A Publisher And His Friends (Fiscle Part-4), Samuel Smiles [good beach reads txt] 📗

Home And Shadwell [Murray's Counsel] Took

Much Pains, I Think If You Were To Send Them Each A Copy Of The Cookery

Book, And (As A Novelty) Of 'Cain,' It Would Please Them."

 

 

 

Moore, In His Diary, Notes: [Footnote: "Moore: Memoirs, Journal, And

Correspondence," V. P. 119.] "I Called At Pickering's, In Chancery Lane,

Who Showed Me The Original Agreement Between Milton And Symonds For The

Payment Of Five Pounds For 'Paradise Lost.' The Contrast Of This Sum

With The L2,000 Given By Mr. Murray For Mrs. Rundell's 'Cookery'

Comprises A History In Itself. Pickering, Too, Gave Forty-Five Guineas

For This Agreement, Nine Times As Much As The Sum Given For The Poem."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 22 ( Washington Irving--Ugo Foscolo--Lady Caroline Lamb--"Hajji Baba"--Mrs. Markham's Histories.) Pg 44

 

The Book Trade Between England And America Was In Its Infancy At The,

Chapter 22 ( Washington Irving--Ugo Foscolo--Lady Caroline Lamb--"Hajji Baba"--Mrs. Markham's Histories.) Pg 45

Time Of Which We Are Now Writing, And Though Mr. Murray Was Frequently

Invited To Publish American Books, He Had Considerable Hesitation In

Accepting Such Invitations.

 

 

 

Mr. Washington Irving, Who Was Already Since 1807 Favourably Known As An

Author In America, Called Upon Mr. Murray, And Was Asked To Dine, As

Distinguished Americans Usually Were. He Thus Records His Recollections

Of The Event In A Letter To His Brother Peter At Liverpool:

 

 

 

 

_Mr. Washington Irving To Mr. Peter Irving_.

 

 

 

_August_ 19, 1817.

 

 

 

"I Had A Very Pleasant Dinner At Murray's. I Met There D'israeli And An

Artist [Brockedon] Just Returned From Italy With An Immense Number Of

Beautiful Sketches Of Italian Scenery And Architecture. D'israeli's Wife

And Daughter Came In In The Course Of The Evening, And We Did Not

Adjourn Until Twelve O'clock. I Had A Long _Tete-A-Tete_ With Old

D'israeli In A Corner. He Is A Very Pleasant, Cheerful Old Fellow,

Curious About America, And Evidently Tickled At The Circulation His

Works Have Had There, Though, Like Most Authors Just Now, He Groans At

Not Being Able To Participate In The Profits. Murray Was Very Merry And

Loquacious. He Showed Me A Long Letter From Lord Byron, Who Is In Italy.

It Is Written With Some Flippancy, But Is An Odd Jumble. His Lordship

Has Written Some 104 Stanzas Of The Fourth Canto ('Childe Harold'). He

Says It Will Be Less Metaphysical Than The Last Canto, But Thinks It

Will Be At Least Equal To Either Of The Preceding. Murray Left Town

Yesterday For Some Watering-Place, So That I Have Had No Further Talk

With Him, But Am To Keep My Eye On His Advertisements And Write To Him

When Anything Offers That I May Think Worth Republishing In America. I

Shall Find Him A Most Valuable Acquaintance On My Return To London."

 

 

 

A Business In Liverpool, In Which, With His Brother, He Was A Partner,

Proved A Failure, And In 1818 He Was Engaged On His Famous "Sketch

Book," Which He Wrote In England, And Sent To His Brother Ebenezer In

New York To Be Published There. The Work Appeared In Three Parts In The

Course Of The Year 1819. Several Of The Articles Were Copied In English

Periodicals And Were Read With Great Admiration. A Writer In _Blackwood_

Expressed Surprise That Mr. Irving Had Thought Fit To Publish His

"Sketch Book" In America Earlier Than In Britain, And Predicted A Large

And Eager Demand For Such A Work. On This Encouragement, Irving, Who Was

Still In England, Took The First Three Numbers, Which Had Already

Appeared In America, To Mr. Murray, And Left Them With Him For

Chapter 22 ( Washington Irving--Ugo Foscolo--Lady Caroline Lamb--"Hajji Baba"--Mrs. Markham's Histories.) Pg 46

Examination And Approval. Murray Excused Himself On The Ground That He

Did Not Consider The Work In Question Likely To Form The Basis Of

"Satisfactory Accounts," And Without This He Had No "Satisfaction" In

Undertaking To Publish.

 

 

 

Irving Thereupon Sought (But Did Not Take) The Advice Of Sir W. Scott,

And Entered Into An Arrangement With Miller Of The Burlington Arcade,

And In February 1820 The First Four Numbers Were Published In A Volume.

Miller Shortly After Became Bankrupt, The Sale Of The Book (Of Which One

Thousand Had Been Printed) Was Interrupted, And Irving's Hopes Of Profit

Were Dashed To The Ground. At This Juncture, Walter Scott, Who Was Then

In London, Came To His Help.

 

 

 

 

"I Called To Him For Help As I Was Sticking In The Mire, And, More

Propitious Than Hercules, He Put His Own Shoulder To The Wheel. Through

His Favourable Representations Murray Was Quickly Induced To Undertake

The Future Publication Of The Work Which He Had Previously Declined. A

Further Edition Of The First Volume Was Put To Press, And From That Time

Murray Became My Publisher, Conducting Himself In All His Dealings With

That Fair, Open, And Liberal Spirit Which Had Obtained For Him The

Well-Merited Appellation Of The Prince Of Booksellers." [Footnote:

Preface To The Revised Edition Of "The Sketch Book."]

 

 

 

Irving, Being Greatly In Want Of Money, Offered To Dispose Of The Work

Entirely To The Publisher, And Murray, Though He Had No Legal Protection

For His Purchase, Not Only Gave Him L200 For It, But Two Months Later

He Wrote To Irving, Stating That His Volumes Had Succeeded So Much

Beyond His Commercial Estimate That He Begged He Would Do Him The Favour

To Draw On Him At Sixty-Five Days For One Hundred Guineas In Addition To

The Sum Agreed Upon. And Again, Eight Months Later, Murray Made Irving A

Second Gratuitous Contribution Of A Hundred Pounds, To Which The Author

Replied, "I Never Knew Any One Convey So Much Meaning In So Concise And

Agreeable A Manner." The Author's "Bracebridge Hall" And Other Works

Were Also Published By Mr. Murray.

 

 

 

In 1822 Irving, Who Liked To Help His Literary Fellow-Countrymen, Tried

To Induce Mr. Murray To Republish James Fenimore Cooper's Novels In

England. Mr. Murray Felt Obliged To Decline, As He Found That These

Works Were Pirated By Other Publishers; American Authors Were Then

Beginning To Experience The Same Treatment In England Which English

Authors Have Suffered In America. The Wonder Was That Washington

Irving's Works So Long Escaped The Same Doom.

 

 

Chapter 22 ( Washington Irving--Ugo Foscolo--Lady Caroline Lamb--"Hajji Baba"--Mrs. Markham's Histories.) Pg 47

In 1819 Mr. Murray First Made The Acquaintance Of Ugo Foscolo. A Native

Of Zante, Descended From A Venetian Family Who Had Settled In The Ionian

Islands, Foscolo Studied At Padua, And Afterwards Took Up His Residence

At Venice. The Ancient Aristocracy Of That City Had Been Banished By

Napoleon Bonaparte, And The Conqueror Gave Over Venice To Austria.

Foscolo Attacked Bonaparte In His "Lettere Di Ortis." After Serving As A

Volunteer In The Lombard Legion Through The Disastrous Campaign Of 1799,

Foscolo, On The Capitulation Of Genoa, Retired To Milan, Where He

Devoted Himself To Literary Pursuits. He Once More Took Service--Under

Napoleon--And In 1805 Formed Part Of The Army Of England Assembled At

Boulogne; But Soon Left The Army, Went To Pavia (Where He Had Been

Appointed Professor Of Eloquence), And Eventually At The Age Of Forty

Took Refuge In England. Here He Found Many Friends, Who Supported Him In

His Literary Efforts. Among Others He Called Upon Mr. Murray, Who

Desired His Co-Operation In Writing For The _Quarterly_. An Article, On

"The Poems Of The Italians" Was His First Contribution. Mr. Thomas

Mitchell, The Translator Of "Aristophanes," Desired Mr. Murray To Give

Foscolo His Congratulations Upon His Excellent Essay, As Well As On His

Acquaintance With Our Language.

 

 

 

 

_Mr. Thomas Mitchell To John Murray_.

 

 

 

"The First Time I Had The Pleasure Of Seeing M. Foscolo Was At A _Table

D'hote_ At Berne. There Was Something In His Physiognomy Which Very Much

Attracted Nay Notice; And, For Some Reason Or Another, I Thought That I

Seemed To Be An Object Of His Attention. At Table, Foscolo Was Seated

Next To A Young Hanoverian, Between Whom And Me A Very Learned

Conversation Had Passed On The Preceding Evening, And A Certain Degree

Of Acquaintance Was Cemented In Consequence. The Table Was That Day

Graced With The Appearance Of Some Of The Court Ladies Of Stuttgard, And

All Passed Off With The Decorum Usually Observed Abroad, When Suddenly,

Towards The Conclusion Of The Feast A Violent Hubbub Was Heard Between

M. Foscolo And His Hanoverian Neighbour, Who, In Angry Terms And With

Violent Gestures, Respectively Asserted The Superior Harmonies Of Greek

And Latin. This Ended With The Former's Suddenly Producing A Card,

Accompanied With The Following Annunciation: 'Sir, My Name Is Ugo

Foscolo; I Am A Native Of Greece, And I Have Resided Thirty Years In

Italy; I Therefore Think I Ought To Know Something Of The Matter. This

Card Contains My Address, And If You Have Anything Further To Say, You

Know Where I Am To Be Found.' Whether Foscolo's Name Or Manner Daunted

The Young Hanoverian, Or Whether He Was Only A Bird Of Passage, I Don't

Know, But We Saw Nothing More Of Him After That Day. Foscolo, After The

Ladies Had Retired, Made An Apology, Directed A Good Deal To Me, Who, By

The Forms Of The Place, Happened To Be At The Head Of The Table; A

Considerable Degree Of Intimacy Took Place Between Us, And An Excellent

Man I Believe Him To Be, In Spite Of These Little Ebullitions."