ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Eliot's and Braddon's engagement was with an invented tradition of 'gentlemanly' publishing when explaning how Romantic print culture became an all-pervasive point of reference. It suggests that when dealing with literary renown, Braddon and Eliot appropriated the critical models of the late Romantic period to meet their own creative needs. Eliot's and Braddon's invocation of the 'gentlemanly' standards of reviewing is example of the Romantic afterlives that continued to haunt and inspire the Victorians. Equally important is the contrary aims of Braddon and Eliot in the way they appropriated Romantic print culture. The chapter demonstrates the intriguing ways in which two female authors, who appear to occupy opposite ends of the market, handled the legacy of required female respectability in the Victorian culture of literary celebrity, fuelled by the very print culture in which these authors made their living as professional writers.
