Simpson, George

George Simpson was the Edinburgh office manager of William Blackwood and Sons from 1842 to 1878, running the firm's office at 45 George Street and seeing Eliot's books through the press, while Joseph Munt Langford ran the London office. He was the man who turned her manuscripts into books: Lewes sent him the Middlemarch manuscript and proofs and pressed him to "put on the steam," and Eliot wrote to him directly about bindings, paper, covers and prices, thanking him in December 1872 for the Australian bargain he had made for Middlemarch and for the care he had taken with the manuscript. He had strong views of his own, insisting that The Spanish Gypsy deserved gold tooling in a Spanish or Moorish style, since "when we have a Book to publish that we know to be a first rater we should let it be seen that we appreciate it." He was also the firm's insider on the most delicate negotiation of Eliot's career, reporting confidentially to Langford in November 1859 on Blackwood's £3,000 offer for The Mill on the Floss and Eliot's stiff refusal. He was still in touch at the end: when Eliot went to court to prove Lewes's will in December 1878, even the usually sharp-tongued Simpson thought she should have been spared the ordeal.

George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org

George Simpson, Simpson, George, Social Network Gallery, George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed November 11, 2026. https://georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/97140