GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Wandsworth, [3 October 1859]
Title
GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Wandsworth, [3 October 1859]
Title
GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Wandsworth, [3 October 1859]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon
Date(s)
- 1859-10-03
Place
Wandsworth
Letter Content
GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Wandsworth, [3 October 1859]
MS: Mr. Philip Leigh-Smith. Hitherto unpublished.
Holly Lodge | Monday.
Dearest Barbara
The words in your note this morning "off directly for Algiers" frighten me lest this farewell word should not reach you.
The hamper came on Saturday, with all the beautiful things -- the butter, such as Mrs. Poyser would not have scorned, the ferns, the cresses, the fruit, the mushrooms! I took it as a hamper full of love, expressed in all those sweet country things.
Tell the giver of the ferns -- which are special favourites with me -- that it happens, quite curiously, her Perizade has a mysterious resemblance for me, to the heroine of the book I am writing. It is not a formal outward resemblance, but an inward affinity felt through the attitude of Perizade and the expression of her face. "I don't know whether I make myself understood," as Mr. Curdle says, after his definition of the unities. 334
Heaven and earth bless you and take you safe to your husband to whom much loving respect from
Your ever affectionate
Marian.
MS: Mr. Philip Leigh-Smith. Hitherto unpublished.
Holly Lodge | Monday.
Dearest Barbara
The words in your note this morning "off directly for Algiers" frighten me lest this farewell word should not reach you.
The hamper came on Saturday, with all the beautiful things -- the butter, such as Mrs. Poyser would not have scorned, the ferns, the cresses, the fruit, the mushrooms! I took it as a hamper full of love, expressed in all those sweet country things.
Tell the giver of the ferns -- which are special favourites with me -- that it happens, quite curiously, her Perizade has a mysterious resemblance for me, to the heroine of the book I am writing. It is not a formal outward resemblance, but an inward affinity felt through the attitude of Perizade and the expression of her face. "I don't know whether I make myself understood," as Mr. Curdle says, after his definition of the unities. 334
Heaven and earth bless you and take you safe to your husband to whom much loving respect from
Your ever affectionate
Marian.
Signature
Marian.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Wandsworth, [3 October 1859], 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/93089