GE to Charles Bray, [Richmond, 29 March 1858]
Title
GE to Charles Bray, [Richmond, 29 March 1858]
Title
GE to Charles Bray, [Richmond, 29 March 1858]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Charles Bray
Date(s)
- 1858-03-29
Place
[Richmond]
Letter Content
GE to Charles Bray, [Richmond, 29 March 1858]
MS: Yale. Endorsed: March 1858. Extracts published: Cross, II, 17.
My dear Friend
Mr. Lewes really did pack up Buckle, direct him and stamp him, with due care, and I presume the cover must have stuck to him as far as Coventry since I think Rowland Hill 1104 doesn't employ any clairvoyants.
Apropos, when do you bring out your new poem? I presume you are already in the Sixth Canto. It is true, you have never told me you intended to write a poem, nor have I heard any one say so who was likely to know. Nevertheless, I have quite as active an imagination as you, and I don't see why I shouldn't suppose you are writing a poem, as well as you suppose that I am writing a novel, and when the second edition of your Philosophy of Necessity comes out, I shall consider that a surreptitious affair, got up by a pseudo-Charles Bray, the real one being deeply engaged on his epic.
Seriously, I wish you would not set false rumours, or any other rumours afloat about me. They are injurious. Several people, who seem to derive their notions from Ivy Cottage, have spoken to me of a supposed novel I was going to bring out. Such things are damaging to me. It is true we are happy, but I don't know how you found it out from the book.
Ever yours
Marian.
MS: Yale. Endorsed: March 1858. Extracts published: Cross, II, 17.
My dear Friend
Mr. Lewes really did pack up Buckle, direct him and stamp him, with due care, and I presume the cover must have stuck to him as far as Coventry since I think Rowland Hill 1104 doesn't employ any clairvoyants.
Apropos, when do you bring out your new poem? I presume you are already in the Sixth Canto. It is true, you have never told me you intended to write a poem, nor have I heard any one say so who was likely to know. Nevertheless, I have quite as active an imagination as you, and I don't see why I shouldn't suppose you are writing a poem, as well as you suppose that I am writing a novel, and when the second edition of your Philosophy of Necessity comes out, I shall consider that a surreptitious affair, got up by a pseudo-Charles Bray, the real one being deeply engaged on his epic.
Seriously, I wish you would not set false rumours, or any other rumours afloat about me. They are injurious. Several people, who seem to derive their notions from Ivy Cottage, have spoken to me of a supposed novel I was going to bring out. Such things are damaging to me. It is true we are happy, but I don't know how you found it out from the book.
Ever yours
Marian.
Signature
Marian.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Charles Bray, [Richmond, 29 March 1858], 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/92097