Works of Charles and Mary Lamb. VI-VII. Letters
Charles Lamb to Edward Moxon, [15 December 1831]
DEAR M.
†S. I know, has an aversion,
amounting almost to horror, of H. He would
not lend his name. The other I might wring a guinea from, but he is very properly shy of ![]()
| 1831 | NOTHING WITH MY NAME WILL SELL | 883 |
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his guineas. It would be improper in
me to apply to him, and impertinent to the
other. I hope this will satisfy you, but don’t give my
reason to H.’s friend, simply, say I decline it.
I am very much obliged to you for thinking of Cary. Put me down seven shillings (wasn’t
it?) in your books, and I set you down for more in my good ones. One Copy will
go down to immortality now, the more lasting as the less its leaves are
disturbed. This Letter will cost you 3d.—but I did not like to be silent on the
above†.
Nothing with my name will sell, a blast is upon it. Do not
think of such a thing, unless ever you become rich enough to speculate.
Being praised, and being bought, are different things to a
Book. Fancy books sell from fashion, not from the number of their real likers.
Do not come at so long intervals. Here we are sure to be.
Henry Francis Cary (1772-1844)
English poet; he was assistant-keeper of printed books at the British Museum (1826) and
translator of Dante (1805-19).
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)
English poet and philosopher who projected
Lyrical Ballads (1798)
with William Wordsworth; author of
Biographia Literaria (1817),
On the Constitution of the Church and State (1829) and other
works.
James Henry Leigh Hunt (1784-1859)
English poet, journalist, and man of letters; editor of
The
Examiner and
The Liberal; friend of Byron, Keats, and
Shelley.
Edward Moxon (1801-1858)
Poet and bookseller; after employment at Longman and Company he set up in 1830 with
financial assistance from Samuel Rogers and became the leading publisher of literary
poetry.
Robert Southey (1774-1843)
Poet laureate and man of letters whose contemporary reputation depended upon his prose
works, among them the
Life of Nelson, 2 vols (1813),
History of the Peninsular War, 3 vols (1823-32) and
The Doctor, 7 vols (1834-47).
