John Blackwood to GE, St. Andrews, 27 July 1868
Title
John Blackwood to GE, St. Andrews, 27 July 1868
Title
John Blackwood to GE, St. Andrews, 27 July 1868
Sender
John Blackwood
Recipient
George Eliot
Date(s)
- 1868-07-27
Place
St. Andrews
Letter Content
John Blackwood to GE, St. Andrews, 27 July 1868
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Strathtyrum | St. Andrews | N.B.
July 27/68.
My Dear Mrs. Lewes
I am delighted to hear that you have got back and are both so well. You have returned just in time to hear that the Poem is nearly out of print and to consider what had best be done. I do not think that it will do any harm to be out of print for a little. We kept the type up and I think the best plan will be to print another little edition of 500 in same form and price. 793 Paper has been laid in to be ready in case of a sudden rush on the book, but I do not see a chance of that now. The sale you will see has gone on in a very steady sort. I rather fear there is a falling off in the last week or so but I have not got a very recent memorandum.
The reviews have not been good. The reviewers have looked perseveringly for faults and shut their eyes to the beauties. This was eminently the case with a most unpoetic gentleman in the Pall Mall Gazette. 794 I do not understand a man with any poetic feeling writing two reviews of the Gypsy without giving way to enthusiasm about the beauty of the language and imagery. However the lad is very well pleased with himself evidently, if he is not in the same frame of mind with the Gypsy.
We have had the most scorching dry weather I ever remember in this country. There is nothing green to be seen anywhere, but the crops are good in spite of the drought. I have as you suppose been leading much my usual life, working and golfing, the sameness of which, although it does not weary, leaves no landmarks to indicate the lapse of time like journies such as you have been making.
We had a visit lately from two young Oxonians, and I could not help thinking that you would have enjoyed seeing the lads full of fun and mischief and enjoying themselves quite beyond their powers of expression. The father of one of them, a very intimate friend and correspondent, had told me they were on a walking tour in Scotland, so I desired them to come to Strathtyrum. Of course they missed their train, owing to some lark and arrived on foot towards midnight with a Bull Dog! a perfect specimen. The butler was terrified and did not wish to let them in until I appeared. The dog, I need not tell you, turned out an angel and was soon on the best seat in the drawing room. My friend's son proved like his father, very clever, and I laughed almost as much as the lads did. At Church they fell in with a friend, "the most popular fellow in Trinity," who had come here having heard that "St. Andrews was a first class place to read." This "devil of a fellow to read" was speedily brought to Strathtyrum, introduced to the ladies golfing ground etc., and I really feel anxious about his studies.
With best regards to Lewes believe me
always yours truly
John Blackwood.
Inclosed is a Mem. of some corrections suggested. Have you any?
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Strathtyrum | St. Andrews | N.B.
July 27/68.
My Dear Mrs. Lewes
I am delighted to hear that you have got back and are both so well. You have returned just in time to hear that the Poem is nearly out of print and to consider what had best be done. I do not think that it will do any harm to be out of print for a little. We kept the type up and I think the best plan will be to print another little edition of 500 in same form and price. 793 Paper has been laid in to be ready in case of a sudden rush on the book, but I do not see a chance of that now. The sale you will see has gone on in a very steady sort. I rather fear there is a falling off in the last week or so but I have not got a very recent memorandum.
The reviews have not been good. The reviewers have looked perseveringly for faults and shut their eyes to the beauties. This was eminently the case with a most unpoetic gentleman in the Pall Mall Gazette. 794 I do not understand a man with any poetic feeling writing two reviews of the Gypsy without giving way to enthusiasm about the beauty of the language and imagery. However the lad is very well pleased with himself evidently, if he is not in the same frame of mind with the Gypsy.
We have had the most scorching dry weather I ever remember in this country. There is nothing green to be seen anywhere, but the crops are good in spite of the drought. I have as you suppose been leading much my usual life, working and golfing, the sameness of which, although it does not weary, leaves no landmarks to indicate the lapse of time like journies such as you have been making.
We had a visit lately from two young Oxonians, and I could not help thinking that you would have enjoyed seeing the lads full of fun and mischief and enjoying themselves quite beyond their powers of expression. The father of one of them, a very intimate friend and correspondent, had told me they were on a walking tour in Scotland, so I desired them to come to Strathtyrum. Of course they missed their train, owing to some lark and arrived on foot towards midnight with a Bull Dog! a perfect specimen. The butler was terrified and did not wish to let them in until I appeared. The dog, I need not tell you, turned out an angel and was soon on the best seat in the drawing room. My friend's son proved like his father, very clever, and I laughed almost as much as the lads did. At Church they fell in with a friend, "the most popular fellow in Trinity," who had come here having heard that "St. Andrews was a first class place to read." This "devil of a fellow to read" was speedily brought to Strathtyrum, introduced to the ladies golfing ground etc., and I really feel anxious about his studies.
With best regards to Lewes believe me
always yours truly
John Blackwood.
Inclosed is a Mem. of some corrections suggested. Have you any?
Signature
John Blackwood.
Citation
John Blackwood, John Blackwood to GE, St. Andrews, 27 July 1868, 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/95333