GE to John Blackwood, London, 15 February 1861
Title
GE to John Blackwood, London, 15 February 1861
Title
GE to John Blackwood, London, 15 February 1861
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
John Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1861-02-15
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to John Blackwood, London, 15 February 1861
MS: National Library of Scotland. Extracts published: Cross, II, 287-288.
Blandford Square, | N.W.
February 15. 1861.
My dear Sir
I send you by Post today about 230 pages of M.S. The entire story will make 100 pages more -- equal to one volume of the Mill.
I send the M.S. because in my experience printing and its preliminaries have always been rather a slow business, and as the story, if published at Easter at all, should be ready by Easter Week, there is no time to lose. 694 I shall be glad to hear that the packet has arrived, and also to know how the story impresses you.
We are reading Carlyle's Memoirs with much interest, but so far as we have gone, he certainly does seem to me something of a "Sadducee" 695 -- a very handsome one, judging from his portrait. What a memory and what an experience for a novelist! But somehow, experience and finished faculty rarely go together. Dearly beloved Scott had the greatest combination of experience and faculty -- yet even he never made the most of his treasures, at least in his mode of presentation.
Send us better news of Major Blackwood, if you can. We feel so old and rickety ourselves that we have a peculiar interest in invalids. Mr. Lewes is going to lecture for the Post Office this evening, by Mr. Trollope's request. 696 I am rather uneasy about it, and wish he were well through the unusual excitement.
Ever yours truly
M. E. Lewes.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Extracts published: Cross, II, 287-288.
Blandford Square, | N.W.
February 15. 1861.
My dear Sir
I send you by Post today about 230 pages of M.S. The entire story will make 100 pages more -- equal to one volume of the Mill.
I send the M.S. because in my experience printing and its preliminaries have always been rather a slow business, and as the story, if published at Easter at all, should be ready by Easter Week, there is no time to lose. 694 I shall be glad to hear that the packet has arrived, and also to know how the story impresses you.
We are reading Carlyle's Memoirs with much interest, but so far as we have gone, he certainly does seem to me something of a "Sadducee" 695 -- a very handsome one, judging from his portrait. What a memory and what an experience for a novelist! But somehow, experience and finished faculty rarely go together. Dearly beloved Scott had the greatest combination of experience and faculty -- yet even he never made the most of his treasures, at least in his mode of presentation.
Send us better news of Major Blackwood, if you can. We feel so old and rickety ourselves that we have a peculiar interest in invalids. Mr. Lewes is going to lecture for the Post Office this evening, by Mr. Trollope's request. 696 I am rather uneasy about it, and wish he were well through the unusual excitement.
Ever yours truly
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to John Blackwood, London, 15 February 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/92614