GE to John Blackwood, London, 22 November 1877
Title
GE to John Blackwood, London, 22 November 1877
Title
GE to John Blackwood, London, 22 November 1877
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
John Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1877-11-22
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to John Blackwood, London, 22 November 1877
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
November 22. 77.
My dear Mr. Blackwood
Thanks for your kind letter with its agreeable news. I am much comforted by the speedy sale of the 7/6 edition. Beforehand, I should have thought 5000 a rash number to print.
On the specimen title-page for the Cabinet Edition, which Mr. Simpson has sent, Mr. Lewes has written a suggestion which I think will be found an improvement. The design for the cover we like very much. I had thought of a rich olive green for the colour -- a hue which sets off well both the gold and the black. 771 But Mr. Simpson promises to let us see specimens. Is it not desirable to omit any numbering of the volumes according to the series? -- for two reasons: first, because the order of publication is not the chronological, in which they should ultimately be ranged, and secondly, because it would be a disadvantage for the independent sale of the several works. Is it not usual to omit such serial numbering? -- for example the volumes of De Quincey's works are not numbered except furtively, by stars, and Thackeray's not at all.
As to Mr. Main's proposition, we have never seen or heard anything of the said [Birthday Books] -- have you? They may be the vulgarest things in the book stalls for what we know. Entre nous, I am a little shocked by the tone of Mr. M's letter. How could he be so ignorant as to suppose that any other publishing house than yours could issue such a book?
I can give no opinion about a [George Eliot Birthday Book] unless I saw the [Tennyson do.] 772 with which it is to follow suit. But in general such suits are not what -- I should be fond of following or having followed on my behalf. Nor can I see that the book of [Sayings] is insufficient for the purpose which Mr. Lewes mentions as the only motive for sanctioning a new issue of extracts, namely, that it is always a way of spreading acquaintance with one's writing. It is true that the book of [Sayings] is bulky. But I must refer the matter to your judgment. Burns and Shakspeare books are no criterion for a living writer. The Tennyson book would be such, and I confess I should like to see its aspect before consenting. I believe that you, as much as I, hate puffing, gaudy, claptrappy forms of publication, superfluous for all good ends. But anything graceful which you consider an advantage to the circulation of my works we are not averse to.
Please tell Mr. Simpson that I agree with him as to the moderating the [heels] of the design for the cover -- and also that I am [The rest of this letter is lacking.]
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
November 22. 77.
My dear Mr. Blackwood
Thanks for your kind letter with its agreeable news. I am much comforted by the speedy sale of the 7/6 edition. Beforehand, I should have thought 5000 a rash number to print.
On the specimen title-page for the Cabinet Edition, which Mr. Simpson has sent, Mr. Lewes has written a suggestion which I think will be found an improvement. The design for the cover we like very much. I had thought of a rich olive green for the colour -- a hue which sets off well both the gold and the black. 771 But Mr. Simpson promises to let us see specimens. Is it not desirable to omit any numbering of the volumes according to the series? -- for two reasons: first, because the order of publication is not the chronological, in which they should ultimately be ranged, and secondly, because it would be a disadvantage for the independent sale of the several works. Is it not usual to omit such serial numbering? -- for example the volumes of De Quincey's works are not numbered except furtively, by stars, and Thackeray's not at all.
As to Mr. Main's proposition, we have never seen or heard anything of the said [Birthday Books] -- have you? They may be the vulgarest things in the book stalls for what we know. Entre nous, I am a little shocked by the tone of Mr. M's letter. How could he be so ignorant as to suppose that any other publishing house than yours could issue such a book?
I can give no opinion about a [George Eliot Birthday Book] unless I saw the [Tennyson do.] 772 with which it is to follow suit. But in general such suits are not what -- I should be fond of following or having followed on my behalf. Nor can I see that the book of [Sayings] is insufficient for the purpose which Mr. Lewes mentions as the only motive for sanctioning a new issue of extracts, namely, that it is always a way of spreading acquaintance with one's writing. It is true that the book of [Sayings] is bulky. But I must refer the matter to your judgment. Burns and Shakspeare books are no criterion for a living writer. The Tennyson book would be such, and I confess I should like to see its aspect before consenting. I believe that you, as much as I, hate puffing, gaudy, claptrappy forms of publication, superfluous for all good ends. But anything graceful which you consider an advantage to the circulation of my works we are not averse to.
Please tell Mr. Simpson that I agree with him as to the moderating the [heels] of the design for the cover -- and also that I am [The rest of this letter is lacking.]
Citation
George Eliot, GE to John Blackwood, London, 22 November 1877, 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/92647