GE to Francois D'Albert-Durade, London, 12 April 1867
Title
GE to Francois D'Albert-Durade, London, 12 April 1867
Title
GE to Francois D'Albert-Durade, London, 12 April 1867
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Francois D'Albert-Durade
Date(s)
- 1867-04-12
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Francois D'Albert-Durade, London, 12 April 1867
MS: Yale. A copy by D'Albert-Durade is in the Tinker Collection, Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
April 12. 67.
My dear Friend
Your letter, which came to me last evening, was a welcome assurance to me that you and dear Madame d'Albert still remember me and think of me kindly. Since I last wrote to you we have wandered far -- as far as the south of Spain. My dear husband's health had broken down so (to me) alarmingly, that I persuaded him to give up the editorship of "the Fortnightly," and to defer finishing the new edition of his History of Philosophy until he had had a long rest. He complied, and at the end of December we set off to the south of France. After passing a month at Biarritz, he was so much strengthened that we ventured to travel on, tentatively and slowly into Spain, which I longed to visit because I have for the last three years been interesting myself in Spanish history and literature. We went by Saint Sebastian, Saragossa and Lerida to Barcelona, and Mr. Lewes was so delighted with this first taste of Spain, that we had courage to take the steamer for Malaga by way of Alicante. From Malaga we went to beautiful Granada, where we made our longest stay, and from thence to Cordova, Seville, and Madrid.
We returned home only three weeks ago, after having had nearly three months of delicious summer, while our poor fellow-countrymen who were doing their hard duties at home were suffering from our horrible English winter. Are we not privileged creatures, and ought not something good to come out of us after all this indulgence? Mr. Lewes is in very fair health now -- not robust, which I hardly expect him to become, but well enough to enjoy both work and relaxation. Like you, we are quite disinclined to encounter the crush and excitement of the Paris exhibition, and our dread of the commencing crowd was great enough to hurry us home rather prematurely, as we were unable to contrive a route homeward that would not take us through Paris.
I like very much to read all the details you tell me about yourself and Maman. It was prettily done of the Duke of Weimar to write to the artist as well as the donor of a portrait, 607 but to have succeeded in a likeness painted from memory was something that deserved special recognition. I hope your loved ones at Lyons 608 will join you at Geneva in the summer, rather than attract you to them, for surely Geneva is a better residence than Lyons in all seasons, but especially in the summer. I hope we shall see it again -- and see you and Maman still well and happy there -- before many years are past. Some time, when we are going to Italy again, we may be able to make Geneva a part of our route.
We are quite without external trouble -- prosperous, at present, in all things, studying quietly and with increasing happiness in companionship. I hope you have not had any trouble to get Felix Holt. I would have sent it to you if I had thought you wished for it. But I believe Blackwood has now given permission to Tauchnitz to reprint it. It has produced a stronger impression on many minds than my previous books, and I am often cheered by letters from unknown men, often working men, telling me of its strong influence. I mention these things to you because I know of your kind sympathy in what touches me nearly.
Mr. Lewes unites with me in affectionate and respectful regards to yourself and Madame d'Albert. I shall add for my own part my most grateful love.
Always yours faithfully
M. E. Lewes.
MS: Yale. A copy by D'Albert-Durade is in the Tinker Collection, Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
April 12. 67.
My dear Friend
Your letter, which came to me last evening, was a welcome assurance to me that you and dear Madame d'Albert still remember me and think of me kindly. Since I last wrote to you we have wandered far -- as far as the south of Spain. My dear husband's health had broken down so (to me) alarmingly, that I persuaded him to give up the editorship of "the Fortnightly," and to defer finishing the new edition of his History of Philosophy until he had had a long rest. He complied, and at the end of December we set off to the south of France. After passing a month at Biarritz, he was so much strengthened that we ventured to travel on, tentatively and slowly into Spain, which I longed to visit because I have for the last three years been interesting myself in Spanish history and literature. We went by Saint Sebastian, Saragossa and Lerida to Barcelona, and Mr. Lewes was so delighted with this first taste of Spain, that we had courage to take the steamer for Malaga by way of Alicante. From Malaga we went to beautiful Granada, where we made our longest stay, and from thence to Cordova, Seville, and Madrid.
We returned home only three weeks ago, after having had nearly three months of delicious summer, while our poor fellow-countrymen who were doing their hard duties at home were suffering from our horrible English winter. Are we not privileged creatures, and ought not something good to come out of us after all this indulgence? Mr. Lewes is in very fair health now -- not robust, which I hardly expect him to become, but well enough to enjoy both work and relaxation. Like you, we are quite disinclined to encounter the crush and excitement of the Paris exhibition, and our dread of the commencing crowd was great enough to hurry us home rather prematurely, as we were unable to contrive a route homeward that would not take us through Paris.
I like very much to read all the details you tell me about yourself and Maman. It was prettily done of the Duke of Weimar to write to the artist as well as the donor of a portrait, 607 but to have succeeded in a likeness painted from memory was something that deserved special recognition. I hope your loved ones at Lyons 608 will join you at Geneva in the summer, rather than attract you to them, for surely Geneva is a better residence than Lyons in all seasons, but especially in the summer. I hope we shall see it again -- and see you and Maman still well and happy there -- before many years are past. Some time, when we are going to Italy again, we may be able to make Geneva a part of our route.
We are quite without external trouble -- prosperous, at present, in all things, studying quietly and with increasing happiness in companionship. I hope you have not had any trouble to get Felix Holt. I would have sent it to you if I had thought you wished for it. But I believe Blackwood has now given permission to Tauchnitz to reprint it. It has produced a stronger impression on many minds than my previous books, and I am often cheered by letters from unknown men, often working men, telling me of its strong influence. I mention these things to you because I know of your kind sympathy in what touches me nearly.
Mr. Lewes unites with me in affectionate and respectful regards to yourself and Madame d'Albert. I shall add for my own part my most grateful love.
Always yours faithfully
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Francois D'Albert-Durade, London, 12 April 1867, 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/92341