GE to Frederic Harrison, Witley, 10 June 1879
Title
GE to Frederic Harrison, Witley, 10 June 1879
Title
GE to Frederic Harrison, Witley, 10 June 1879
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Frederic Harrison
Date(s)
- 1879-06-10
Place
Witley
Letter Content
GE to Frederic Harrison, Witley, 10 June 1879
MS: Tinker Collection, Yale. Envelope: Frederic Harrison Esq | 38 Westbourne Terrace | Hyde Park | London | W. Postmark: GODALMING | C | JU 10 | 79. Mostly published: Cross, III, 363-364.
The Heights, Witley, | Nr. Godalming.
June 10. 79.
My dear Mr. Harrison
I am greatly obliged to you for sending me the paper you are to read today, 263 and I appreciate it the more highly because your diligence is in contrast with the general sluggishness of readers about any but idle reading. It is melancholy enough that to most of our polite readers the Social Factor in Psychology would be a dull subject. For it is certainly no conceit of ours which pronounces it to be the supremely interesting element in the thinking of our time.
I confess the word Factor has always been distasteful to me as the name for the grandest of forces. If it were only mathematical I should not mind, but it has many other associated flavours which spoil it for me.
Once more -- ever more -- thanks.
Yours most truly
M. E. Lewes.
I trust your whole household is blooming again now. I am a little better.
MS: Tinker Collection, Yale. Envelope: Frederic Harrison Esq | 38 Westbourne Terrace | Hyde Park | London | W. Postmark: GODALMING | C | JU 10 | 79. Mostly published: Cross, III, 363-364.
The Heights, Witley, | Nr. Godalming.
June 10. 79.
My dear Mr. Harrison
I am greatly obliged to you for sending me the paper you are to read today, 263 and I appreciate it the more highly because your diligence is in contrast with the general sluggishness of readers about any but idle reading. It is melancholy enough that to most of our polite readers the Social Factor in Psychology would be a dull subject. For it is certainly no conceit of ours which pronounces it to be the supremely interesting element in the thinking of our time.
I confess the word Factor has always been distasteful to me as the name for the grandest of forces. If it were only mathematical I should not mind, but it has many other associated flavours which spoil it for me.
Once more -- ever more -- thanks.
Yours most truly
M. E. Lewes.
I trust your whole household is blooming again now. I am a little better.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Frederic Harrison, Witley, 10 June 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/92425