Middlemarch appeared in eight books or volumes between December 1871 and December 1872. In 2000, W. W. Norton published a second edition of its Norton Critical Edition of the novel.
In her journal for January 1, 1873, Eliot reported on the initial response to Middlemarch: “No former book of mine has been received with more enthusiasm.” Indeed, the Saturday Review, for December 7, 1872, stated: “as a didactic novel it has scarcely been equaled.” It also pointed out: “The quarrel with humanity in Middlemarch is its selfishness.” By contrast to this widespread human failing, it stated that “Dorothea is so noble and striking a character—her charm grow[s] upon us as the story advances.” Once the complete novel had been published, Sidney Colvin, writing for Fortnightly Review on January 19, 1873, called Middlemarch “the chief English book.....
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