Publication Date

2015

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Baker, William, 1944-

Degree Name

Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)

Legacy Department

Department of English

LCSH

Lewes; George Henry; 1817-1878 Diaries Research; English literature; Philosophers--19th century--Biography--Research; Authors; English--19th century--Biography--Research

Abstract

This project is a transcription of two unpublished pieces of personal writing by George Henry Lewes, life partner of nineteenth-century author George Eliot. One is a dated, daily diary from the year 1869; the second piece comprises sections from his Journal, Volume XII, June 1866- May 1870, relating to that year. To provide the most consistent and cohesive picture of the year 1869, the diary and journal sections have been incorporated into a single document, with annotations, notes, and introduction. The diary and journal are housed in the Beineke Library of Yale University. Special permission has been given by Jonathan G. Ouvry, George Henry Lewes's descendant and holder of copyright on unpublished Lewes George Eliot manuscripts, for them to be used for this project. Though the transcription was done via scanned copies, a visit was made to the library to check transcription of Lewes's sometimes difficult handwriting, to use and photograph the original pieces.;The purpose of this dissertation is to transcribe, document and annotate for the first time George Henry Lewes's 1869 holograph diary and journal entries. In this way it adds to our existing knowledge of George Henry Lewes and George Eliot. 1869 is a significant year that included the tragic death of George Henry Lewes's son Thornton Lewes from spinal tuberculosis. It was the year that George Eliot was compiling research and writing some sections of Middlemarch and also the year that Lewes gathered information for and worked on his five volume Problems of Life and the Mind.;The introduction describes the holographs and places them within the context of George Henry Lewes's and George Eliot's life, domestic environment, work and ideas. The Introduction to the Notes lays down the principle of adherence wherever possible to what George Henry Lewes wrote in the two holographs. The footnotes themselves locate wherever possible the source of Lewes's observations or reading and serve to illuminate his creative activity-or lack of it- and that of George Eliot in 1869.;The transcriptions and annotations are followed by an alphabetically arranged listing of 'Works Consulted". There are five appendices. The first contains "Images of the Diary and Journal." The second consists of an alphabetical listing of Books read or consulted by George Henry Lewes in 1869" and also those read or consulted by George Eliot. The third Appendix contains "Maps of the trip to Italy and Back Again, 1869" and the fourth provides an alphabetically arranged guide to "Friends, Acquaintances, and Visitors" found in the holographs. The final appendix contains items requiring further research.

Comments

Advisors: William Baker.||Committee members: John V. Knapp; Joseph Wiesenfarth.

Extent

248 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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