GE to Emily Davies, London, [18? August 1868]
Title
GE to Emily Davies, London, [18? August 1868]
Title
GE to Emily Davies, London, [18? August 1868]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Emily Davies
Date(s)
- 1868-08-18
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Emily Davies, London, [18? August 1868]
MS: Girton College. Envelope: Miss Davies | 17 Cunningham Place | N.W. Postmark: LONDON N. W | 2 | AU 18 | 68.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
Tuesday.
My dear Miss Davies
Your paper 810 seems to me excellent, and I go heartily along with it. Mr. Lewes read it before I did, and he said at once that you had made a mistake in giving them long quotations. They lengthen the paper so as to put it out of the question for publication in a magazine, and even for the purpose of reading aloud he thinks you would make the whole thing more effective by summarizing (briefly) the testimony contained in the extracts.
I think he is right. Long quotations always break the current which should carry the reader or hearer along. It is part of good artistic contrivance to get rid of them if possible. Still, I see clearly how valuable the evidence of those official males is, and the necessity of somehow or other giving emphasis to that evidence. Perhaps on reconsideration you will see some mode of statement possible, that will be at once brief and impressive.
I had made up my mind to return your paper yesterday, but was hindered by a mistake as to an engagement. I hope I did not keep it so long as to affect any intention of yours.
Always sincerely yours
M. E. Lewes.
MS: Girton College. Envelope: Miss Davies | 17 Cunningham Place | N.W. Postmark: LONDON N. W | 2 | AU 18 | 68.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
Tuesday.
My dear Miss Davies
Your paper 810 seems to me excellent, and I go heartily along with it. Mr. Lewes read it before I did, and he said at once that you had made a mistake in giving them long quotations. They lengthen the paper so as to put it out of the question for publication in a magazine, and even for the purpose of reading aloud he thinks you would make the whole thing more effective by summarizing (briefly) the testimony contained in the extracts.
I think he is right. Long quotations always break the current which should carry the reader or hearer along. It is part of good artistic contrivance to get rid of them if possible. Still, I see clearly how valuable the evidence of those official males is, and the necessity of somehow or other giving emphasis to that evidence. Perhaps on reconsideration you will see some mode of statement possible, that will be at once brief and impressive.
I had made up my mind to return your paper yesterday, but was hindered by a mistake as to an engagement. I hope I did not keep it so long as to affect any intention of yours.
Always sincerely yours
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Emily Davies, London, [18? August 1868], 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/92306