Memoir of John Murray
George Henry Borrow to John Murray III, 31 December 1842
December 31st, 1842.
My dear Sir,
I have great pleasure in acknowledging your very kind letter
of the 28th, and am happy to hear that matters are going on so prosperously. It
is quite useless to write books unless they sell, and the public has of late
become so fastidious that it is no easy matter to please it. With respect to
the critique in the Times, I fully agree with you that it was harsh and
unjust, and the passages selected by no means calculated to afford a fair idea
of the contents of ![]()
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the work. A book, however, like
‘The Bible in
Spain’ can scarcely be published without exciting considerable
hostility, and I have been so long used to receiving hard knocks that they make
no impression upon me. After all, the abuse of the Times is better than its silence; it would
scarcely have attacked the work unless it had deemed it of some importance, and
so the public will think. All I can say is, that I did my best, never writing
but when the fit took me, and never delivering anything to my amanuensis but
what I was perfectly satisfied with. You ask me my opinion of the review in the
Quarterly. Very good, very clever, very neatly done. Only one
fault to find—too laudatory. I am by no means the person which the
reviewer had the kindness to represent me. I hope you are getting on well as to
health; strange weather this, very unwholesome, I believe, both for man and
beast: several people dead, and great mortality amongst the cattle. Am
tolerably well myself, but get but little rest—disagreeable
dreams—digestion not quite so good as I could wish; been on the water
system—won’t do; have left it off, and am now taking lessons in
singing. I hope to be in London towards the end of next month, and reckon much
upon the pleasure of seeing you. On Monday I shall mount my horse and ride into
Norwich to pay a visit to a few old friends. Yesterday the son of our excellent
Dawson Turner rode over to see me;
they are all well, it seems. Our friend Joseph
Gurney, however, seems to be in a strange way—diabetes, I
hear. I frequently meditate upon ‘The Life,’ and am arranging the
scenes in my mind. With best remembrances to Mrs.
M. and all your excellent family,
Truly and respectfully yours,
George Henry Borrow (1803-1881)
English linguist and travel writer tutored by William Taylor of Norwich who published
Lavengro (1851) and
Romany Rye (1857).
Joseph John Gurney (1788-1847)
Norwich banker and Quaker writer; he published
Observations on the
Religious Peculiarities of the Society of Friends (1824).
Anne Murray [née Elliot] (1782-1854)
The daughter of the Scottish bookseller Charles Elliot; she married the second John
Murray in 1807.
Dawson Turner (1775-1858)
Of Yarmouth, banker, botanist, and antiquary; he published
The
Botanist's Guide through England and Wales, 2 vols (1805) and other works.
The Quarterly Review. (1809-1967). Published by John Murray, the
Quarterly was instigated by Walter
Scott as a Tory rival to the
Edinburgh Review. It was edited by
William Gifford to 1824, and by John Gibson Lockhart from 1826 to 1853.
The Times. (1785-). Founded by John Walter, The Times was edited by Thomas Barnes from 1817 to 1841. In the
romantic era it published much less literary material than its rival dailies, the
Morning Chronicle and the
Morning
Post.
