Smiles: Memoir of John Murray

The public has long since made up its mind as to the merits of Colonel Napier’s ‘History of the Peninsular War.’ It is a work which none but a soldier who had served through the war as he had done, and who, moreover, combined with practical experience a thorough knowledge of the science of war, could have written. A proof of this is afforded by the miserable failure of Southey’s History. Napier, with all his knowledge and abilities, was not free from the prejudices of party. He was a Whig; his friend Sir John Moore was the military hero of his heart, and it was long before he could persuade himself that Wellington would succeed where Moore had failed. He was inclined to do at least full justice to the French, and in particular to Marshal Soult, with whom he had formed a firm friendship while a prisoner in his hands. This led to Soult’s entrusting to him his confidential papers and despatches.

Though Murray was the publisher of Southey’s History of the War in Spain, Napier applied to him to undertake his work, and some correspondence ensued before an arrangement was definitely arrived at. In May 1827 we find Murray sending to Colonel Napier General Foy’s posthumous and fragmentary History of the War, which had been submitted to him for publication:—

3. King Joseph’s correspondence taken at the battle of Vittoria, and placed at my disposal by the Duke of Wellington. Among other papers are several notes and detailed instructions by Napoleon which throw a complete light upon his views and proceedings in the early part of the war.

A few days later, Colonel Napier wrote to Mr. Murray, accepting his offer of terms, and the volume was accordingly published in the course of 1828. Notwithstanding the beauty of its style and the grandeur of its descriptions, the book gave great offence by the severity of its criticism, and called forth a multitude of replies and animadversions. More than a dozen of these appeared in the shape of pamphlets bearing their author’s names, added to which the Quarterly Review, departing from the general rule, gave no less than four criticisms in succession. This innovation greatly disgusted the publisher, who regarded them as so much lead weighing down his Review, although they proceeded from the pen of Duke’s right-hand man, the Rt. Hon. Sir George Murray. They were unreadable and produced no effect. It is needless to add the Duke had nothing to do with them. Washington Irving received a copy of the volume at Seville, and wrote to Murray that General Giron (Marquis of Amarillas) stated that it was full of inaccuracies, especially when relating to Spain, the Spanish soldiers, and the Juntas; that it was too much founded on French accounts, and on estimates made by reconnoitring parties, which were totally at variance with the facts as existing in official papers.

Mr. Murray published no further volumes of the ‘History of the Peninsular War,’ but at his suggestion Colonel Napier brought out the second and succeeding volumes on his own account. In illustration of the loss which occurred to Mr. Murray in publishing the first volume of the history, the following letter may be given, as addressed to the editor of the Morning Chronicle:—

“Sir George Murray only has thrown obstacles in my way, and if I am rightly informed of the following circumstances, his opposition has not been confined to what I have stated above. Mr. Murray, the bookseller, purchased my first volume, with the right of refusal for the second volume. When the latter was nearly ready, a friend informed me that he did not think Murray would purchase, because he had heard him say that Sir George Murray had declared it was not ‘The Book.’ He did not point out any particular error, but it was not ‘The Book,’ meaning, doubtless, that his own production, when it appeared, would be ‘The Book.’ My friend’s prognostic was not false. I was offered just half of the sum given for the first volume. I declined it, and published on my own account, and certainly I have had no reason to regret that Mr. Bookseller Murray waited for ‘The Book,’ indeed, he has since told me very frankly that he had mistaken his own interest.”

Upon making up the account of the sale of the first volume of ‘The History of the War in the Peninsula’ I find that I am at this time minus £545 12s. At this loss I do by no means in the present instance repine, for I have derived much gratification from being the publisher of a work which is so intrinsically valuable, and which has been so generally admired, and it is some satisfaction to me to find by this result that my own proposal to you was perfectly just. I will not, however, venture to offer you a less sum for the second volume, but recommend that you should, in justice to yourself, apply to some other publishers; if you should obtain from them the sum which you are right in expecting, it will afford me great pleasure, and, if you do not, you will find me perfectly ready to negotiate; and in any case I shall continue to be, with the highest esteem, dear Sir,

Colonel Gurwood was appointed editor of the ‘Despatches,’ and, during their preparation, not a page escaped the Duke’s eye, or his own careful revision. Mr. Murray, who was honoured by being chosen as the publisher, compared this wonderful collection of documents to a watch: hitherto the general public had only seen in the successful and orderly development of his campaigns, as it were the hands moving over the dial without fault or failure, but now the Duke opened the works, and they were enabled to inspect the complicated machinery—the wheels within wheels—which had produced this admirable result. It is enough to state that in these despatches the whole truth relating to the Peninsular War is fully and elaborately set forth.

At the beginning of 1829 Croker consulted Murray on the subject of an annotated edition of ‘Boswell’s Johnson.’ Murray was greatly pleased with the idea of a new edition of the work by his laborious friend, and requested him to put his proposals in writing. Accordingly Croker, in a few days (9th January, 1829), sent Murray a long letter, stating the method he proposed to pursue in carrying out the work.*

Mr. Murray at once closed with Croker’s proposal, and in his answer wrote, “I shall be happy to give, as something in the way of remuneration, the sum of one thousand guineas.” Mr. Croker accepted the offer, and proceeded immediately with the work.

“I am heartily rejoiced that this ‘Johnson,’ of which we had so often talked, is in such hands at whatever cost. Pray ask Croker whether Boswell’s account of the Hebridean Tour ought not to be melted into the book. Sir Walter has many MS. annotations in his ‘Boswell,’ both ‘Life’ and ‘Tour,’ and will, I am sure, give them with hearty good will. . . . He will write down all that he has heard about Johnson when in Scotland; and, in particular, about the amusing intercourse between him and Lord Auchinleck—Boswell’s father—if Croker considers it worth his while.”

“I am reading the new ‘Boswell’ with great pleasure, though, I think, the editor is often wrong. A prodigious flood of light is thrown on the book assuredly; and the incorporation of the ‘Tour’ is a great advantage. Now, do have a really good Index. That to the former edition I have continually found inadequate and faulty. The book is a dictionary of wisdom and wit, and one should know exactly where to find the dictum magistri. Many of Croker’s own remarks and little disquisitions will also be hereafter among the choicest of quotabilia.”

Croker carried out the work with great industry and vigour, and it appeared in 1831. It contained numerous additions, notes, explanations, and memoranda, and as the first attempt to explain the difficulties and enigmas which lapse of time had created, it may not unfairly be said to have been admirably edited; and though Macaulay, according to his own account, “smashed” it in the Edinburgh,* some fifty thousand of the ‘Life’ have been sold.

“I have read ‘Boswell’s Journal’ ten times: I hope to read it many more. It is the most amusing book in the world. Besides that, I do love the kind-hearted, wise, and gentle Bear, and think him as lovable and kind a friend as a profound philosopher. I do not see, in your list of authors whose anecdotes are extracted, the name of Mrs. D’Arblay; her account of Dr. Johnson, Mrs. Thrale, &c., in her ‘Memoirs of Dr. Burney,’ are highly interesting and valuable.”

Crofton Croker, a cousin of John Wilson, author of the

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‘Irish Fairy Legends,’ was described by Sir Walter Scott as being “as little as a dwarf, as keen-eyed as a hawk, and of easy, prepossessing manners, something like Tom Moore.” His first series of the ‘Fairy Legends’ brought him £80; but the demand for them was so considerable, that when the second series was ready for the press, we find Mr. Murray writing to him:—

Mr. Henry Taylor submitted his play of ‘Isaac Comnenus,’—his first work—to Mr. Murray, in February 1827. Lockhart was consulted, and, after perusing the play, he wrote to Mr. Murray:—

Lockhart’s suggestion was submitted to Mr. Taylor, who gratefully acknowledged his criticism, and proceeded to amend his play. He wrote to Mr. Murray:—

Mr. Taylor made a very unusual request. He proposed to divide the loss on his drama with the publisher! He wrote to Mr. Murray:—

Though Mr. Lockhart gave an interesting review of ‘Isaac Comnenus,’ in the Quarterly, it still hung fire, and did not sell. A few years later, however, Henry Taylor showed what he could do, as a poet, by his ‘Philip van Artevelde,’ which raised his reputation to the highest point. Moore, after the publication of this drama, wrote in his ‘Diary’:—” I breakfasted in the morning at Rogers’s, to meet the new poet, Mr. Taylor, author of ‘Philip van Artevelde’: our company, besides, being Sydney Smith and Southey. ‘Van Artevelde’ is a tall, handsome young fellow. Conversation chiefly about the profits booksellers

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make of us scribblers. I remember Peter Pindar saying, one of the few times I ever met him, that the booksellers drank their wine in the manner of the heroes in the hall of Odin, out of authors’ skulls.” This was a sharp saying; but Rogers, if he had chosen to relate his own experiences when he negotiated with Mr. Murray about the sale of Crabbe’s works, and the result of that negociation, might have proved that the rule was not of universal application.

Mrs. Graham, who by this time had become Mrs. Callcott, after her return from Rio de Janeiro, where she had been companion and governess to the Princesses of Brazil, again devoted herself to literary work. Mr. Murray put into her hands, for the purpose of correcting, and in a great measure re-writing, Lord Byron’s ‘Voyage of the Blonde to the Sandwich Islands.’ Although Mr. Murray had sent her £100 for her work, he afterwards added something more, against which she protested in the following words:—

Dr. Paris had a curious correspondence with Mr. Murray in 1829. He had published an elementary work, called ‘Philosophy in Sport made Science in Earnest,’ anonymously, lest it should damage his professional position; for there are some persons who think that a man who writes a book, and still more one who writes a poem, is good for nothing in the way of professional business. Dr. Paris’s book, however, sold remarkably well, and he then consulted Mr. Murray as to a second edition. “You would be very much amazed,” he said, “as to the various opinions I have received upon the subject. The Novelist is for getting rid of the Philosophy, and the Philosopher is anxious to exclude the Novel,—so that, if I were to follow the advice given, I should be in the situation of the husband with a young and old wife—the one pulling out all the grey, and the other all the brown hairs; and all that would be left of the work would be its pasteboard covers.” A new edition was, however, published, and it long continued to be a popular book with young people, eager for the first glimmerings of science.

This is the only point of novelty, I had almost said of interest, which we find in these letters. They are the least amusing of Walpole’s. The reason is that he and Mason had at this time no common acquaintance, and hardly any common topic, but Mason’s ‘Life of Gray.’ So that the chit-chat of Society, and the strings of proper names, all set in anecdotes, which adorn his other letters have not a place in these. I dare say the subsequent correspondence improves, but even this volume is very well worthy of the press. There are some particulars about Gray which are still interesting in Walpole’s way of telling them, though Mason has given them to the public in his own way.

I think it a pity that there is not a general edition of Walpole’s letters, with copious notes. Miss Berry could, and I think ought to, do this honour to the memory of her old friend. His letters, I am satisfied, will be the amusement of posterity, as Madame de Sévigné’s are; but a great deal of the wit will be lost, and the whole will become obscure if notes are not (before it is too late) added to explain his allusions, many of which are already dark even to me—a kind of contemporary, for I was fifteen years old when he died.

‘The Family Library’ has already been mentioned. Mr. Murray had long contemplated a serial publication, by means of which good literature and copyright works might be rendered cheaper and more accessible to a wide circle of readers than they had hitherto been. We have already seen his correspondence with Mr. Constable on the subject in 1825, when the Edinburgh publisher was about to bring out his Miscellany.

The next work in ‘The Family Library’ was the Rev. H. H. Milman’s ‘History of the Jews,’ in three vols., which occasioned much adverse criticism and controversy to Milman himself, who was regarded by some orthodox Churchmen as a man of heretical views. It is difficult for us who live in such different times to understand or account for the tempest of disapprobation with which a work, which now appears so innocent, was greeted, or the obloquy with which its author was assailed. The ‘History of the Jews’ was pronounced unsound; it was alleged that the miracles had been too summarily disposed of; Abraham was referred to as an Arab sheik, and Jewish history was too sacred to be submitted to the laws of ordinary investigation. Hence Milman was preached against, from Sunday to Sunday, from the University and other pulpits, in the most unmeasured language, as one of the most dangerous and pernicious of writers. Even Mr. Sharon Turner expostulated with Mr. Murray as to the publication of the book. He said

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he had seen it in the window of Carlisle, the infidel bookseller, “as if he thought it suited his purpose.” Turner went on to say that he regretted that the author shrank from the Miracles and the Prophecies, and that Milman had got his ideas from the German semi-theology.

Mr. Murray sent Sharon Turner’s expostulation to Mr. Milman, who was then engaged with the third volume, and on sending it to Mr. Murray for press, he wrote:—

“‘Family Library’—‘Family Bible.’ There is but one miracle in which we do not agree, and in that I have only stated opinions, one of which is that of Grotius, and have given none of my own. . . . As for Carlisle’s window, the Record may be thanked for that. As tending to keep up the clamour I regret it; as anxious for the extension of sound religion, and confident of the effect of my book on every unbigoted mind, I only wish all Carlisle’s customers would read it. A noble lord once wrote to the bishop of a certain diocese to complain that a baronet, who lived in the same parish, brought his mistress to church, which sorely shocked his regular family. The bishop gravely answered, that he was very glad to hear that Sir —— brought his naughty lady to church, and hoped that she would profit by what she heard there, and amend her ways. So say I of Carlisle’s customers.”

In the third volume of ‘The History of the Jews,’ Mr. Milman took the opportunity of introducing in the preface a reply to his critics The following letter is interesting as indicating what the Jews themselves thought of the history.

Mr. Milman’s ‘History of Christianity,’ was not published until 1840; and it was pronounced to be an able, learned, and profound work. In short, Milman’s Histories have long since taken their place among English Classics, and continue in great demand to the present day. His ‘History of the Jews’ did not prevent his preferment, as he was promoted from the vicarage of St. Mary’s, Reading, to the rectorship of St. Margaret’s, Westminster, and a canonry in the Collegiate Church of St. Peter; after which, in 1849, he was made Dean of St. Paul’s.

In the summer of 1829, Mr. Murray with his family made a tour in the West of England and in Wales, and the following account of a visit to the survivor of the Ladies of Llangollen will form an interesting conclusion to this chapter:—

“We had a great treat yesterday, and the day previous, in being invited to introduce ourselves to the celebrated Miss Ponsonby, of whom you must have heard as becoming early tired of fashionable life, and having withdrawn, accompanied by a kindred friend, Lady Eleanor Butler, to a delightful and at that period unfrequented spot, a quarter of a mile from Llangollen, overhanging the rapid and beautiful river Dee. The latter lady died there a few months ago at the age of 91, after having lived with Miss Pensonby in the same cottage upwards of fifty years It is very singular that the ladies intending to retire from the world, absolutely brought all the world to visit them, for after a few years of seclusion their strange story was the universal subject of conversation, and there has been no person of rank, talent, and importance in any way who did not procure introductions to them. All that was passing in the world they had fresh as it arose, and in four hours’ conversation with Miss Ponsonby one day, when we were alone, and during three the next, when Mrs. M. and my daughters were with me, I found that she knew everybody and everything, and was at the age of 80, or nearly so, a most inexhaustible fund of entertaining instruction and lively communication. The cottage is remarkable for the taste of its appropriate fitting up with ancient oak, presented by different friends, from old castles and monasteries, &c., none of it of less antiquity than 1200 years. She declared to me that during the whole fifty years she never knew a moment that hung heavy upon her, and no sorrows but from the loss of friends.”

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Mary Berry (1763-1852) Of Twickenham, the elder sister of her companion Agnes Berry (1764-1852); she was a diarist and one of Horace Walpole's primary correspondents.

John James Blunt (1794-1855) English divine educated at St John's College, Cambridge; he was Lady Margaret professor of divinity at Cambridge (1839).

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Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck (1707-1782) Scottish judge, the father of the biographer of Samuel Johnson.

James Boswell (1740-1795) Scottish man of letters, author of The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791).

Sir David Brewster (1781-1868) Scottish natural philosopher and editor of the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia (1807-1830). He contributed to the Literary Gazette and invented the kaleidoscope.

Henry Peter Brougham, first baron Brougham and Vaux (1778-1868) Educated at Edinburgh University, he was a founder of the Edinburgh Review in which he chastised Byron's Hours of Idleness; he defended Queen Caroline in her trial for adultery (1820), established the London University (1828), and was appointed lord chancellor (1830).

James Bruce of Kinnaird (1730-1794) Scottish traveler in Africa; he was the author of Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, 5 vols (1790).

Frances D'Arblay [née Burney] (1752-1840) English novelist, the daughter of the musicologist Dr. Charles Burney; author of Evelina; or, The History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World (1778), Cecilia, or Memoirs of an Heiress (1782), and Camilla (1796).

Lady Charlotte Eleanor Butler (1739-1829) The daughter of Walter Butler of Garryricken, and elder of the two Ladies of Llangollen; she lived in picturesque and much-admired retirement with her companion Sarah Ponsonby (1755-1831).

Sir Augustus Wall Callcott (1779-1844) English landscape painter; he was the younger brother of John Wall Callcott and the second husband of Maria Dundas Callcott.

Lady Maria Callcott [née Dundas] (1785-1842) The daughter of Admiral George Dundas, in 1809 she married Thomas Graham (d. 1822), and in 1827 the painter Augustus Wall Callcott; she was a prolific author of books on travel, art, and history, and a notable society hostess in Kensington.

Richard Carlile (1790-1843) Radical printer and bookseller who published The Republican (1819-26); convicted of “blasphemous libel,” he spent ten years of his life in prison.

Hugh Clapperton (1788-1827) Naval officer and explorer who travelled in Nigeria 1822-25; his journals were posthumously published.

Archibald Constable (1774-1827) Edinburgh bookseller who published the Edinburgh Review and works of Sir Walter Scott; he went bankrupt in 1826.

George Crabbe (1754-1832) English poet renowned for his couplet verse and gloomy depictions of country persons and places; author of the The Village (1783), The Parish Register (1807), The Borough (1810), and Tales of the Hall (1819).

John Wilson Croker (1780-1857) Secretary of the Admiralty (1810) and writer for the Quarterly Review; he edited an elaborate edition of Boswell's Life of Johnson (1831).

Thomas Crofton Croker (1798-1854) Irish antiquary who published Researches in the South of Ireland (1824) and Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland, 3 vols (1825-28). He wrote for the Literary Gazette.

George Cruikshank (1792-1878) English caricaturist who illustrated the satirical periodical The Scourge (1811-16) and later Dickens's Sketches by Boz (1836).

Allan Cunningham [Hidallan] (1784-1842) Scottish poet and man of letters who contributed to both Blackwood's and the London Magazine; he was author of Lives of the most Eminent British Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (1829-33).

George D'Oyly (1778-1846) English theologian and domestic chaplain to the archbishop of Canterbury who entered into controversy with Sir William Drummond regarding Oedipus Judaicus; he contributed to the Quarterly Review.

Sir Hew Whitefoord Dalrymple, first baronet (1750-1830) British general who commanded the Gibraltar garrison (1806-08) and signed the unpopular Convention of Cintra; he was created baronet 1815.

Godfrey Faussett (1781-1853) Educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, he was Canon of Christ Church, Oxford and professor of divinity (1827-1853).

Maximilien Sebastien Foy (1775-1825) French general who served under Marshal Soult in the Peninsular War.

Sir John Franklin (1786-1847) British explorer who led expeditions to the arctic in 1819-22 and 1825-27; he was lost during an attempt to discover the Northwest Passage.

Pedro Agustin Giron (1778-1842) Spanish officer and Minister of War (1824, 1835).

George Robert Gleig (1796-1888) Prolific Tory writer who rose to attention with The Subaltern, serialized in Blackwood's; he was appointed chaplain-general of the forces in 1844.

Thomas Gray (1716-1771) English poet, author of “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College,” “Elegy written in a Country Churchyard,” and “The Bard”; he was professor of history at Cambridge (1768).

Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) Dutch jurist, author of De jure belli ac pacis (1625).

John Gurwood (1790-1845) After service in the Peninsular War he was private secretary to the Duke of Wellington; he died a suicide.

Henry Hallam (1777-1859) English historian and contributor to the Edinburgh Review, author of Introduction to the Literature of Europe, 4 vols (1837-39) and other works. He was the father of Tennyson's Arthur Hallam.

Sir Francis Bond Head, first baronet (1793-1875) Engineer, governor of Upper Canada (1835-37), and contributor to the Quarterly Review.

Joseph Hume (1777-1855) After service in India he became a radical MP for Weymouth (1812), Aberdeen (1818-30, 1842-55), Middlesex (1830-37), and Kilkenny (1837-41); he was an associate of John Cam Hobhouse and a member of the London Greek Committee. Maria Edgeworth: “Don't like him much; attacks all things and persons, never listens, has no judgment.”

Washington Irving [Geoffrey Crayon] (1783-1859) American writer living in England in 1815, where he made his reputation with The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent (1820).

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English man of letters, among many other works he edited A Dictionary of the English Language (1755) and Shakespeare (1765), and wrote Lives of the Poets (1779-81).

Charles Knight (1791-1873) London publisher, originally of Windsor where he produced The Etonian; Dallas's Recollections of Lord Byron was one of his first ventures. He wrote Passages of a Working Life during half a Century, 3 vols (1864-65).

John Gibson Lockhart (1794-1854) Editor of the Quarterly Review (1825-1853); son-in-law of Walter Scott and author of the Life of Scott 5 vols (1838).

Thomas Babington Macaulay, baron Macaulay (1800-1859) English poet, critic, and historian, author of The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, 5 vols (1849-61).

Jacob Magnus (1805-1888) John Murray's Jewish correspondent; he is possibly the London wine merchant who was father of Sir Philip Magnus.

Richard Mant, bishop of Down and Connor (1776-1848) Poet and divine educated at Winchester and Trinity College, Oxford; he was bishop of Killaloe and Kilfenora (1820), Down and Connor (1823), edited the poems of Thomas Warton, and published History of the Church of Ireland, 2 vols (1840).

William Mason (1725-1797) English poet, the friend and biographer of Thomas Gray; author of Odes (1756), Elfrida (1752), and The English Garden (4 books, 1772-81).

Henry Hart Milman (1791-1868) Educated at Eton and Brasenose College, Oxford, he was a poet, historian and dean of St Paul's (1849) who wrote for the Quarterly Review.

Sir John Moore (1761-1809) A hero of the Peninsular Campaign, killed at the Battle of Corunna; he was the son of Dr. John Moore, the author of Zeluco.

Thomas Moore (1779-1852) Irish poet and biographer, author of the Irish Melodies (1807-34), The Fudge Family in Paris (1818), and Lalla Rookh (1817); he was Byron's close friend and designated biographer.

Alexander Murray (1775-1813) Scottish linguist and associate of John Leyden; he was professor of oriental languages in Edinburgh University (1812).

Anne Murray [née Elliot] (1782-1854) The daughter of the Scottish bookseller Charles Elliot; she married the second John Murray in 1807.

Sir George Murray (1772-1846) The son of Sir William Murray, of Ochtertyre, fifth baronet; he was a general who served under Wellington in the Peninsular War and was afterwards a Tory MP and commander-in-chief in Ireland (1825-28).

John Murray II (1778-1843) The second John Murray began the Quarterly Review in 1809 and published works by Scott, Byron, Austen, Crabbe, and other literary notables.

John Murray III (1808-1892) The son of the Anak of publishers; he successfully carried on the family publishing business.

Sir William Francis Patrick Napier (1785-1860) British general; served in Spain and Portugal (1808-13); author of History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France, from the Year 1807 to the Year 1814, 6 vols (1828).

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Sir Francis Palgrave (1788-1861) Barrister, medieval historian, and writer for the Quarterly Review; he was keeper of her majesty's records, 1838-61.

Matthew Pilkington (1701-1774) Irish poet and acquaintance of Swift and Pope; his Gentleman's and Connoisseur's Dictionary of Painters (1770) became a standard work.

Hester Piozzi [née Lynch] (1741-1821) Poet, diarist, and friend of Doctor Johnson; in 1763 married 1) Henry Thrale (1728-1781) and in 1784 2) Gabriel Mario Piozzi (1740-1809). She contributed to the Della Cruscan volume, The Florence Miscellany (1785).

Sarah Ponsonby (1755-1831) The daughter of Chambre Brabazon Ponsonby; she was the younger of the two Ladies of Llangollen, living in picturesque and much-admired retirement with her companion Eleanor Butler (1739-1829).

Samuel Rogers (1763-1855) English poet, banker, and aesthete, author of the ever-popular Pleasures of Memory (1792), Columbus (1810), Jaqueline (1814), and Italy (1822-28).

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) Scottish poet, novelist, antiquary, biographer, editor, and sheriff.

Marie de Sévigné (1626-1696) French woman of letters; the manner of her correspondence was imitated throughout the eighteenth century.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley [née Godwin] (1797-1851) English novelist, daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecaft, and the second wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley. She is the author of Frankenstein (1818) and The Last Man (1835) and the editor of Shelley's works (1839-40).

Sydney Smith (1771-1845) Clergyman, wit, and one of the original projectors of the Edinburgh Review; afterwards lecturer in London and one of the Holland House denizens.

William Somerville (1771-1860) Scottish physician, son of the historian Thomas Somerville and friend of Sir John Barrow and John Murray, husband of the writer Mary Fairfax Somervillle; he was physician to Chelsea Hospital (1819-38).

Nicholas Soult (1769-1851) Marshal of France and commander in the Peninsular War.

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).

Sir Henry Taylor (1800-1886) Poet, writer for the Quarterly Review, and autobiographer; he was author of the tragedy Philip van Artevelde (1834).

Thomas Tegg (1776-1846) London bookseller who sold remainders and inexpensive editions of out-of-copyright books.

Sharon Turner (1768-1847) Attorney, historian, and writer for the Quarterly Review; he wrote History of the Anglo-Saxons, 4 vols (1799-1805).

Horace Walpole, fourth earl of Orford (1717-1797) English biographer, letter-writer, and antiquary; son of Sir Robert Walpole; author of The Castle of Otranto (1764).

Arthur Wellesley, first duke of Wellington (1769-1852) Soldier and statesman; commander in the Peninsular Campaign (1809-1813), he defeated Napoleon at Waterloo and was prime minister (1828-1830).

John Williams (1792-1858) Classical scholar educated at Balliol College, Oxford; he was a classmate of John Gibson Lockhart and friend of Sir Walter Scott, whose son he tutored, and rector of the Edinburgh Academy (1824-27, 1829-47).

John Wilson [Christopher North] (1785-1854) Scottish poet and Tory essayist, the chief writer for the “Noctes Ambrosianae” in Blackwood's Magazine and professor of moral philosophy at Edinburgh University (1820).

John Wolcot [Peter Pindar] (1738-1819) English satirist who made his reputation by ridiculing the Royal Academicians and the royal family.

The Edinburgh Review, or Critical Journal. (1802-1929). Founded by Francis Jeffery, Sydney Smith, and Henry Brougham, the Edinburgh Review was for decades a principal organ of Whig opinion in Britain.

Morning Chronicle. (1769-1862). James Perry was proprietor of this London daily newspaper from 1789-1821; among its many notable poetical contributors were Coleridge, Southey, Lamb, Rogers, and Campbell.

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.

Sir John Barrow, first baronet (1764-1848) The Eventful History of the Mutiny and Piratical Seizure of H.M.S. Bounty, its Causes and Consequences. (London: J. Murray, 1831).

James Boswell (1740-1795) The Life of Samuel Johnson. 2 vols (London: 1791). One of the most widely-read books of the romantic era, and a model for Moore's Letters and Journals of Lord Byron (1830) and Lockhart's Life of Scott (1837-38).

James Boswell (1740-1795) The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, with Samuel Johnson, LL. D.. (London: Charles Dilly, 1785).

James Bruce of Kinnaird (1730-1794) Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile: in the years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773. 8 vols (Edinburgh: A. Constable and Co., 1805). Edited by Alexander Murray; originally published in 5 vols, 1790.

Frances D'Arblay [née Burney] (1752-1840) Memoirs of Dr. Burney, arranged from his own Manuscripts, from Family Papers, and from Personal Recollections. 3 vols (London: E. Moxon, 1832).

Lady Maria Callcott [née Dundas] (1785-1842), George Anson Byron, seventh Baron Byron (1789-1868) Voyage of H.M.S. Blonde to the Sandwich islands, in the Years 1824-1825 Captain the Right Hon. Lord Byron, Commander. (London: J. Murray, 1826). Compiled by Lady Callcott from writings by the officers and others on ship.

John Wilson Croker (1780-1857) The Croker Papers. The Correspondence and Diaries of the late Right Honourable John Wilson Croker. 3 vols (London: J. Murray, 1884). Edited by Louis J Jennings.

John Wilson Croker (1780-1857) The Life of Samuel Johnson, including a Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides. A new Edition, with numerous Additions and Notes. 5 vols (London: J. Murray, 1831). Boswell's Life of Johnson with new material by John Wilson Croker.

John Wilson Croker (1780-1857) “Napier's Peninsular War” in Quarterly Review. Vol. 57 (December 1836): 492-542. The third of three parts.

Thomas Crofton Croker (1798-1854) Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland. 3 vols (London: J. Murray, 1825-1828).

Allan Cunningham [Hidallan] (1784-1842) The Lives of the most eminent British Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. 6 vols (London: J. Murray, 1829-1833). Published as part of Murray's Family Library.

Sir John Franklin (1786-1847) Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the Years 1825, 1826, and 1827. (London: J. Murray, 1828).

Thomas Gray (1716-1771) The Poems of Mr. Gray. To which are prefixed Memoirs of his Life and Writings by W. Mason, M.A.. (York: J. Dodsley, 1775). Gray's letters were first printed in the life by Mason.

Sir Francis Bond Head, first baronet (1793-1875) The Life of Bruce, the African Traveller. (London: J. Murray, 1830). Several times reprinted.

John Gibson Lockhart (1794-1854) The History of Napoleon Buonaparte. 2 vols (London: J. Murray, 1829). The first volumes in Murray's Family Library.

John Gibson Lockhart (1794-1854) Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, bart.. 7 vols (Edinburgh: R. Cadell, 1837-38).

Richard Mant, bishop of Down and Connor (1776-1848) New Testament according to the Authorized Version; with Notes, explanatory and practical. (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1815). With George D'Oyly.

William Mason (1725-1797) An Heroic Epistle to Sir William Chambers Knight, Comptroller General of His Majesty's Works, and author of a late Dissertation on Oriental Gardening. Enriched with Explanatory Notes, chiefly extracted from that elaborate Performance. (London: J. Almon, 1773). There were multiple editions.

Henry Hart Milman (1791-1868) The History of Christianity from the Birth of Christ to the Abolition of Paganism in the Roman Empire. 3 vols (London: John Murray, 1840).

Henry Hart Milman (1791-1868) The History of the Jews. 3 vols (London: John Murray, 1829). Published as part of Murray's Family Library.

Sir William Francis Patrick Napier (1785-1860) History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France, from the Year 1807 to the Year 1814. 6 vols (London: John Murray, 1828-1840).

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte, Emperor of the French. With a preliminary View of the French Revolution. 9 vols (London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, & Green, 1827).

Robert Southey (1774-1843) History of the Peninsular War. 3 vols (London: Murray, 1823-1832).

Robert Southey (1774-1843) “Isaac Comnenus” in Quarterly Review. Vol. 38 (October 1828): 442-448. A review of the play by Henry Taylor; the attribution is from the Wellesley Guide to Victorian Periodicals.

Sir Henry Taylor (1800-1886) Isaac Comnenus: a Play. (London: J. Murray, 1827).

Sir Henry Taylor (1800-1886) Philip Van Artevelde: a Dramatic Romance in two parts. (London: E. Moxon, 1834). There were several later editions.

Arthur Wellesley, first duke of Wellington (1769-1852) The Dispatches of Field Marshall the Duke of Wellington, K.G. during his various Campaigns in India, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, the Low Countries, and France, from 1799 to 1818. (London: Murray, 1834-1838). Released in parts, with later supplements.

John Williams (1792-1858) The Life and Actions of Alexander the Great. (London: Murray, 1829). Published as part of Murray's Family Library.

INFORMATION FROM TEI HEADER

Source Description:

Author: Smiles, Samuel, 1812-1904

Title: Memoir of John Murray 2 Vols (London: John Murray, 1891).

Electronic Edition:

Series: Lord Byron and his Times: http://lordbyron.org

Encoding Description: Any dashes occurring in line breaks have been removed. Obvious and unambiguous compositors’ errors have been silently corrected.

Markup and editing by: David Hill Radcliffe

Completed April 2009

Publication Statement:

Publisher: Center for Applied Technologies in the Humanities, Virginia Tech

Availability: Published under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License