GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, London, 27 March [1862]
Title
GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, London, 27 March [1862]
Title
GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, London, 27 March [1862]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Sara Sophia Hennell
Date(s)
- 1862-03-27
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, London, 27 March [1862]
MS: Yale. Extracts published: Cross, II, 338.
Blandford Sq. | March 27.
My dear Sara
I congratulate you on being out of London, which is more like a Pandemonium than usual. The fog and rain have been the more oppressive because I have seen them through the medium of Mr. Lewes's almost constant discomfort: I think he has had at least five days of sick headache since you saw him. But then, he is better-tempered and more cheerful with headache than most people are without it, and in that way he lightens his burthen.
I think we have not seen anyone whom you know -- except the Noels who came on Saturday evening. Mrs. Noel told me the sad story of her having lost her little family treasures of pearls and likenesses etc. There is something very genuine and sweet-natured in her manners.
I am gratified by your having felt "Beata": it was originally a shorter story written for "All the Year Round," and rejected (for reasons one can imagine under the necessities for circumspection in the editor of a "family" periodical). 43 The rejection was a very fortunate one, for it caused the writer to expand the story into a book, and the public has recognized its merit.
Have you noticed in the Times Mr. Peabody's magnificent deed? -- the gift of £150,000 for the amelioration (body and soul, I suppose) of the poorer classes in London? 44 That is one pleasant association to have with an American name.
We went yesterday into No. 5 45 to look at two pictures in oil, which Mrs. Bodichon has sent over. They are the first oil pictures she has painted with the intention of exhibiting. One is a very grand scene in Algiers, and is finely composed. Of course, she is not yet at home in her material as she was in her accustomed water colours.
My "gentlemen" would doubtless send kind remembrances if they knew I was writing.
Ever your affectionate
M. E. L.
MS: Yale. Extracts published: Cross, II, 338.
Blandford Sq. | March 27.
My dear Sara
I congratulate you on being out of London, which is more like a Pandemonium than usual. The fog and rain have been the more oppressive because I have seen them through the medium of Mr. Lewes's almost constant discomfort: I think he has had at least five days of sick headache since you saw him. But then, he is better-tempered and more cheerful with headache than most people are without it, and in that way he lightens his burthen.
I think we have not seen anyone whom you know -- except the Noels who came on Saturday evening. Mrs. Noel told me the sad story of her having lost her little family treasures of pearls and likenesses etc. There is something very genuine and sweet-natured in her manners.
I am gratified by your having felt "Beata": it was originally a shorter story written for "All the Year Round," and rejected (for reasons one can imagine under the necessities for circumspection in the editor of a "family" periodical). 43 The rejection was a very fortunate one, for it caused the writer to expand the story into a book, and the public has recognized its merit.
Have you noticed in the Times Mr. Peabody's magnificent deed? -- the gift of £150,000 for the amelioration (body and soul, I suppose) of the poorer classes in London? 44 That is one pleasant association to have with an American name.
We went yesterday into No. 5 45 to look at two pictures in oil, which Mrs. Bodichon has sent over. They are the first oil pictures she has painted with the intention of exhibiting. One is a very grand scene in Algiers, and is finely composed. Of course, she is not yet at home in her material as she was in her accustomed water colours.
My "gentlemen" would doubtless send kind remembrances if they knew I was writing.
Ever your affectionate
M. E. L.
Signature
M. E. L.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, London, 27 March [1862], 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/94040