Anna Jameson to Ottilie Von Goethe, ,15 March 1856
Title
Anna Jameson to Ottilie Von Goethe, ,15 March 1856
Title
Anna Jameson to Ottilie Von Goethe, ,15 March 1856
Sender
Anna Jameson
Recipient
Ottilie Von Goethe
Date(s)
- 1856-03-15
Place
Ealing
Letter Content
Anna Jameson to Ottilie Von Goethe, ,15 March 1856
Text: Letters of Anna Jameson to Ottilie von Goethe, ed. G. H. Needler, London, New York, Toronto, Oxford University Press, 1939, p. 209.
Ealing, March 15, 1856.
My dearest Ottilie --
I have received your last most interesting letter, and am very glad to have the details relative to your knowledge of Mr. Lewes, as the [Life of Goethe] is very much talked of and reviewed, and I am glad to have the truth from you. I shall be most anxious to have your opinion of the book itself, and if possible I would send you a copy of it. It is in two thick, heavy volumes, so that it is difficult to convey. I have ordered it however to be ready, if ever by chance I have the opportunity of sending it. It is written with earnest admiration of Goethe, with great vigour, but also some vulgarity of style.
The story of Lewes and his Wife is true, I fear. The lady who is with him I have seen before her (known) liaison with him. She is first-rate in point of intellect and science and attainments of every kind, but considered also as very free in all her opinions as to morals and religion. In the first, there are I think certain duties not to be thrown overboard; in the second, certain principles to be recognized; so that I do not well understand how a good and conscientious woman can run away with another woman's husband. But of this no more. . . .
Text: Letters of Anna Jameson to Ottilie von Goethe, ed. G. H. Needler, London, New York, Toronto, Oxford University Press, 1939, p. 209.
Ealing, March 15, 1856.
My dearest Ottilie --
I have received your last most interesting letter, and am very glad to have the details relative to your knowledge of Mr. Lewes, as the [Life of Goethe] is very much talked of and reviewed, and I am glad to have the truth from you. I shall be most anxious to have your opinion of the book itself, and if possible I would send you a copy of it. It is in two thick, heavy volumes, so that it is difficult to convey. I have ordered it however to be ready, if ever by chance I have the opportunity of sending it. It is written with earnest admiration of Goethe, with great vigour, but also some vulgarity of style.
The story of Lewes and his Wife is true, I fear. The lady who is with him I have seen before her (known) liaison with him. She is first-rate in point of intellect and science and attainments of every kind, but considered also as very free in all her opinions as to morals and religion. In the first, there are I think certain duties not to be thrown overboard; in the second, certain principles to be recognized; so that I do not well understand how a good and conscientious woman can run away with another woman's husband. But of this no more. . . .
Citation
Anna Jameson, Anna Jameson to Ottilie Von Goethe, ,15 March 1856, 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/95542