.
Only think! This was your seventh birthday, and when you have lived three times seven years you will be a tall woman aged 21, able to do almost everything for dear Mamma, so that she may rest after doing so much as she does for you and Maud and Eleanor. Please give my love to Maud and tell her that I am very glad to hear of her having been at the head of her class.
Yesterday there was sunshine here; the trees made pretty shadows on the grass, and the flowers lifted up their little faces and looked very happy. But this morning it rains again and the hay that should be nice and dry, ready for the horses to eat, will all be wet through again. This makes people sorry.
I am writing this letter in bed, not being very well, and my paper lies a long way off on a flat board, so it is not easy for me to write well. But I hope the letter is written plainly enough for you to read it without much trouble.
Give my love to Papa and Mamma and tell them that I feel a little better. And now good bye, my dear Blanche. Whenever you think of me remember that I am
Your loving
Grandmamma.
MS: Mrs. Edward Hanson. Published: Cross, New Edition, pp. 596-597.
The Heights, Witley, | Nr. Godalming.
July 24. 79.
My dear Blanche
I was very much pleased to have a letter from you, and to know all about your Birthday.
"Evenings at Home" is a very pretty book. 304 I read it when I was at school, and I think you will like to read many stories in it over and over again till you know them almost by heart. That is very nice to carry pretty things in your mind so that you can say them to yourself in the dark. I am sure you must have liked being on the river in the steamboat for the first time. The wide river, and the bridges, and the great buildings that can be seen a long way by the waterside, are all very beautiful, are they not? It would seem to you like another and grander sort of picture, after seeing the small pictures on the wall at the Exhibition.
Only think! This was your seventh birthday, and when you have lived three times seven years you will be a tall woman aged 21, able to do almost everything for dear Mamma, so that she may rest after doing so much as she does for you and Maud and Eleanor. Please give my love to Maud and tell her that I am very glad to hear of her having been at the head of her class.
Yesterday there was sunshine here; the trees made pretty shadows on the grass, and the flowers lifted up their little faces and looked very happy. But this morning it rains again and the hay that should be nice and dry, ready for the horses to eat, will all be wet through again. This makes people sorry.
I am writing this letter in bed, not being very well, and my paper lies a long way off on a flat board, so it is not easy for me to write well. But I hope the letter is written plainly enough for you to read it without much trouble.
Give my love to Papa and Mamma and tell them that I feel a little better. And now good bye, my dear Blanche. Whenever you think of me remember that I am
Your loving
Grandmamma.
Signature
Grandmamma.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Blanche Southwood Lewes, Witley, 24 July 1879, 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/92076