ABSTRACT
SaraHennellreferstotheearly1840sas'the"German" periodofourlives', 4butEliot'sowninterestandreading continuedunabatedlongafterthis,aswecanseefromher workfortheWestminsterReview.From1852through1854 everynumbercontainedasectiononGermanliterature;the threenumbersfromJuly1852toJanuary1853mentionover onehundredGermanworks,andeverynumberfrom1851 through1858includesarticlesonGermantheologyand philosophy.5From1855to1858halfofthethirty-fourshort reviewsornoticesshewrotewereonGermansubjects,and shealsowrotefivelongeressays:oneonHeinrichHeine, whichplayedalargepartinestablishinghisreputationin England,andherfamousarticleonRiehl'sNaturalHistoryof theGermanPeoplewhichformedthebasisforherviewson realisminart.Twoothers,onDrCumming'sEvangelismand Young'sNightThoughtsrespectively,arecritiqueswritten fromaFeuerbachianperspective.Forotherjournalsshealso
wroteTheFutureofGermanPhilosophy',1'heMoralityof WilhelmMeister'and'Liszt,Wagner,andWeimar'.6Together withLewesshetravelledtoGermanynolessthaneight times,mostlyforextendedperiodsandtotallingovertwo years,afactoftenobscuredbybiographersmoreintenton thenarrativeofherdevelopmentasanovelistandher relationshiptoLewes.Shealsocollaboratedextensivelywith LewesonhisLifeofGoethe,andherlettersanddiariestestify toherongoinginterestinGermanliteratureandideas.
