Quarry for Middlemarch

Quarry for Middlemarch offers a rare and intimate glimpse into the creative process of George Eliot as she constructed her masterpiece. This fascinating scholarly study reveals the contents of Eliot’s personal notebook, meticulously detailing her research, inspirations, and evolving structural designs for Middlemarch. The notebook, acquired by Harvard University from the estate of poet Amy Lowell, serves as a repository of historical, medical, and political notes alongside character developments and plot arrangements. Through an examination of its contents, the book reconstructs how Eliot pieced together the intricate web of narratives that define Middlemarch, making this an invaluable resource for literary scholars and devoted readers alike.

What emerges from this study is a portrait of Eliot as both a rigorous researcher and an architect of fiction, balancing historical precision with narrative complexity. The notebook reveals her deep engagement with medical literature—essential for shaping the character of Lydgate—as well as her careful attention to contemporary political events, particularly the Reform Bill of 1832. Moreover, the evolving outlines and revised structures within Quarry for Middlemarch highlight the challenges Eliot faced in interweaving multiple storylines into a coherent whole. For anyone interested in the mechanics of literary genius, this book is an extraordinary document of artistic labor, shedding light on the careful planning and intellectual depth behind one of the greatest novels of the 19th century.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1950.