GE to John Blackwood, London, 21 March 1867
Title
GE to John Blackwood, London, 21 March 1867
Title
GE to John Blackwood, London, 21 March 1867
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
John Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1867-03-21
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to John Blackwood, London, 21 March 1867
MS: National Library of Scotland. Extracts published: Cross, III, 14-16.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
March 21. 1867.
My dear Sir
Your letters, with the valuable enclosure of a cheque for £2166. 13. 4, have come to me this morning, and I am much obliged to you for your punctual attention.
I long to see a specimen of the cheap edition of the novels. As to the illustrations, I have adjusted my hopes so as to save myself from any great shock. When I remember my own childish happiness in a frightfully illustrated copy of the Vicar of Wakefield, I can believe that illustrations may be a great good relatively, and that my own present liking has no weight in the question.
The placards have arrived, and seem to me wisely adapted to the times. I fancy that the placarding at Railway stations is an effective measure, for Ruskin was never more mistaken than in asserting that people had no spare time to observe anything in such places. I am a very poor reader of advertisements, but even I am forced to get them unpleasantly by heart at the stations.
It is rather distressing to me that the 12s/ edition 604 has not done well. It is rather a vexatious kind of tribute when people write, as my American correspondent did, to tell me of one paper-covered American copy of Felix Holt being brought to Europe and serving for so many readers that it was in danger of being worn away under their hands. He -- good man -- finds it easy "to urge greater circulation by means of cheap sales," having "found so many friends in Ireland anxious but unable to obtain the book." -- I suppose putting it in a yellow cover with figures on it reminding one of the outside of a show, and charging a shilling for it, is what we are expected to do for the good of mankind. Even then, I fear, it would hardly bear the rivalry of "The Pretty Milliner," or of "The Horrible Secret."
The work connected with Spain is not a Romance. It is -- prepare your fortitude -- it is -- a poem. I conceived the plot, and wrote nearly the whole as a drama in 1864. Mr. Lewes advised me to put it by for a time and take it up again, with a view to recasting it. He thinks hopefully of it. I need not tell you that I am not hopeful -- but I am quite sure the subject is fine. It is not historic, but has merely historic connections. The plot was wrought out entirely as an incorporation of my own ideas. Of course, if it is ever finished to my satisfaction, it is not a work for us to get money by, but Mr. Lewes urges and insists that it shall be done. I have also my private projects about an English novel, but I am afraid of speaking as if I could depend on myself. At present I am rather dizzy, and not settled down to home habits of regular occupation.
I understand that the Conveyancer who wrote to the Pall Mall is an excellent lawyer in his department and the lecturer on Real Property at the Law Institution. If a Reviewer ever checked himself by considering that a writer whom he thinks worth praising would take some pains to know the truth about a matter which is the very hinge of said writer's story, review articles would cut a shrunken figure. [Two lines deleted.] Mr. Lewes has a note of his own to enclose with this.
Always yours truly
M. E. Lewes.
J. Blackwood Esq.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Extracts published: Cross, III, 14-16.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
March 21. 1867.
My dear Sir
Your letters, with the valuable enclosure of a cheque for £2166. 13. 4, have come to me this morning, and I am much obliged to you for your punctual attention.
I long to see a specimen of the cheap edition of the novels. As to the illustrations, I have adjusted my hopes so as to save myself from any great shock. When I remember my own childish happiness in a frightfully illustrated copy of the Vicar of Wakefield, I can believe that illustrations may be a great good relatively, and that my own present liking has no weight in the question.
The placards have arrived, and seem to me wisely adapted to the times. I fancy that the placarding at Railway stations is an effective measure, for Ruskin was never more mistaken than in asserting that people had no spare time to observe anything in such places. I am a very poor reader of advertisements, but even I am forced to get them unpleasantly by heart at the stations.
It is rather distressing to me that the 12s/ edition 604 has not done well. It is rather a vexatious kind of tribute when people write, as my American correspondent did, to tell me of one paper-covered American copy of Felix Holt being brought to Europe and serving for so many readers that it was in danger of being worn away under their hands. He -- good man -- finds it easy "to urge greater circulation by means of cheap sales," having "found so many friends in Ireland anxious but unable to obtain the book." -- I suppose putting it in a yellow cover with figures on it reminding one of the outside of a show, and charging a shilling for it, is what we are expected to do for the good of mankind. Even then, I fear, it would hardly bear the rivalry of "The Pretty Milliner," or of "The Horrible Secret."
The work connected with Spain is not a Romance. It is -- prepare your fortitude -- it is -- a poem. I conceived the plot, and wrote nearly the whole as a drama in 1864. Mr. Lewes advised me to put it by for a time and take it up again, with a view to recasting it. He thinks hopefully of it. I need not tell you that I am not hopeful -- but I am quite sure the subject is fine. It is not historic, but has merely historic connections. The plot was wrought out entirely as an incorporation of my own ideas. Of course, if it is ever finished to my satisfaction, it is not a work for us to get money by, but Mr. Lewes urges and insists that it shall be done. I have also my private projects about an English novel, but I am afraid of speaking as if I could depend on myself. At present I am rather dizzy, and not settled down to home habits of regular occupation.
I understand that the Conveyancer who wrote to the Pall Mall is an excellent lawyer in his department and the lecturer on Real Property at the Law Institution. If a Reviewer ever checked himself by considering that a writer whom he thinks worth praising would take some pains to know the truth about a matter which is the very hinge of said writer's story, review articles would cut a shrunken figure. [Two lines deleted.] Mr. Lewes has a note of his own to enclose with this.
Always yours truly
M. E. Lewes.
J. Blackwood Esq.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to John Blackwood, London, 21 March 1867, 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/92640