Reproduced by courtesy of the
The letter was written on medium grey paper.
Our aim in this edition has been to transcribe the content of the letters as accurately as possible without reproducing the physical appearance of the manuscript. Craik’s spelling, punctuation, underlining, superscripts, abbreviations, additions and deletions are retained, except for words which are hyphenated at the end of a line, which we have silently emended. Where Craik uses a non-standard spelling, we have encoded both her spelling and the standard Oxford English Dictionary spelling to facilitate searching. The long s is not encoded.
I have gone carefully through Art. It
is not the raw material worked up into exquisite Hope – as the true artist ought
to do. – It still leaves the impression of rawness. –
I have advised her small pieces here & there, for so many years that it
quite grieves I cannot feel that in their collected form they would sell – or in
point of fact deserve to sell. – Yet many a person with half her genius has been
thought a poet – The devotional poems are some of them very beautiful – &
some are common-place – when analysed mere scriptural phrases & lines, put
together. –
The author has apparently gone spinning on to please herself – weaving up in it
all her sentiments & feelings – & doing it very beautifully too,
sometimes. – But as an interesting tale for people to read. I do not think it
has a chance. I have gone steadily through it to the end – is the reason I
have been so long in writing you. – But it was so good in many ways I thought I
ought to see if condensation would make it printable. – It never will. –
– Thank
Believe me – my dear friend – with every kind wish
I have sent