GE to George Combe, London, 20 November 1853
Title
GE to George Combe, London, 20 November 1853
Title
GE to George Combe, London, 20 November 1853
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
George Combe
Date(s)
- 1853-11-20
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to George Combe, London, 20 November 1853
MS: National Library of Scotland. Endorsed: London 20 Nov | 1853 | Miss Evans | 22 Nov ansd.
1 Cambridge Street | Hyde Park | November 20. 1853.
My dear Sir
Before I received your letter of the 17th I was about to write to you the (to me) unpleasant information that, owing to an arrangement which has been made for an article on "Strikes," 185 it will be impossible to insert your article on Prison Discipline in our next number. Mr. Chapman, whom I went to speak to on the subject yesterday, has desired me to tell you that your article shall absolutely be inserted in the April number, as no amount of technicality will be an objection in the Independent Section 186 of the Review. The only remaining consideration, then, is whether the certain and wide circulation which your ideas will have in the Review, will counterbalance the disadvantage of delay. A pamphlet by you would of course have an extensive circulation, but perhaps one of a more exclusive character than that of the Westminster. The "text" you have sent me is admirable, and sets forth very impressively the momentousness of the subject. I left it with Mr. Chapman yesterday.
I spent a very agreeable evening at Sir James Clark's about a fortnight ago. It is always a great pleasure to me to see both him and Lady Clark; he is so direct and sensible, she so graceful and benignant. And I do not forget that I owe their acquaintance to you and Mrs. Combe.
I must tell you in excuse of that passage in the Brit. Quarterly, which is by David Masson, that it is the writing of a litt'e9rateur who has no pretension to scientific knowledge. I agree with you that it is sufficiently shallow and shows profound ignorance of the "Craniology" which he undertakes to pronounce upon. Can you tell me anything of Mr. Noble 187 who has just published a book on Insanity, in which he makes a recantation of phrenology?
I am exceedingly comfortable in my new abode. My landlady 188 is a very motherly, respectable woman and attends very thoroughly to my comfort.
Miss Martineau is in town, enjoying the consciousness of having finished her great work -- Comte, and writing away for journals and periodicals. It is delightful to see that a woman can have so much energy and freshness at fifty.
I am glad to know that you and Mrs. Combe are still well. Pray give my kindest regards to Mrs. Combe and believe me, my dear Sir,
Yours very truly
Marian Evans.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Endorsed: London 20 Nov | 1853 | Miss Evans | 22 Nov ansd.
1 Cambridge Street | Hyde Park | November 20. 1853.
My dear Sir
Before I received your letter of the 17th I was about to write to you the (to me) unpleasant information that, owing to an arrangement which has been made for an article on "Strikes," 185 it will be impossible to insert your article on Prison Discipline in our next number. Mr. Chapman, whom I went to speak to on the subject yesterday, has desired me to tell you that your article shall absolutely be inserted in the April number, as no amount of technicality will be an objection in the Independent Section 186 of the Review. The only remaining consideration, then, is whether the certain and wide circulation which your ideas will have in the Review, will counterbalance the disadvantage of delay. A pamphlet by you would of course have an extensive circulation, but perhaps one of a more exclusive character than that of the Westminster. The "text" you have sent me is admirable, and sets forth very impressively the momentousness of the subject. I left it with Mr. Chapman yesterday.
I spent a very agreeable evening at Sir James Clark's about a fortnight ago. It is always a great pleasure to me to see both him and Lady Clark; he is so direct and sensible, she so graceful and benignant. And I do not forget that I owe their acquaintance to you and Mrs. Combe.
I must tell you in excuse of that passage in the Brit. Quarterly, which is by David Masson, that it is the writing of a litt'e9rateur who has no pretension to scientific knowledge. I agree with you that it is sufficiently shallow and shows profound ignorance of the "Craniology" which he undertakes to pronounce upon. Can you tell me anything of Mr. Noble 187 who has just published a book on Insanity, in which he makes a recantation of phrenology?
I am exceedingly comfortable in my new abode. My landlady 188 is a very motherly, respectable woman and attends very thoroughly to my comfort.
Miss Martineau is in town, enjoying the consciousness of having finished her great work -- Comte, and writing away for journals and periodicals. It is delightful to see that a woman can have so much energy and freshness at fifty.
I am glad to know that you and Mrs. Combe are still well. Pray give my kindest regards to Mrs. Combe and believe me, my dear Sir,
Yours very truly
Marian Evans.
Signature
Marian Evans.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to George Combe, London, 20 November 1853, 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/92468