John Blackwood to GE, Edinburgh, 28 December 1867
Title
John Blackwood to GE, Edinburgh, 28 December 1867
Title
John Blackwood to GE, Edinburgh, 28 December 1867
Sender
John Blackwood
Recipient
George Eliot
Date(s)
- 1867-12-28
Place
Edinburgh
Letter Content
John Blackwood to GE, Edinburgh, 28 December 1867
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Edinburgh | December 28/67.
My Dear Madam
In sending the inclosed acknowledgment £25 of Felix Holt's Address I beg to thank you very much for doing this paper, which I feel as a personal favour to myself. The Address is excellent. The only fear is that it may be too good. If the mass could appreciate rightly such words and feelings, what a grand nation we would become. I wrote to Delane about the Address and hope Lewes will have stirred up the Pall Mall Gazette.
We are keeping Christmas very quietly. My little boy had a famous rise upon me on Christmas morning. When I greeted him on coming down he said "When I came into your room this morning, Papa, to wish you a Merry Christmas instead of saying [The same to you, old fellow,] you called [Get out, you little brute.]" The twinkle in the little villain's eye when he exposed my unpaternal conduct was good. The fact was I had just dropped into a particularly balmy slumber and had a vague remembrance of rebuking some disturbance.
The Printers set your Poem very badly and they had no excuse, but it is a strange thing that I find them most frequently at fault with the plainest M.S.S. while with difficult ones they often show great skill. For instance Kinglake's M.S. which was being set at the same time is a very involved one, and he is struck with wonder at the correctness with which it has been set up.
How is the Poem getting on? I hope you are in good heart about it. There is a set of the proofs lying in my dressing room and I take a little refreshing look at them every now and then.
With every good wish for Lewes and you in the coming year, I am
ever yours truly
John Blackwood.
Mrs. Lewes.
When does Lewes think of going to Germany? I intend to be in London early in February and hope I shall not miss him.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Edinburgh | December 28/67.
My Dear Madam
In sending the inclosed acknowledgment £25 of Felix Holt's Address I beg to thank you very much for doing this paper, which I feel as a personal favour to myself. The Address is excellent. The only fear is that it may be too good. If the mass could appreciate rightly such words and feelings, what a grand nation we would become. I wrote to Delane about the Address and hope Lewes will have stirred up the Pall Mall Gazette.
We are keeping Christmas very quietly. My little boy had a famous rise upon me on Christmas morning. When I greeted him on coming down he said "When I came into your room this morning, Papa, to wish you a Merry Christmas instead of saying [The same to you, old fellow,] you called [Get out, you little brute.]" The twinkle in the little villain's eye when he exposed my unpaternal conduct was good. The fact was I had just dropped into a particularly balmy slumber and had a vague remembrance of rebuking some disturbance.
The Printers set your Poem very badly and they had no excuse, but it is a strange thing that I find them most frequently at fault with the plainest M.S.S. while with difficult ones they often show great skill. For instance Kinglake's M.S. which was being set at the same time is a very involved one, and he is struck with wonder at the correctness with which it has been set up.
How is the Poem getting on? I hope you are in good heart about it. There is a set of the proofs lying in my dressing room and I take a little refreshing look at them every now and then.
With every good wish for Lewes and you in the coming year, I am
ever yours truly
John Blackwood.
Mrs. Lewes.
When does Lewes think of going to Germany? I intend to be in London early in February and hope I shall not miss him.
Signature
John Blackwood.
Citation
John Blackwood, John Blackwood to GE, Edinburgh, 28 December 1867, 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/95253