GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, [Berlin, 22 November 1854]
Title
GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, [Berlin, 22 November 1854]
Title
GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, [Berlin, 22 November 1854]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Sara Sophia Hennell
Date(s)
- 1854-11-22
Place
[Berlin]
Letter Content
GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, [Berlin, 22 November 1854]
MS: Yale. Endorsed: Sara. 1854. Extract published: George Eliot and John Chapman, pp. 84-85.
My dear Sara
I have kissed the pretty little white S. 556 again and again and shall put it in a sacred place. Thank you for it, and for the noble, affectionate words in your previous letter, which I fear my answer did not shew me fully to appreciate. But I assure you they had their due effect and are kept in my memory amongst my most precious things.
Of course I wrote Miss Hennell and not Mrs., but I am nevertheless indebted to the latter for the trouble she took. I am very glad you liked the article on Mde. de Sabl'e9. Mr. Lewes thought very highly of it, and so did some other good judges, but I feared that Mr. Chapman did not approve it, as he has said no word of satisfaction about it, and though he had been urgent on me to write for the Review before, he has made no proposition to that effect since. I have not seen the Westminster, but Mr. Lewes has seen it at the Library here. He told me about the notice of Feuerbach, which appears to be rather stultifying to Mr. Ch. as publisher of the Series. I am very sorry for Mr. Ch. Whatever may have been his mistakes I think he must have been hardly used by Dr. Hodgson and J. Martineau. But I am acquainted with no details.
There is an article in the Edinburgh by Herbert Spencer -- "Railway Morals and Legislation" 557 -- which I think you would like to see. I had a nice long letter from him the other day, telling me all about his late travels. 558 Imagine his indignation when, in reply to his entreaty to be corrected when he made mistakes in French, he was told that he made no mistakes!
We are going to the theatre tonight to see Emilia Galotti. 559 Dessoir, 560 the actor, presents us with tickets whenever there is an interesting representation. Last evening we went to Gruppe's, 561 and had a peep into the int'e9rieur of a German Professor of very moderate income. The simplicity with which people receive their friends here is delightful. No agonies about appearances, no grand dinners and suppers, but instead of them heartiness and intelligence.
I should be very glad to have my pen employed in something that would yield immediate profit, and there are plenty of subjects suggested by new German books which would be fresh and instructive in an English Review. But I cannot bring myself to run the risk of a refusal from an editor. Indeed I cannot for several reasons make any proposition at present. So I am working at what will ultimately yield something which is secured by agreement with Bohn. 562
Ever your loving
Marian.
MS: Yale. Endorsed: Sara. 1854. Extract published: George Eliot and John Chapman, pp. 84-85.
My dear Sara
I have kissed the pretty little white S. 556 again and again and shall put it in a sacred place. Thank you for it, and for the noble, affectionate words in your previous letter, which I fear my answer did not shew me fully to appreciate. But I assure you they had their due effect and are kept in my memory amongst my most precious things.
Of course I wrote Miss Hennell and not Mrs., but I am nevertheless indebted to the latter for the trouble she took. I am very glad you liked the article on Mde. de Sabl'e9. Mr. Lewes thought very highly of it, and so did some other good judges, but I feared that Mr. Chapman did not approve it, as he has said no word of satisfaction about it, and though he had been urgent on me to write for the Review before, he has made no proposition to that effect since. I have not seen the Westminster, but Mr. Lewes has seen it at the Library here. He told me about the notice of Feuerbach, which appears to be rather stultifying to Mr. Ch. as publisher of the Series. I am very sorry for Mr. Ch. Whatever may have been his mistakes I think he must have been hardly used by Dr. Hodgson and J. Martineau. But I am acquainted with no details.
There is an article in the Edinburgh by Herbert Spencer -- "Railway Morals and Legislation" 557 -- which I think you would like to see. I had a nice long letter from him the other day, telling me all about his late travels. 558 Imagine his indignation when, in reply to his entreaty to be corrected when he made mistakes in French, he was told that he made no mistakes!
We are going to the theatre tonight to see Emilia Galotti. 559 Dessoir, 560 the actor, presents us with tickets whenever there is an interesting representation. Last evening we went to Gruppe's, 561 and had a peep into the int'e9rieur of a German Professor of very moderate income. The simplicity with which people receive their friends here is delightful. No agonies about appearances, no grand dinners and suppers, but instead of them heartiness and intelligence.
I should be very glad to have my pen employed in something that would yield immediate profit, and there are plenty of subjects suggested by new German books which would be fresh and instructive in an English Review. But I cannot bring myself to run the risk of a refusal from an editor. Indeed I cannot for several reasons make any proposition at present. So I am working at what will ultimately yield something which is secured by agreement with Bohn. 562
Ever your loving
Marian.
Signature
Marian.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, [Berlin, 22 November 1854], 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/93794