GE to John Blackwood, London, 25 February 1876
Title
GE to John Blackwood, London, 25 February 1876
Title
GE to John Blackwood, London, 25 February 1876
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
John Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1876-02-25
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to John Blackwood, London, 25 February 1876
MS: National Library of Scotland. Extracts published: John Blackwood, p. 393.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
February 25. 76.
My dear Mr. Blackwood
The printers did their work with remarkable correctness on Book V. I think the most serious misprint was [change] for [charge.]
With respect to the sending of the sheets to America Mr. Lewes agrees with you that the month beforehand is ample. He wrote Harpers to that effect some time ago, in reply to their acknowledgment that they had received Book II. All the signs that have reached us seem to imply that Deronda is received with more interest than Middlemarch, but I am rather muddy as to the relation of total sales, 406 though Mr. William and Mr. Langford have kept us informed on details.
I thought it likely that your impressions about Mordecai would be doubtful. Perhaps when the work is finished you will see its bearings better. The effect that one strives after is an outline as strong as that of Balfour of Burley 407 for a much more complex character and a higher strain of ideas. But such an effect is just the most difficult thing in art -- to give new elements -- i.e. elements not already used up -- in forms as vivid as those of long familiar types. Doubtless the wider public of novel-readers must feel more interest in Sidonia than in Mordecai. But then, I was not born to paint Sidonia. 408
We are going to dine with Lord and Lady Lytton tomorrow to say a long farewell. 409 It had seemed to us unlikely that we could have a glimpse of them, but I am very glad to have a parting remembrance -- which to us old folk has that aspect of being final that begins to predominate in all partings. I am reminded of age by the fact that Mr. Lewes has been laid up with lumbago and is still rickety.
We had not heard that the editor of Harper's Magazine had written to you agreeably, but I suppose it is he who has diligently sent American notices in newspapers, one of which I think Mr. Lewes said was ably done. One newspaper passeth away and another cometh, 410 but we must remember that the writing which does this brief office is often a more difficult industry than work of more lasting value. Reviewers are fellow men towards whom I keep in Christian feeling by not reading them. But Mr. Lewes thinks they have treated me very well, though Mr. Langford hints a disposition to grumble.
Yours always truly
M. E. Lewes.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Extracts published: John Blackwood, p. 393.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
February 25. 76.
My dear Mr. Blackwood
The printers did their work with remarkable correctness on Book V. I think the most serious misprint was [change] for [charge.]
With respect to the sending of the sheets to America Mr. Lewes agrees with you that the month beforehand is ample. He wrote Harpers to that effect some time ago, in reply to their acknowledgment that they had received Book II. All the signs that have reached us seem to imply that Deronda is received with more interest than Middlemarch, but I am rather muddy as to the relation of total sales, 406 though Mr. William and Mr. Langford have kept us informed on details.
I thought it likely that your impressions about Mordecai would be doubtful. Perhaps when the work is finished you will see its bearings better. The effect that one strives after is an outline as strong as that of Balfour of Burley 407 for a much more complex character and a higher strain of ideas. But such an effect is just the most difficult thing in art -- to give new elements -- i.e. elements not already used up -- in forms as vivid as those of long familiar types. Doubtless the wider public of novel-readers must feel more interest in Sidonia than in Mordecai. But then, I was not born to paint Sidonia. 408
We are going to dine with Lord and Lady Lytton tomorrow to say a long farewell. 409 It had seemed to us unlikely that we could have a glimpse of them, but I am very glad to have a parting remembrance -- which to us old folk has that aspect of being final that begins to predominate in all partings. I am reminded of age by the fact that Mr. Lewes has been laid up with lumbago and is still rickety.
We had not heard that the editor of Harper's Magazine had written to you agreeably, but I suppose it is he who has diligently sent American notices in newspapers, one of which I think Mr. Lewes said was ably done. One newspaper passeth away and another cometh, 410 but we must remember that the writing which does this brief office is often a more difficult industry than work of more lasting value. Reviewers are fellow men towards whom I keep in Christian feeling by not reading them. But Mr. Lewes thinks they have treated me very well, though Mr. Langford hints a disposition to grumble.
Yours always truly
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to John Blackwood, London, 25 February 1876, 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/92656