GHL to John Blackwood, Richmond, [2 December 1858]
Title
GHL to John Blackwood, Richmond, [2 December 1858]
Title
GHL to John Blackwood, Richmond, [2 December 1858]
Sender
George Henry Lewes
Recipient
John Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1858-12-02
Place
Richmond
Letter Content
GHL to John Blackwood, Richmond, [2 December 1858]
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Park Shot | Richmond | Thursday.
My dear Blackwood
Is there a copy of Hunger and Thirst 1239 ready for me to send to Germany? If so, please let me have one forthwith.
G.E. is very uncomfortable about the delay in printing. He thinks -- and I agree with him -- that mystery as to authorship will have a great effect in determining critical opinion, and although when once a success has been made, the knowledge of the authorship cannot affect it, it might have a prejudicial influence if the rumour to which he alluded in his letter to you should spread -- as spread of course it will. The evil consequences of the mystery being disclosed before the book appears seem to him, and to me, far greater than any disadvantage of contemporaneous appearance with "What will he do with it" 1240 -- the more so as that book having already been for 18 months in the mouths of men, will necessarily be less of a novelty, less talked about, than if it were now first appearing. Under these circumstances don't you think it very desirable to crowd all sail? Your own experience must have shown you the immense advantage there is in a mystery about authorship. Let the public [know] that Smith and not Brown wrote a certain book, and although both Smith and Brown are entirely unknown to the said public a certain charm is lost. When Jane Eyre was finally known to be a woman's book the tone noticeably changed. Not that I believe in the possibility of anything adventitious permanently hurting a good book, but there is always something temporary in the success of a novel, and one may as well secure all adventitious aids.
Ever faithfully yours
G. H. Lewes.
John Blackwood Esq.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Park Shot | Richmond | Thursday.
My dear Blackwood
Is there a copy of Hunger and Thirst 1239 ready for me to send to Germany? If so, please let me have one forthwith.
G.E. is very uncomfortable about the delay in printing. He thinks -- and I agree with him -- that mystery as to authorship will have a great effect in determining critical opinion, and although when once a success has been made, the knowledge of the authorship cannot affect it, it might have a prejudicial influence if the rumour to which he alluded in his letter to you should spread -- as spread of course it will. The evil consequences of the mystery being disclosed before the book appears seem to him, and to me, far greater than any disadvantage of contemporaneous appearance with "What will he do with it" 1240 -- the more so as that book having already been for 18 months in the mouths of men, will necessarily be less of a novelty, less talked about, than if it were now first appearing. Under these circumstances don't you think it very desirable to crowd all sail? Your own experience must have shown you the immense advantage there is in a mystery about authorship. Let the public [know] that Smith and not Brown wrote a certain book, and although both Smith and Brown are entirely unknown to the said public a certain charm is lost. When Jane Eyre was finally known to be a woman's book the tone noticeably changed. Not that I believe in the possibility of anything adventitious permanently hurting a good book, but there is always something temporary in the success of a novel, and one may as well secure all adventitious aids.
Ever faithfully yours
G. H. Lewes.
John Blackwood Esq.
Signature
G. H. Lewes.
Citation
George Henry Lewes, GHL to John Blackwood, Richmond, [2 December 1858], 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/94726