GHL to John Blackwood, Wandsworth, [21 April 1859]
Title
GHL to John Blackwood, Wandsworth, [21 April 1859]
Title
GHL to John Blackwood, Wandsworth, [21 April 1859]
Sender
George Henry Lewes
Recipient
John Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1859-04-21
Place
Wandsworth
Letter Content
GHL to John Blackwood, Wandsworth, [21 April 1859]
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Holly Lodge | Thursday.
My dear Blackwood
By this proof goes the post or this post the proof, which is it? Your dithyramb on Ignorance amused us. But are we not all dreadfully ignorant? As for myself I live intellectually from hand to mouth -- I forget even my own discoveries after a little while, and of course don't remember the wisdom of others. I know a good fellow, a charming woman, a good book, a good cigar, a good dog (no, all dogs are good), but on most other points I get hazy.
Talking of good books it is really gratifying to see our confidence in Adam Bede so confirmed. Two out of every three people I meet speak to me about it; and it is excessively amusing to hear each person give a version of the letter in the Times and what it meant.
You must prepare for a surprise with the new story G.E. is writing. It is totally unlike anything he has written yet. The novel will be a companion picture to Adam Bede; but this story is of an imaginative philosophical kind, quite new and piquant. As usual he is unwilling to believe that anyone will see anything in it.
What you say of Spurgeon exactly tallies with the notion I had formed of him from reports.
I shall go and see Owen tomorrow or Sunday, and will probe him about Keith Johnston.
Ever faithfully yours
G. H. Lewes.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Holly Lodge | Thursday.
My dear Blackwood
By this proof goes the post or this post the proof, which is it? Your dithyramb on Ignorance amused us. But are we not all dreadfully ignorant? As for myself I live intellectually from hand to mouth -- I forget even my own discoveries after a little while, and of course don't remember the wisdom of others. I know a good fellow, a charming woman, a good book, a good cigar, a good dog (no, all dogs are good), but on most other points I get hazy.
Talking of good books it is really gratifying to see our confidence in Adam Bede so confirmed. Two out of every three people I meet speak to me about it; and it is excessively amusing to hear each person give a version of the letter in the Times and what it meant.
You must prepare for a surprise with the new story G.E. is writing. It is totally unlike anything he has written yet. The novel will be a companion picture to Adam Bede; but this story is of an imaginative philosophical kind, quite new and piquant. As usual he is unwilling to believe that anyone will see anything in it.
What you say of Spurgeon exactly tallies with the notion I had formed of him from reports.
I shall go and see Owen tomorrow or Sunday, and will probe him about Keith Johnston.
Ever faithfully yours
G. H. Lewes.
Signature
G. H. Lewes.
Citation
George Henry Lewes, GHL to John Blackwood, Wandsworth, [21 April 1859], 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/94785