GE to George Combe, London, 27 January 1852
Title
GE to George Combe, London, 27 January 1852
Title
GE to George Combe, London, 27 January 1852
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
George Combe
Date(s)
- 1852-01-27
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to George Combe, London, 27 January 1852
MS: National Library of Scotland. Endorsed: London 27 Jany 1852 | Marian Evans | 10 Feby ansd.
42 Strand | January 27. 1852.
My dear Sir
An important question connected with the bookselling business is so occupying Mr. Chapman, that he finds it impossible to secure an interval for writing to you to-day, and he has therefore requested me to answer for him your letter of Friday last. 56 I cannot regret an opportunity of renewing by letter an intercourse which was so agreeable to me in person.
Mr. Chapman has instructed me to say, that he thinks it desirable to have other publications as well as Mr. Ellis's book at the head of your article, 57 and he suggests to you, in addition to the pamphlet of which he has forwarded to you some proof sheets, the reprint of the Reports and Speeches of the National Public School Association and of their opponents, which, if you do not happen to have them by you, he will be happy to supply you with. He will also be glad if it should fall in with your plan to notice the Report of the State of Education in the Sandwich Islands. As to the matter of your article, he is quite sure that he shall best do justice to its subject, and to the interests of the Review, by giving you a carte blanche. The arrangements for the April number will render it convenient that your article should not exceed 20 pages in length, but Mr. Chapman would be sorry that you should limit yourself to a sheet. He is anxious to avoid in the next number the error into which he fell in the last -- that of excessive bulk, which is as impolitic for the literary as for the financial interests of the Review.
The last communication from Mr. Lombe to Mr. Chapman was a very peremptory demand that the abridgment of Strauss, for which he had advanced 'a3100, should be forthwith completed and placed in his hands, or else that the 'a3100 should be immediately paid in to his banker. I wrote a letter, 58 declining to make the abridgment for immediate publication, on the ground both of Mr. Chapman's interests and my own -- interests which I could not think outweighed by the probable advantage to the public -- of superseding a complete translation by an abridgment of a work which at present is fitted for the few rather than for the many. I also explained, that I had never understood from Mr. Chapman that the abridgment was expected to be ready for publication before the translation should be sold out, and happily Mr. Chapman had a copy of his correspondence on the subject, which proved that he had been sufficiently explicit to Mr. Lombe in his statement, that until the remaining 350 copies of the translation were either disposed of or paid for by Mr. L., he could not consent to the publication of an abridgment. Mr. Chapman enclosed my letter with one from himself informing Mr. Lombe that the 'a3100 had been paid to his banker. We have heard nothing of the irascible gentleman since, except that he had pointed out the advertisement of the contents of the Westminster to Mr. Hickson, who, when he wrote about ten days ago, appeared to be ignorant of the rupture with Mr. Chapman. We think with you, that the "Ethics of Christendom" 59 would not appear to him a suitable investment of his "dollars." The article is certainly very far from being what was hoped for when the application for it was made to James Martineau, and is still farther from being broad enough for its title, but it contains a few valuable ideas which want enforcing and which gain at least as much by the prestige as by the style of the writer. It is perhaps that prestige which has won such exaggerated praise as that of Froude -- that "the article on the '91Ethics'92 is the wisest word which has been spoken in my hearing for this long time past." In my opinion, the chapter on Christian Eclecticism in Greg's Creed of Christendom is a far wiser word.
I hope Mrs. Combe's health, as well as yours, is better still than when I had the pleasure of seeing her. Pray tell her that it is a happiness to me to think of her and of her kind words to me. Believe me, my dear Sir,
Yours very truly,
Marian Evans.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Endorsed: London 27 Jany 1852 | Marian Evans | 10 Feby ansd.
42 Strand | January 27. 1852.
My dear Sir
An important question connected with the bookselling business is so occupying Mr. Chapman, that he finds it impossible to secure an interval for writing to you to-day, and he has therefore requested me to answer for him your letter of Friday last. 56 I cannot regret an opportunity of renewing by letter an intercourse which was so agreeable to me in person.
Mr. Chapman has instructed me to say, that he thinks it desirable to have other publications as well as Mr. Ellis's book at the head of your article, 57 and he suggests to you, in addition to the pamphlet of which he has forwarded to you some proof sheets, the reprint of the Reports and Speeches of the National Public School Association and of their opponents, which, if you do not happen to have them by you, he will be happy to supply you with. He will also be glad if it should fall in with your plan to notice the Report of the State of Education in the Sandwich Islands. As to the matter of your article, he is quite sure that he shall best do justice to its subject, and to the interests of the Review, by giving you a carte blanche. The arrangements for the April number will render it convenient that your article should not exceed 20 pages in length, but Mr. Chapman would be sorry that you should limit yourself to a sheet. He is anxious to avoid in the next number the error into which he fell in the last -- that of excessive bulk, which is as impolitic for the literary as for the financial interests of the Review.
The last communication from Mr. Lombe to Mr. Chapman was a very peremptory demand that the abridgment of Strauss, for which he had advanced 'a3100, should be forthwith completed and placed in his hands, or else that the 'a3100 should be immediately paid in to his banker. I wrote a letter, 58 declining to make the abridgment for immediate publication, on the ground both of Mr. Chapman's interests and my own -- interests which I could not think outweighed by the probable advantage to the public -- of superseding a complete translation by an abridgment of a work which at present is fitted for the few rather than for the many. I also explained, that I had never understood from Mr. Chapman that the abridgment was expected to be ready for publication before the translation should be sold out, and happily Mr. Chapman had a copy of his correspondence on the subject, which proved that he had been sufficiently explicit to Mr. Lombe in his statement, that until the remaining 350 copies of the translation were either disposed of or paid for by Mr. L., he could not consent to the publication of an abridgment. Mr. Chapman enclosed my letter with one from himself informing Mr. Lombe that the 'a3100 had been paid to his banker. We have heard nothing of the irascible gentleman since, except that he had pointed out the advertisement of the contents of the Westminster to Mr. Hickson, who, when he wrote about ten days ago, appeared to be ignorant of the rupture with Mr. Chapman. We think with you, that the "Ethics of Christendom" 59 would not appear to him a suitable investment of his "dollars." The article is certainly very far from being what was hoped for when the application for it was made to James Martineau, and is still farther from being broad enough for its title, but it contains a few valuable ideas which want enforcing and which gain at least as much by the prestige as by the style of the writer. It is perhaps that prestige which has won such exaggerated praise as that of Froude -- that "the article on the '91Ethics'92 is the wisest word which has been spoken in my hearing for this long time past." In my opinion, the chapter on Christian Eclecticism in Greg's Creed of Christendom is a far wiser word.
I hope Mrs. Combe's health, as well as yours, is better still than when I had the pleasure of seeing her. Pray tell her that it is a happiness to me to think of her and of her kind words to me. Believe me, my dear Sir,
Yours very truly,
Marian Evans.
Signature
Marian Evans.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to George Combe, London, 27 January 1852, 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/92478