GE to John Blackwood, London, 1 January 1861
Title
GE to John Blackwood, London, 1 January 1861
Title
GE to John Blackwood, London, 1 January 1861
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
John Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1861-01-01
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to John Blackwood, London, 1 January 1861
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Blandford Square, | N.W.
January 1. 1861.
My dear Sir
Thank you for rounding off the old year so pleasantly to me with a cheque and a letter of good wishes. I say a hearty amen to your desire that we should see other triumphs together: if the conditions are wanting, the want is likely to lie on my side.
I am rather perturbed by the fact that there has been a miscalculation about the 12/. editions. Of course for future editions, at that price, a new arrangement must be made, and I shall be glad if you will let me know, at your leisure, what an accurate calculation will allow you to propose.
If, when a 6/. edition of the books becomes desirable, the "Scenes" should still lie heavily on hand, I should wish to take my share of the deficit in accounting for the cheaper edition. I see, on looking back at Mr. Simpson's calculation for the 2d edition of the "Scenes," that 1500 were printed, which certainly was an argument against a third edition of 1000 at the same price.
We were hoping that business would bring you to London at the beginning of this year, but you say nothing to encourage the hope. It would be a very pleasant variety in the midst of the mud and rain to shake you by the hand.
Our project of getting theatrical experience is likely to be defeated by my obstinately feeble health, which makes the bad air of public places fatal to my morning's work. I suppose I shall never love London, or believe that I am as well in the streets as in the fields. One is in danger of desiring money too much, for the sake of being able to keep a house in London and run away from it very often: but the duty of staying in it, has a counterbalancing pleasure when one has a great boy, who is learning to love home better than anything outside it.
Surely the Carlyle Memoirs will be a great success? The extracts I have seen in the Athenaeum 683 give me a high idea of the book. I am very sorry to hear that Major Blackwood is still an invalid. That must make your family party less bright than usual. Please offer him our best regards, and believe me
Always yours truly
M. E. Lewes.
John Blackwood Esq.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Blandford Square, | N.W.
January 1. 1861.
My dear Sir
Thank you for rounding off the old year so pleasantly to me with a cheque and a letter of good wishes. I say a hearty amen to your desire that we should see other triumphs together: if the conditions are wanting, the want is likely to lie on my side.
I am rather perturbed by the fact that there has been a miscalculation about the 12/. editions. Of course for future editions, at that price, a new arrangement must be made, and I shall be glad if you will let me know, at your leisure, what an accurate calculation will allow you to propose.
If, when a 6/. edition of the books becomes desirable, the "Scenes" should still lie heavily on hand, I should wish to take my share of the deficit in accounting for the cheaper edition. I see, on looking back at Mr. Simpson's calculation for the 2d edition of the "Scenes," that 1500 were printed, which certainly was an argument against a third edition of 1000 at the same price.
We were hoping that business would bring you to London at the beginning of this year, but you say nothing to encourage the hope. It would be a very pleasant variety in the midst of the mud and rain to shake you by the hand.
Our project of getting theatrical experience is likely to be defeated by my obstinately feeble health, which makes the bad air of public places fatal to my morning's work. I suppose I shall never love London, or believe that I am as well in the streets as in the fields. One is in danger of desiring money too much, for the sake of being able to keep a house in London and run away from it very often: but the duty of staying in it, has a counterbalancing pleasure when one has a great boy, who is learning to love home better than anything outside it.
Surely the Carlyle Memoirs will be a great success? The extracts I have seen in the Athenaeum 683 give me a high idea of the book. I am very sorry to hear that Major Blackwood is still an invalid. That must make your family party less bright than usual. Please offer him our best regards, and believe me
Always yours truly
M. E. Lewes.
John Blackwood Esq.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to John Blackwood, London, 1 January 1861, 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/92593