John Blackwood to GE, St. Andrews, 10 November 1875
Title
John Blackwood to GE, St. Andrews, 10 November 1875
Title
John Blackwood to GE, St. Andrews, 10 November 1875
Sender
John Blackwood
Recipient
George Eliot
Date(s)
- 1875-11-10
Place
St. Andrews
Letter Content
John Blackwood to GE, St. Andrews, 10 November 1875
MS: National Library of Scotland. Extract published: John Blackwood, p. 392.
Strathtyrum | St. Andrews | N.B.
November 10/75.
My Dear Mrs. Lewes
I send proof of the first 256 pages of Daniel Deronda and I know not how to express my admiration. The reading in type transcends even the impression the M.S. had left upon me. In print one can turn back so much more easily to re-enjoy the splendid turns of thought, wit, and expression which adorn every page and had hardly been fully appreciated at the first perusal. Stupendo, that often misused Italian phrase, could never be so rightly applied as here.
That wicked witch Gwendolen is perfectly irresistible, new and yet so true to nature, like all the other characters. Her running mental reflections after each few words she has said to Grandcourt are like what passes through the mind after each move at a game, and as far as I know a new device in reporting a conversation. 329 A cautious speaker will here learn that his pauses may also give his interlocutor an advantage.
Uncle Gascoigne is a perfect picture and echoes all over with human nature. His wife, daughter, and Rex are charming, and I did feel for Rex in his terrible prostration. That morning ride with Gwen 330 is a picture, and I see you could not resist the wish that they might gallop away and be happy together. The witch will I hope be saved ultimately but you alone must decide.
In the drawing room here my wife, daughter, and nephew have been reading the proofs and the sort of exclamations are "splendid," "glorious" etc. Having read so much more of the wondrous tale than they have I am ordered to be reticent in my expression of opinion about the characters but up to this point our agreement is perfect. Mr. Simpson too, who has been reading the proofs in Edinburgh, writes in a perfect ecstasy of praise. That wretch Gwen has evidently taken the veteran bachelor by storm.
The verdict among us all here is that you are fairly outdoing Middlemarch and I need say no more. The finish of every character however briefly touched is perfectly wonderful and I should have liked to have heard Gwen giving the Curate's "Perdition catch my soul." 331
Those sworn "horse coursers," my wife and nephew, suggest that poor Primrose's knees were not likely to have been broken by such a fall as you describe in a field. 332
I remember pausing at the use of the word dynamic in the very first sentence and I am not quite sure about it yet as it is a dictionary word to so many people. 333 I know no other word however that would so powerfully and strictly convey your meaning. I think I see Klesmer at the Archery meeting, 334 and how you have touched off a whole class in Lush. Miss Arrowsmith is charming, but Gwen's comparison of the relative effect of their charms is perfectly true.
Mrs. Davilow is truly affecting and effective in her helplessness and slaving.
I was sorry to hear from Lewes that he was so poorly and I hope his visit to Cambridge has done him good. This is our last week here for the season and we have bright clear frosty weather which makes the Links most enjoyable.
With hearty congratulations, Believe [me], Dear Mrs. Lewes
always yours truly
John Blackwood.
As I finish this letter the rest of volume one comes in so I inclose it also and promise myself the pleasure of reading it tonight. The proof goes in separate packet.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Extract published: John Blackwood, p. 392.
Strathtyrum | St. Andrews | N.B.
November 10/75.
My Dear Mrs. Lewes
I send proof of the first 256 pages of Daniel Deronda and I know not how to express my admiration. The reading in type transcends even the impression the M.S. had left upon me. In print one can turn back so much more easily to re-enjoy the splendid turns of thought, wit, and expression which adorn every page and had hardly been fully appreciated at the first perusal. Stupendo, that often misused Italian phrase, could never be so rightly applied as here.
That wicked witch Gwendolen is perfectly irresistible, new and yet so true to nature, like all the other characters. Her running mental reflections after each few words she has said to Grandcourt are like what passes through the mind after each move at a game, and as far as I know a new device in reporting a conversation. 329 A cautious speaker will here learn that his pauses may also give his interlocutor an advantage.
Uncle Gascoigne is a perfect picture and echoes all over with human nature. His wife, daughter, and Rex are charming, and I did feel for Rex in his terrible prostration. That morning ride with Gwen 330 is a picture, and I see you could not resist the wish that they might gallop away and be happy together. The witch will I hope be saved ultimately but you alone must decide.
In the drawing room here my wife, daughter, and nephew have been reading the proofs and the sort of exclamations are "splendid," "glorious" etc. Having read so much more of the wondrous tale than they have I am ordered to be reticent in my expression of opinion about the characters but up to this point our agreement is perfect. Mr. Simpson too, who has been reading the proofs in Edinburgh, writes in a perfect ecstasy of praise. That wretch Gwen has evidently taken the veteran bachelor by storm.
The verdict among us all here is that you are fairly outdoing Middlemarch and I need say no more. The finish of every character however briefly touched is perfectly wonderful and I should have liked to have heard Gwen giving the Curate's "Perdition catch my soul." 331
Those sworn "horse coursers," my wife and nephew, suggest that poor Primrose's knees were not likely to have been broken by such a fall as you describe in a field. 332
I remember pausing at the use of the word dynamic in the very first sentence and I am not quite sure about it yet as it is a dictionary word to so many people. 333 I know no other word however that would so powerfully and strictly convey your meaning. I think I see Klesmer at the Archery meeting, 334 and how you have touched off a whole class in Lush. Miss Arrowsmith is charming, but Gwen's comparison of the relative effect of their charms is perfectly true.
Mrs. Davilow is truly affecting and effective in her helplessness and slaving.
I was sorry to hear from Lewes that he was so poorly and I hope his visit to Cambridge has done him good. This is our last week here for the season and we have bright clear frosty weather which makes the Links most enjoyable.
With hearty congratulations, Believe [me], Dear Mrs. Lewes
always yours truly
John Blackwood.
As I finish this letter the rest of volume one comes in so I inclose it also and promise myself the pleasure of reading it tonight. The proof goes in separate packet.
Signature
John Blackwood.
Citation
John Blackwood, John Blackwood to GE, St. Andrews, 10 November 1875, 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/95320