John Blackwood to GHL, Edinburgh, 30 April 1857
Title
John Blackwood to GHL, Edinburgh, 30 April 1857
Title
John Blackwood to GHL, Edinburgh, 30 April 1857
Sender
John Blackwood
Recipient
George Henry Lewes
Date(s)
- 1857-04-30
Place
Edinburgh
Letter Content
John Blackwood to GHL, Edinburgh, 30 April 1857
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Edinburgh | April 30/57.
My Dear Lewes
I inclose proof of Mr. Gilfil part the last. It is very powerful and very affecting. The description of Maynard's feelings is excellent, especially when he rides off to find the lost one after his interview with Daniel. I incline to think that the patois of Daniel and Dorkis. stands too prominently forward in the scenes where the feelings are so highly wrought up. 848 The effect of the farmyard scene is very happy and true. The picture reminds me strongly of the genuine English rural landscapes with which we are all familiar on canvas or in nature. The part altogether strikes sadly in the heart and I should have liked a larger gleam of sunshine before poor Tina passed away, but I see that it could not be. Maynard's exposition of how we sometimes think too well and sometimes too ill of ourselves is excellent, 849 and it is very sound doctrine.
If George Eliot is not with you I suppose you will send this to him. Tell him what I say, and you may mention also that I have some fear that he huddles up the conclusion of his stories too much, but I hardly see how the wind up of Gilfil's sad story could have been more effective or affecting. I hope the successor to Gilfil is well advanced.
I got your note of the 26th yesterday and it caused me still further to reproach myself for not having written to you sooner. How quick the letter must have come. I trust that my letter of 28th will reach you as quickly to relieve your anxieties about your packets. I shall pay cheque for the Seaside Studies into the Union Bank to credit of your account.
I am delighted to hear that you continue to like your isle so much. I am tempted to envy your power of amusing yourself so easily, although
I daresay if you saw me starting for a Golf match you would think my tastes still more simple, if not even childish.
always yours truly
John Blackwood.
G. H. Lewes Esq.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Edinburgh | April 30/57.
My Dear Lewes
I inclose proof of Mr. Gilfil part the last. It is very powerful and very affecting. The description of Maynard's feelings is excellent, especially when he rides off to find the lost one after his interview with Daniel. I incline to think that the patois of Daniel and Dorkis. stands too prominently forward in the scenes where the feelings are so highly wrought up. 848 The effect of the farmyard scene is very happy and true. The picture reminds me strongly of the genuine English rural landscapes with which we are all familiar on canvas or in nature. The part altogether strikes sadly in the heart and I should have liked a larger gleam of sunshine before poor Tina passed away, but I see that it could not be. Maynard's exposition of how we sometimes think too well and sometimes too ill of ourselves is excellent, 849 and it is very sound doctrine.
If George Eliot is not with you I suppose you will send this to him. Tell him what I say, and you may mention also that I have some fear that he huddles up the conclusion of his stories too much, but I hardly see how the wind up of Gilfil's sad story could have been more effective or affecting. I hope the successor to Gilfil is well advanced.
I got your note of the 26th yesterday and it caused me still further to reproach myself for not having written to you sooner. How quick the letter must have come. I trust that my letter of 28th will reach you as quickly to relieve your anxieties about your packets. I shall pay cheque for the Seaside Studies into the Union Bank to credit of your account.
I am delighted to hear that you continue to like your isle so much. I am tempted to envy your power of amusing yourself so easily, although
I daresay if you saw me starting for a Golf match you would think my tastes still more simple, if not even childish.
always yours truly
John Blackwood.
G. H. Lewes Esq.
Signature
John Blackwood.
Citation
John Blackwood, John Blackwood to GHL, Edinburgh, 30 April 1857, 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/95413