Eliot was a very great writer and scholar. If this wasn’t already apparent to a reader of her novels, a perusal of A Writer’s Notebook, 1854-1879, and Uncollected Writings should be convincing.

A few weeks ago I finished reading Eliot’s Romola, which was a revelation. Eliot took great pains to recreate Renaissance Florence down to the inclusion of historical figures as major players in the drama, without being biographical. My edition of Romola (Modern Library Classics, 2003) is a scholarly one, complete with introduction, copious notes (which were of tremendous help) and bibliography. The Notebook was referenced frequently in the notes, and I found a reasonably priced copy at abebooks.com. Thinking it would deepen my understanding of Eliot the writer, I ordered it.

It is not easy to imagine being fluent in six languages – English, French, German, Greek, Italian and Latin – but Eliot was. And the Notebook reflects the depth of her interests and her scholarship, her knowledge of history, the arts, philosophy, psychology, religion and the aforementioned languages. The Notebook cannot be read from cover to cover without great effort, because it is substantially a collection of extended quotes from varied sources – Greek, German, French, Latin and even English. Translations are provided in the end notes, but it requires more dedication than even I have to stick with it. Since I am not a scholar, but merely interested in scholarship and the writing process, I am not going to pretend to have read it all.

But I do wish to register the awe I have for George Eliot – her prodigious intellect, humanity and masterful writing. A Writer’s Notebook belongs in a library where Eliot scholars will have access to it. Doubtless there are few copies – it was published by the Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia in 1981. It is a pre-computer-age low-budget production, merely a photocopied typescript on 8-1/2 x 11 paper with a typeset title page, clothbound. My copy is ex libris Wright State University Library, officially withdrawn. But for the life of me, I cannot think how any institution of higher learning worthy of the name could reach such a decision regarding this precious holding. Is it possible that a university could so casually cast off such a valuable and scarce resource? At this writing, mine appears to be the only copy on LibraryThing – a fact that underscores and augments the distress I feel regarding its scarcity as a research tool. In its pages the reader will find a glimpse into the mind of the writer that even familiarity with the novels cannot deliver. ( )