A Publisher And His Friends (Fiscle Part-4) - Samuel Smiles (books like beach read TXT) 📗

To Me Were Heard

Of By Me Without Surprise, And Excited No Sort Of Angry Feeling

Whatever. He Could Know Nothing Of Me But From Flying Rumours, For The

Nature Of Which _He_ Could In No Shape Be Answerable. As For Poor Rose's

Well-Meant Hints About My "Identifying Myself Perhaps In The Mind Of

Society With The Scavengers Of The Press," "The Folly Of _Your_ Risking

Your Name On A _Paper_," Etc., Etc., Of Course We Shall Equally

Appreciate All This. Rose Is A Timid Dandy, And A Bit Of A Whig To Boot.

I Shall Make Some Explanation To Him When I Next Have Occasion To Write

To Him, But That Sort Of Thing Would Come Surely With A Better Grace

From You Than From Me. I Have Not A Doubt That He Will Be A Daily

Scribbler In Your Paper Ere It Is A Week Old.

 

 

 

To All These People--Croker As Well As The Rest--John Murray Is Of Much

More Importance Than They Ever Can Be To Him If He Will Only _Believe_

What I _Know_, Viz. That His Own Name In _Society_ Stands Miles Above

Any Of Theirs. Croker _Cannot_ Form The Nucleus Of A Literary

Association Which You Have Any Reason To Dread. He Is Hated By The

Higher Tories Quite As Sincerely As By The Whigs: Besides, He Has Not

_Now-A-Days_ Courage To Strike An Effective Blow; He Will Not Come

Forward.

 

 

 

I Come To Pleasanter Matters. Nothing, Indeed, Can Be More Handsome,

More Generous Than Mr. Coleridge's Whole Behaviour. I Beg Of You To

Express To Him The Sense I Have Of The Civility With Which He Has Been

Pleased To Remember And Allude To _Me_, And Assure Him That I Am Most

Grateful For The Assistance He Offers, And Accept Of It To Any Extent He

Chooses.

 

 

 

In This Way Mr. Lockhart Succeeded To The Control Of What His Friend

John Wilson Called "A National Work"; And He Justified The Selection

Which Mr. Murray Had Made Of Him As Editor: Not Only Maintaining And

Enhancing The Reputation Of The _Review_, By Securing The Friendship Of

The Old Contributors, But Enlisting The Assistance Of Many New Ones. Sir

Walter Scott, Though "Working Himself To Pieces" To Free Himself From

Debt, Came To His Help, And To The First Number Which Lockhart Edited He

Contributed An Interesting Article On "Pepys' Memoirs."

 

 

 

Lockhart's Literary Taste And Discernment Were Of The Highest Order; And

He Displayed A Moderation And Gentleness, Even In His Adverse

Criticism, For Which Those Who Knew Him But Slightly, Or By Reputation

Only, Scarce Gave Him Credit. There Soon Sprang Up Between Him And His

Publisher An Intimacy And Mutual Confidence Which Lasted Till Murray's

Death; And Lockhart Continued To Edit The _Quarterly_ Till His Own Death

In 1854. In Truth There Was Need Of Mutual Confidence Between Editor And

Publisher, For They Were Called Upon To Deal With Not A Few Persons

Chapter 24 ( Mr. Lockhart As Editor Of The "Quarterly"--Hallam--Wordsworth--Death Of Constable) Pg 99

Whose Deep Interest In The _Quarterly_ Tempted Them At Times To Assume A

Somewhat Dictatorial Tone In Their Comments On And Advice For The

Management Of The _Review_. When An Article Written By Croker, On

Lamennais' "Paroles D'un Croyant," [Footnote: The Article By J.W.

Croker Was Afterwards Published In No. 104 Of The _Quarterly_.] Was

Under Consideration, Lockhart Wrote To The Publisher:

 

 

 

_Mr. Lockhart To John Murray_.

 

 

 

_November 8_, 1826.

 

 

 

My Dear Murray,

 

 

 

It Is Always Agreeable And Often Useful For Us To Hear What You Think Of

The Articles In Progress. Croker And I Both Differ From You As To The

General Affair, For This Reason Simply, That Lamennais Is To Paris What

Benson Or Lonsdale Is To London. His Book Has Produced And Is Producing

A Very Great Effect. Even Religious People There Applaud Him, And They

Are Re-Echoed Here By Old Jerdan, Who Pronounces That, Be He Right Or

Wrong, He Has Produced "A Noble Sacred Poem." It Is Needful To Caution

The English Against The Course Of France By Showing Up The Audacious

Extent Of Her Horrors, Political, Moral, And Religious; And You Know

What _Was_ The Result Of Our Article On Those Vile Tragedies, The

Extracts Of Which Were More Likely To Offend A Family Circle Than

Anything In The "Paroles D'un Croyant," And Which Even I Was Afraid Of.

Mr. Croker, However, Will Modify And Curtail The Paper So As To Get Rid

Of Your Specific Objections. It Had Already Been Judged Advisable To Put

The Last And Only Blasphemous Extract In French In Place Of English.

Depend Upon It, If We Were To Lower Our Scale So As To Run No Risk Of

Offending Any Good People's Delicate Feelings, We Should Soon Lower

Ourselves So As To Rival "My Grandmother The British" In Want Of

Interest To The World At Large, And Even (Though They Would Not Say So)

To The Saints Themselves.--_Verb. Sap_.

 

 

 

Like Most Sagacious Publishers, Murray Was Free From Prejudice, And Was

Ready To Publish For All Parties And For Men Of Opposite Opinions. For

Instance, He Published Malthus's "Essay On Population," And Sadler's

Contradiction Of The Theory. He Published Byron's Attack On Southey,

And Southey's Two Letters Against Lord Byron. He Published Nugent's

"Memorials Of Hampden," And The _Quarterly Review's_ Attack Upon It.

Southey's "Book Of The Church" Evoked A Huge Number Of Works On The

Roman Catholic Controversy, Most Of Which Were Published By Mr. Murray.

Mr. Charles Butler Followed With His "Book On The Roman Catholic

Church." And The Rev. Joseph Blanco White's "Practical And Internal

Chapter 24 ( Mr. Lockhart As Editor Of The "Quarterly"--Hallam--Wordsworth--Death Of Constable) Pg 100

Evidence Against Catholicism," With Occasional Strictures On Mr.

Butler's "Book On The Roman Catholic Church." Another Answer To Mr.

Butler Came From Dr. George Townsend, In His "Accusations Of History

Against The Church Of Rome." Then Followed The Divines, Of Whom There

Were Many: The Rev. Dr. Henry Phillpotts (Then Of Stanhope Rectory,

Durham, But Afterwards Bishop Of Exeter), In His "Letter To Charles

Butler On The Theological Parts Of His Book On The Roman Catholic

Church"; The Rev. G.S. Faber's "Difficulties Of Romanism"; And Many

Others.

 

 

 

While Most Authors Are Ready To Take "Cash Down" For Their Manuscripts,

There Are Others Who Desire To Be Remunerated In Proportion To The Sale

Of Their Works. This Is Especially The Case With Works Of History Or

Biography, Which Are Likely To Have A Permanent Circulation. Hence, When

The Judicious Mr. Hallam--Who Had Sold The First Three Editions Of

"Europe During The Middle Ages" To Mr. Murray For L1,400--Had Completed

His "Constitutional History Of England," He Made Proposals Which

Resulted In Mr. Murray's Agreeing To Print And Publish At His Own Cost

And Risk The "Constitutional History Of England," And Pay To The Author

Two-Thirds Of The Net Profits. And These Were The Terms On Which Mr.

Murray Published All Mr. Hallam's Subsequent Works.

 

 

 

Mr. Wordsworth About This Time Desired To Republish His Poems, And Made

Application With That Object To Mr. Murray, Who Thereupon Consulted

Lockhart.

 

 

 

_Mr. Lockhart To John Murray_. _July_ 9, 1826.

 

 

 

"In Regard To Wordsworth I Certainly Cannot Doubt That It Must Be

Creditable To Any Publisher To Publish The Works _Of_ One Who Is And

Must Continue To Be A Classic Poet Of England. Your Adventure With

Crabbe, However, Ought To Be A Lesson Of Much Caution. On The Other

Hand, Again, W.'S Poems _Must_ Become More Popular, Else Why So Many

Editions In The Course Of The Last Few Years. There Have Been _Two_ Of

The 'Excursion' Alone, And I Know That Those Have Not Satisfied The

Public. Everything, I Should Humbly Say, Depends On The Terms Proposed

By The Great Laker, Whose Vanity, Be It Whispered, Is Nearly As

Remarkable As His Genius."

 

 

 

The Following Is The Letter In Which Mr. Wordsworth Made His Formal

Proposal To Mr. Murray To Publish His Collected Poems:

 

 

 

Chapter 24 ( Mr. Lockhart As Editor Of The "Quarterly"--Hallam--Wordsworth--Death Of Constable) Pg 101

_Mr. Wordsworth To John Murray_.

 

 

 

Rydal Mount, Near Ambleside

 

 

 

_December_ 4, 1826.

 

 

 

Dear Sir,

 

 

 

I Have At Last Determined To Go To The Press With My Poems As Early As

Possible. Twelve Months Ago The Were To Have Been Put Into The Hands Of

Messrs. Robinson & Hurst, Upon The Terms Of Payment Of A Certain Sum,

Independent Of Expense On My Part; But The Failure Of That House

Prevented The Thing Going Forward. Before I Offer The Publication To Any

One But Yourself, Upon The Different Principle Agreed On Between You And

Me, As You May Recollect, Viz.; The Author To Meet Two-Thirds Of The

Expenses And Risk, And To Share Two-Thirds Of The Profit, I Think It

Proper To Renew That Proposal To You. If You Are Not Inclined To Accept

It, I Shall Infer So From Your Silence; If Such An Arrangement Suits

You, Pray Let Me _Immediately_ Know; And All I Have To Request Is, That

Without Loss Of Time, When I Have Informed You Of The Intended Quantity

Of Letter-Press, You Will Then Let Me Know What My Share Of The Expense

Will Amount To.

 

 

 

I Am, Dear Sir,

 

 

 

Your Obedient Servant,

 

 

 

Wm. Wordsworth.

 

 

 

As Mr. Murray Did Not Answer This Letter Promptly, Mr. H. Crabb Robinson

Called Upon Him To Receive His Decision, And Subsequently Wrote:

 

 

 

_Mr. H.G. Robinson To John Murray_.

 

 

 

Chapter 24 ( Mr. Lockhart As Editor Of The "Quarterly"--Hallam--Wordsworth--Death Of Constable) Pg 102

_February_ 1827.

 

 

 

"I Wrote To Mr. Wordsworth The Day After I Had The Pleasure Of Seeing

You. I Am Sorry To Say That My Letter Came Too Late. Mr. Wordsworth

Interpreted Your Silence Into A Rejection Of His Offer; And His Works

Will Unfortunately Lose The Benefit Of Appearing Under You Auspices.

They Have Been Under The Press Some Weeks."

 

 

 

For About Fifteen Years There