English novelist, journalist, and translator (1819-1880). Autograph letter signed „MELewes“. London. 8vo. 4 pp. Printed letterhead „The Priory, 21. North Bank, Regents Park“.
$ 5,242 / 4.500 €
(100368)
To Fanny Lewald, who had asked her to assist with the translation of her husband Adolf Stahr’s biography of Tiberius into English. At first, about family matters. „[…] We are beginning to shrink from the fatigues of seeking change in foreign travel, & are inclined rather to spend the finer months of the year in an English coun- try place – a villeggiatura which will not demand a long railway journey as a preliminary. We neither of us, I think, shall be fit for comparison with you, even long before we reach our 62nd birthday.
For I imagine you looking still, not only handsome, but strong & animated, making life more cheerful to others by the mere sight of you. Now about the Tiberius! […] I fear that there is hardly a chance of its finding its way into an English translation. The truth is, our public is stupidly indifferent to certain forms of literature, & publishers here are especially disinclined to historical works which cannnot secure the sale of school books. – I shall take care to mention the work to studious & accomplished men, who might possibly be able to review the work in one of the higher periodicals […]“.