New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-02-11

no means OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES so far apart from the
standards of contemporary fetion-that tDere was
considerable difficulty in appyng sne bs
of ex preston and the constant use OF lmstta.o,
naturally suggested to some the notion that lne new
writer mast o. man T St Edtors own suspicious had
once been directed toward Professor owen py a
similarity of hand writing Guesses were ICY
nfher coniectures was one that Lord Lytton, whose
| " Caxtonb novels were about the same period de-
lighting the readers Of TINS pr9hv Dickens Tas
among the first to divine that the author must be
woman but the reasons upon winch ne Dased t i
| cogent deductions from the g Scenes" that the
writer must be of the male SEX ., Dickens,
on. the conclusion of the Scenes" wrote sS sn q
letter of most generous Appreciation. whlch wnen
| sent through the Editor. afforded the UNKNOWN
author very hearty graf lfcation. , 100 ,..;n,
through the Magazine the Editor was INFORMED that
| he was TO know the author as George ELIOT ~
was at this me then, that name 50 ls ss"n TO
suppose that it had been thought OF wheh tue series
| was commenced. II was probably assumed
f sSa9ow the frequent
with the editor of magaz inc possibly the fecoliec
ton OF George Sand entered into the idea; but the
designation was euphoniOus and impresslve. ~
Before the conclusion of the Scenes" Mr. Black
wood felt satisfied that he had to do with master
mind, and that great career as noveSt iaS Epea
nrgc her warmly TO persevere in her efforts. When
| "Jancts Repentance" was drawing to close. ana
| ARRANGEMENTS were being made fOr Ielssuihg
y Wrote to Mr.. Lewcs: George Eliot is too
dfdent of his own powers and prospects OF ., sue So
satisfied as far as the experiment has gone Inc ioi-
| lowing should be practical cheerernrIan then ne
| proceeded TO say how the Messrs. Blaekwood had
seen reason to make large increase In the forth
| coming reprint of the Scenes" The volumes dd
not appear until after the New Year of OF 1888; and
their success such that the Editor was abe. be-
fore the end of tine month TO write as follows 10
Lewes: George Eliot has fairly achieved literary
| re putatiof among judges, and the public must
follow. although it NAV take time DIckenss letter
| was very handsome. and truly kind. sent him an
extract from George Eiots letter to me- ana nave
| CRESTED by it,, and that ii has given hun the
| greatest pleasure Dickens adheres to his theory
| that the writer must be woman" 10 George
Eliot herself he wrote i'll February 1898: You VIII
recolect, when proposed to reprint, my impress
sion was that the series had not lasted long enough
| in the Magazine to give yen hold ON the general
public, although long enough to make your literary
reputation. Unless in exceptional cases very long
time often eiapses bet the two stages of rerua
tion-the literary and the public: Yonr progress VIII
be sure if not so quick as we could WISH.
ADAM BEDE.
adam Bede" was begun almost as soon as the
| "Scenes were finished and had already made con-
siderable progress before their appearances IN the re-
print. In February, 1853, the Editor, writing to
Mr. Lewes, says: u am delighted to hear from
George Eliot that l might soon hope to see some
thing like volume of the new tale am very san
Cuine" IN few weeks after the manuscript OF the
opening chapters Of adam Bede" WAS put into
| his handss and he writes thus to Lewes
after the first pes,%%sal: Rodo iii G Tig%@
most fe-ke and real. shall read the Ms. quietly
| over again before writing III detail about 1t. .
For the first reading it did not signify how many
| things had to think of; | would have hurried
| through it with eager pleasure. write this note to
aliay all anxiety Oh the part OF George hloi as to
| promising opening of a picture OF life; In
Spite of all iDjunctons, l began Adam Bede
light stopped me as We neaied the Scottish border"
| few weeks later. when hc had received lurtner
chapters, and haH repsrnfea the MauSfIp3 iIUn
| Eliot: 'The story s altogether very novel, and
cannot recolect anything at all like 1t. hnd my,
| sell constantly thinking of the characters as real
| personages, which is capital sigh" Alter Ec
lad read yet little further he remarks: " There
is an atmosphere OF genuine religion ana purity
that fears evil about the whole opening oi the
story George Eliot made an expedition to Ger
many in the spring of 1858 and the bulk OF the
second volume was sent home from Munich. Ac~
Editor wrote TO Loves " There can be no mistake
| about the merits and am not sure whether ex-
| pressed myself suihc iently warmly. But you know
| that | am not equal TO the abandon of expression
which distinguishes the large hearted school Of
| critics" adam Bede /" was completed III the end
of October, 1853 and Mr.. BlackwOod read the con.
clusion at once. and sent his opinions. He says: i
am happy to tell you that think 1t is capital l
by such succession of simple and yet
delicate AID minute touches, ll1itys night IN
d4red for her, poor creature; and do not
think the most thOughless lad could read that ter.
riblc picture of her feelings and hopeless hiscry
without being deeply moved. A.am going TO sup
port her at the trial is a noble touch. lou really
make him gentleman by that act. 1t is like giving
him his spurs The way poor Hetty leans upon and
cling. to to Dinah is beautiful. Mr. Irving is always
good 30 are the P0ysers, hie-ilkc as possible.
Diuah is a very striking and original character.
aiways perfectly supported and never 0btrlsive III
her piety Very early in the book took it into my
head that it would be borne in upon her TO fall III
love with Adam. Arthur is the least satisfactory
character, but lie Is true 100. The picture OF ms
happy, complacent feelings before the bomb-saell
bursts upon h = is very GoGdi: oo, y, 1.n
uary 1859 The author was deslrOus Oh this Occa-
sion to test her strength by appealing directly 10 the
public, and the Editor though, quite prepared to
pratficd her. Sending George Eliot an early copy,
before Adam Bede" bad reached the PUBLIC he
| saws: Whatever the subscription may be, am
confident of success-great success. lie book II so
novel and 10 true that the whole story remains ~
my mind like succession OF incidents IN ie Tes y OF
come under the class of popular agreeable stories;
but those who love power real humor and true, nat
ural description will stand by the sturdy carpenter
and the living groups you have painted III and about
Adam Bede" did not immediately command that
signal success which, lCOalng back to II now. We
might have expected for it. As the Editor had
warned the author, the Scenes" had secured for her
a reputation with the higher order OF readers and
with men of letters, but had not established her
popularity with the public III general. The review
els too, were somewhat divided. Many OF them
recognized the merits of the work, but commit
ted the blunder of endeavorng to Tx the position Of
the book by contrasting the author with the popular
nOvelists of the tne and by cndcayorlng to deter
mine from which OF them she had drawn her IN
spiraton. In 1859 a review of Adam Bede" from
the pen of OF the oldest and abest OF our con-
trbutors published Ill this Magazine. aud Oh lts
appearance George Eliot wrote to the Editor: IL
should like you to convey my gratitude TO your re-
viewer. / see well lie is man whose eXpe-
Renee and study enable him TO relish
parts of my book which should
despair of seeing recognized by critics
in London back drawlng-rOOns He has gratfed
me keeny by laying his finger on passages which
wrote either from strong feeling from intimate
knowledge, but which had prepared myself 20 find
entirely passed over by reviewers" Soon after.