Details
ELIOT, GEORGE (pseud. of Mary Ann EVANS). Autograph manuscript notes on the Spanish Inquisition and its persecution of the Jews, n.p., n.d., 16 pages, 8vo, on 8 leaves; and an autograph letter signed ("Marian Evans Lewes") to her London housekeeper Mrs. Bell, Venice, 8 June 1860, 3 pages, 8vo; all bound into (inlaid in slightly larger sheets) vol. 1 of The Writings of George Eliot, Boston and New York; Houghton Mifflin, 1908, 25 vols., 8o (225 x 153 mm), illustrated, three-quarter red morocco gilt, t.e.g., others uncut (several volumes with wear at tops of spines and fore-corners, front free endpaper loose in vol. 1).
The notes by George Eliot were most likely made during her research for The Spanish Gypsy (1868), a book-length dramatic poem. Nearly half of the pages of notes deal with the Jews during the Spanish Inquisition. Eliot's interest in Jewish culture and history culminated in her last novel, Daniel Deronda (1876), in which she expressed her pro-Jewish sympathies. The eight sheets of notes are not consecutive, being numbered (in pencil) 37-39, 45, and 51-54. "...The Spanish Jews not only denied any share in the guilt of the Crucifixion but claimed to have protested against it. Sandoval, Historia de los Reyes, has preserved the correspondence that purported to have passed between the synagogues of Jerusalem & Toledo. It embraces the account transmitted to the Spanish brethren of our Savior, with the request of their opinion whether he was deserving or not of death; together with the Toledan reply which strongly advocated acquittal! Sapard means Spain among the Jews. Sephardi, Spanish & Portuguese Jews." Her note on the beginning of the Inquisition in Seville is chilling in its terseness: "Jan. 6, 1481. First auto-da-fé, 6 burnt. May 26, 17 burnt. By the 4th of Nov. 1481, 298 new Christians [converted Jews accused of relapsing] had been burnt, 79 sentenced to perpetual imprisonment, all in Seville only. In other parts of the province & in the bishropic of Cadiz, 2000 had been burnt in this year, others in greater numbers in effigy, & 17,000 condemned to various punishments. Owing to the great numbers condemned to burning, the prefect of Seville erected outside the city, in a field named Tablada, a permanent scaffold of stone, still existing...on which were four great statues of the four prophets..."
In her letter to Mrs. Bell, George Eliot reports on their trip and writes of London household matters: "...I am thankful to tell you at last Mr. Lewes seems really better for our holiday: there is no remnant of deafness, & he is certainly stronger in head & stomach. Our journey has been of continually increasing enjoyment to us both, & I hope we will have good results for mind & body...You have never sent us a word of news about Pug! [their dog]. I hope no tragedy awaits us on our return. We have seen a pair of puppies -- brother & sister -- here at Venice that made us long to carry them home as companions for our very own child..." (25)
The notes by George Eliot were most likely made during her research for The Spanish Gypsy (1868), a book-length dramatic poem. Nearly half of the pages of notes deal with the Jews during the Spanish Inquisition. Eliot's interest in Jewish culture and history culminated in her last novel, Daniel Deronda (1876), in which she expressed her pro-Jewish sympathies. The eight sheets of notes are not consecutive, being numbered (in pencil) 37-39, 45, and 51-54. "...The Spanish Jews not only denied any share in the guilt of the Crucifixion but claimed to have protested against it. Sandoval, Historia de los Reyes, has preserved the correspondence that purported to have passed between the synagogues of Jerusalem & Toledo. It embraces the account transmitted to the Spanish brethren of our Savior, with the request of their opinion whether he was deserving or not of death; together with the Toledan reply which strongly advocated acquittal! Sapard means Spain among the Jews. Sephardi, Spanish & Portuguese Jews." Her note on the beginning of the Inquisition in Seville is chilling in its terseness: "Jan. 6, 1481. First auto-da-fé, 6 burnt. May 26, 17 burnt. By the 4th of Nov. 1481, 298 new Christians [converted Jews accused of relapsing] had been burnt, 79 sentenced to perpetual imprisonment, all in Seville only. In other parts of the province & in the bishropic of Cadiz, 2000 had been burnt in this year, others in greater numbers in effigy, & 17,000 condemned to various punishments. Owing to the great numbers condemned to burning, the prefect of Seville erected outside the city, in a field named Tablada, a permanent scaffold of stone, still existing...on which were four great statues of the four prophets..."
In her letter to Mrs. Bell, George Eliot reports on their trip and writes of London household matters: "...I am thankful to tell you at last Mr. Lewes seems really better for our holiday: there is no remnant of deafness, & he is certainly stronger in head & stomach. Our journey has been of continually increasing enjoyment to us both, & I hope we will have good results for mind & body...You have never sent us a word of news about Pug! [their dog]. I hope no tragedy awaits us on our return. We have seen a pair of puppies -- brother & sister -- here at Venice that made us long to carry them home as companions for our very own child..." (25)