Fifty Years’ Recollections, Literary and Personal
“I am quite astonished that there can be the slightest
misunderstanding respecting the price of my articles. I stated that I had no
objection to contribute to so respectable a publication, but that I considered
it right to state, that I never received less than six guineas an article,
prose or verse, short or long. A respectable magazine is continually craving
for my papers at that price, and the remuneration I receive from the annuals is
much higher. I received a letter to say that the price of six guineas is not
objectionable, and that the copyright (for which I had also stipulated) was
with the author. This letter I have kept, and you shall see it ![]()
| LITERARY AND PERSONAL. | 223 |
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when my father
goes to London, as I expect he will, in about a fortnight, and then the matter
will be cleared up. In the meanwhile, the scene you have (unless you decide on
continuing the price at six guineas) had better remain unprinted. My own
feeling is that on speaking to Mr.
C——, he will immediately remember the letter, and
set the matter right at once. In any event, you can retain the article until my
father goes to town, when he will certainly see you or Mr. Valpy, who will, undoubtedly remember my
letter to him.
“I have the honour to be, dear Sir,
“Your obedient servant,
P.S.—To imagine for a moment that I should write at
six guineas per sheet (or twelve?) is ridiculous. I left off writing for
the magazines generally because sixteen was not enough, and in my letter to
Mr. V——, was as
clear as possible on the point, I especially said six guineas an article,
long or short.
Thomas Campbell (1777-1844)
Scottish poet and man of letters; author of
The Pleasures of Hope
(1799),
Gertrude of Wyoming (1808) and lyric odes. He edited the
New Monthly Magazine (1821-30).
George Mitford (1760-1842)
The spendthrift father of Mary Russell Mitford; he was a sometimes physician who survived
on the inheritance of his wife and the earnings of his daughter.
Mary Russell Mitford (1787-1855)
English poet, playwright, and essayist; author of
Our Village: Sketches
of Rural Character and Scenery (1824, etc.).
Cyrus Redding (1785-1870)
English journalist; he was a founding member of the Plymouth Institute, edited
Galignani's Messenger from 1815-18, and was the effective editor of
the
New Monthly Magazine (1821-30) and
The
Metropolitan (1831-33).
Abraham John Valpy (1787-1854)
Son of the Reading schoolmaster Richard Valpy, he was a London printer who specialized in
classical texts. With the poet George Dyer he published 141 volumes of Delphin classics
(1819-30).
