GE to Mrs. Elma Stuart, London, 12 February 1873
Title
GE to Mrs. Elma Stuart, London, 12 February 1873
Title
GE to Mrs. Elma Stuart, London, 12 February 1873
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Mrs. Elma Stuart
Date(s)
- 1873-02-12
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Mrs. Elma Stuart, London, 12 February 1873
MS: British Museum. Published: Stuart, pp. 8-9, misdated 21 February 1873.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
February 12. 73.
My dear Friend
The beautiful mirror 725 has come quite safely. It is -- it will be a lasting delight not only to our eyes but to our hearts also, recalling continually those precious feelings and precious words of yours which will always be among my sources of strength and comfort.
When I came down to breakfast the other day I found my husband's face radiant over your letter 726 (ex officio he opens all my letters); and I wish you could have witnessed his emotion in reading it aloud to me -- the rising sob which made it almost impossible for him to utter the closing words. Believe me, dear friend whom I know only in the spirit, your labour over the love-inspired task in "the stuffy little atelier in Paris last summer" has not been a labour in vain: it has raised very blessed feelings in two souls. I say two, because I think you will understand that the most exquisite part of my enjoyment in any tribute that comes to me is the joy it causes my husband.
Always, whatever you are moved to tell me about yourself will have a deep interest for me, whether of your past life or of the present. The photograph of your boy has taken its place among our favourite photographs of children, and the bright little face seems to make a considerable link of knowledge about you.
I have had very bad health for the last year and more, and my life has always been much broken by physical malaise -- a fact which gives emphasis to my hope that you are strong in body, and that it is not too largely by dint of mental energy that you get through the lovely wood-carving.
Mr. Lewes cherishes that work and the thought of what it implies with much happy pride, and I, with true thankfulness. Believe me, in warm response,
Yours ever affectionately
M. E. Lewes.
MS: British Museum. Published: Stuart, pp. 8-9, misdated 21 February 1873.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
February 12. 73.
My dear Friend
The beautiful mirror 725 has come quite safely. It is -- it will be a lasting delight not only to our eyes but to our hearts also, recalling continually those precious feelings and precious words of yours which will always be among my sources of strength and comfort.
When I came down to breakfast the other day I found my husband's face radiant over your letter 726 (ex officio he opens all my letters); and I wish you could have witnessed his emotion in reading it aloud to me -- the rising sob which made it almost impossible for him to utter the closing words. Believe me, dear friend whom I know only in the spirit, your labour over the love-inspired task in "the stuffy little atelier in Paris last summer" has not been a labour in vain: it has raised very blessed feelings in two souls. I say two, because I think you will understand that the most exquisite part of my enjoyment in any tribute that comes to me is the joy it causes my husband.
Always, whatever you are moved to tell me about yourself will have a deep interest for me, whether of your past life or of the present. The photograph of your boy has taken its place among our favourite photographs of children, and the bright little face seems to make a considerable link of knowledge about you.
I have had very bad health for the last year and more, and my life has always been much broken by physical malaise -- a fact which gives emphasis to my hope that you are strong in body, and that it is not too largely by dint of mental energy that you get through the lovely wood-carving.
Mr. Lewes cherishes that work and the thought of what it implies with much happy pride, and I, with true thankfulness. Believe me, in warm response,
Yours ever affectionately
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Mrs. Elma Stuart, London, 12 February 1873, 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/93393