GHL to John Blackwood, London, 19 January [1878]
Title
GHL to John Blackwood, London, 19 January [1878]
Title
GHL to John Blackwood, London, 19 January [1878]
Sender
George Henry Lewes
Recipient
John Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1878-01-19
Place
London
Letter Content
GHL to John Blackwood, London, 19 January [1878]
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
Saturday 19 January.
My dear Blackwood
Your most welcome letter with accounts and checque arrived this morning. Satisfactory? I should think so! The total surpasses our expectations and the details are curiously interesting. Why [Silas Marner] should lag so far behind the others is a perpetual puzzle to me because it is the one book which everybody praises without reserve and which always rises when G.E. is mentioned. The vitality of the poems is also a pleasant sign.
We envy you the expected visit to Rome. Have you any dreams of a Hat? Dean Stanley 14 amused us the other day by describing a coherent dream he had of having been elected Pope, and was puzzled as to the name he should assume. Paul seemed most suitable as a Protestant but he reflected that he would then be Paul VI, and six was a fatal number with Popes. -- [Cardinal Blackwood] would sound well -- but oh! the shrieks of Auld Reekie at his stockings!
Mrs. Lewes is pretty well, but troubles with decoration and furnishing at the Heights are soon to begin.
I have begun [Marmorne] 15 and fancy it is going to turn out something original and good. Otherwise I have not been reading anything lighter than an anatomical periodical (not the liveliest of literature!) Anthony Trollope is back again 16 and called here on Tuesday in all his native force and goodness.
Mrs. Lewes begs to be kindly remembered to you and the family.
Ever yours truly
G. H. Lewes.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
Saturday 19 January.
My dear Blackwood
Your most welcome letter with accounts and checque arrived this morning. Satisfactory? I should think so! The total surpasses our expectations and the details are curiously interesting. Why [Silas Marner] should lag so far behind the others is a perpetual puzzle to me because it is the one book which everybody praises without reserve and which always rises when G.E. is mentioned. The vitality of the poems is also a pleasant sign.
We envy you the expected visit to Rome. Have you any dreams of a Hat? Dean Stanley 14 amused us the other day by describing a coherent dream he had of having been elected Pope, and was puzzled as to the name he should assume. Paul seemed most suitable as a Protestant but he reflected that he would then be Paul VI, and six was a fatal number with Popes. -- [Cardinal Blackwood] would sound well -- but oh! the shrieks of Auld Reekie at his stockings!
Mrs. Lewes is pretty well, but troubles with decoration and furnishing at the Heights are soon to begin.
I have begun [Marmorne] 15 and fancy it is going to turn out something original and good. Otherwise I have not been reading anything lighter than an anatomical periodical (not the liveliest of literature!) Anthony Trollope is back again 16 and called here on Tuesday in all his native force and goodness.
Mrs. Lewes begs to be kindly remembered to you and the family.
Ever yours truly
G. H. Lewes.
Signature
G. H. Lewes.
Citation
George Henry Lewes, GHL to John Blackwood, London, 19 January [1878], 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/94682