GHL to Mrs. Elma Stuart, London, 1 February 1872
Title
GHL to Mrs. Elma Stuart, London, 1 February 1872
Title
GHL to Mrs. Elma Stuart, London, 1 February 1872
Sender
George Henry Lewes
Recipient
Mrs. Elma Stuart
Date(s)
- 1872-02-01
Place
London
Letter Content
GHL to Mrs. Elma Stuart, London, 1 February 1872
MS: British Museum. Published: Stuart, pp. 2-3.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
February 1872.
My dear Madam
If the writings of George Eliot have given you some moments of happiness it will not be indifferent to you to learn that your letter has given both her and her husband a thrill of exquisite pleasure. She has long passed beyond that stage of authorship in which praise -- public or private -- is regarded as the desirable end; and indeed very little praise of the direct kind ever reaches her, for I rigidly exclude all public criticism from her sight, and when friends or acquaintances are disposed to be complimentary they are turned over to me, who have stomach for any amount of eulogy on her (it can't hurt me, you know!)
But while she is at once sceptical of praise and averse to be constantly [chewing the cud] by having her works talked about to her, she is proportionately affected by sympathy, and grateful for all acknowledgment of influence such as your letter so sweetly expresses. She will thank you herself, but I also on my part must thank you and ask your acceptance of a little volume compiled by one of her fervid admirers whom we have never seen (those are commonly the most fervid admirers!). It is a volume which I think you will like and which you are not perhaps in the way of coming upon at Dinan. Believe me,
Very truly yours,
G. H. Lewes.
MS: British Museum. Published: Stuart, pp. 2-3.
The Priory, | 21. North Bank, | Regents Park.
February 1872.
My dear Madam
If the writings of George Eliot have given you some moments of happiness it will not be indifferent to you to learn that your letter has given both her and her husband a thrill of exquisite pleasure. She has long passed beyond that stage of authorship in which praise -- public or private -- is regarded as the desirable end; and indeed very little praise of the direct kind ever reaches her, for I rigidly exclude all public criticism from her sight, and when friends or acquaintances are disposed to be complimentary they are turned over to me, who have stomach for any amount of eulogy on her (it can't hurt me, you know!)
But while she is at once sceptical of praise and averse to be constantly [chewing the cud] by having her works talked about to her, she is proportionately affected by sympathy, and grateful for all acknowledgment of influence such as your letter so sweetly expresses. She will thank you herself, but I also on my part must thank you and ask your acceptance of a little volume compiled by one of her fervid admirers whom we have never seen (those are commonly the most fervid admirers!). It is a volume which I think you will like and which you are not perhaps in the way of coming upon at Dinan. Believe me,
Very truly yours,
G. H. Lewes.
Signature
G. H. Lewes.
Citation
George Henry Lewes, GHL to Mrs. Elma Stuart, London, 1 February 1872, 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/94937