Smiles: Memoir of John Murray

We have already alluded to Mr. Benjamin Disraeli’s connection with the firm of Messrs. Powles, the City brokers, one member of which had signed the agreement for a fourth share in the Representative, but had not come forward to bear his share of the losses. Mr. Powles was only too glad to avail himself of Disraeli’s literary skill to recommend his mining speculations to the public. In March 1825, Mr. Murray published, on commission, ‘American Mining Companies,’ and the same year ‘Present State of Mexico,’ and ‘Lawyers and Legislators,’ all of them written by, or under the superintendence of, Mr. Disraeli. Mr. Powles, however, again proved faithless, and although the money for the printing had been due for some time, he paid nothing; and at length Mr. Disraeli addressed Mr. Murray in the following letter:—

Mr. Murray had been so successful in publishing the early works of Washington Irving, that he was disposed to comply with a proposal to undertake a new book from the same hand. This was, however, of a very different character from those heretofore published, which had merely been descriptions. Irving’s proposed new work was ‘The Life and Voyages of Columbus.’ In November 1823, Irving wrote to Murray from Paris, saying that he had been rambling about Germany for upwards of a year, and that having settled down in Paris, he was now ready for some kind of literary work. He proposed to write ‘The Arabian Tales,’ but the tales were never written, and his mind took another direction. Irving’s literary work up to this time had consisted chiefly of a series of short, lively, and eloquent essays and sketches, but in the following year he wrote to Murray from Madrid:—

It was long, however, before Irving could complete the work; chiefly, he said, because of not being able to consult the MS. history of ‘Las Casas’; but that having at length obtained access to it, he had introduced many alterations and additions.

Washington Irving was at the same time proceeding with the ‘Conquest of Granada,’ and as he was travelling about Spain, from one place to another, and enjoying the natural beauties and historic associations of the country, it was long before he could complete either work. In August 1827, however, he was able to send the main body of his MSS. of ‘Columbus’ to his friend Colonel Aspinwall, the American Consul in London, who thenceforward became Irving’s agent for the sale of his copyrights. Newton, the artist, described him as a “sharp bargainer,” as he no doubt proved to be. What Murray’s first proposal was, we do not know; but from a letter of Lockhart to him (December 1827), we find that “Mr. Leslie, the artist, offered W. Irving’s ‘Columbus’ to Colburn for £1500; and that he thought it right to inform him of this proposal.”

Mr. Southey, whose opinion of the merits of the work had been asked, expressed it as follows:—

“Will you pardon a well-meant line? Have you finally concluded about the ‘Columbus’? If not, will you excuse me if, from the extract I see in the Literary Gazette, I am induced to ask, What has it of that superb degree as to make it fully safe for you to give the price you intend for it? I see no novelty of fact, and, though much ability, yet not that overwhelming talent which will give a very great circulation to so trite a subject. I merely take the liberty of suggesting a caution, which I do with great diffidence; for I know you have such an admirable tact of judgment about works and their probable success, that there is no one on whose prospective opinion I should rely more confidently than on yours. Yet the sum compared with the subject, and with the small part that I have seen of the execution makes me send you these hints, as a mere question for your consideration. . . . Could you make part of the price depend upon the editions or the number sold?”

Murray consulted Lockhart as to these works and received the following reply:—

Thank you, for the third time, for the prints, which, however well done, lose half their merit with me; for I

IRVING’S ‘CONQUEST OF GRANADA.’

259

never could read the ‘Sketch Book,’ nor, what d’ye call it? ‘Knickerbocker.’ Mr. Irving has a charming English style, formed by a careful and affectionate study of Addison, perhaps a little too much sweetened; and so polished that, although the surface is proportionably bright, it is nothing but surface. I can no more go on all day with one of his books than I could go on all day sucking a sugar-plum. The ‘American Dutchmen’ I do not understand at all; an historical account of such people might be entertaining, but, without any means of distinguishing how much is fiction and how much truth, these stories puzzle and tire me. How should you like to see Jan Steen’s figures introduced in Daniell’s Judean landscapes? “Si vrai, ce n’est pas toujours vraisemblable.” I am so ignorant as not to know how much is vrai, and so stupid as to think none of it vraisemblable.

The writings of Irving had begun to pall upon the public taste, and neither of the works—‘Columbus’ or ‘Conquest’—The successful, although they were well reviewed. Murray communicated the facts to the author, then at Granada:

“I have been annoyed by your forebodings of ill success to this work (‘Conquest of Granada’). When you have the spirit to give a large price for a work, why have you not the spirit to go manfully through with it, until the public voice determines its fate. These croakings get to my ears, and dishearten and interrupt me for a time with other things which I may have in hand. Remember, you doubted the success and declined the publication of the ‘Sketch Book,’ when I offered you the materials for the first volume, which had been already published in America, and it was only after it had been published in London by another bookseller, and had been well received, that you ventured to take it in hand. Remember too, that you lost

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heart about the success of ‘Columbus,’ and dropt a th[ousand] copies of the first edition after you had printed the first volume, and yet you see it continues to do well. I trust that you will be equally disappointed in your prognostications about the success of the ‘Conquest of Granada,’ and that it will not prove disadvantageous either to your purse or my reputation. At any rate, I should like hereafter to make our arrangements in such manner that you may be relieved from these apprehensions of loss in the publication of a work of mine.”

So great, however, was Murray’s personal regard for Washington Irving, and so high was his opinion of the merits of his writings, that he continued to purchase and publish his works though it involved him in considerable loss. On the other hand, Irving was not easily persuaded that the market value of his wares had in any measure decreased, and was by no means inclined to abate his demands. In answer to Irving’s inquiry from Birmingham, where he was then living with his brother-in-law, Henry Ward, Murray wrote:—

Irving was more successful in selling his books to the publishers than the publishers were in selling them to the public. He once said:—

Irving continued to inveigh against literature as a profession, and still to write for several years, always endeavouring to obtain as high a price as possible for his works. Some of them were published by Bentley, and one or two—including the ‘Recollections of Abbotsford and Newstead,’ which was accepted on the strong recommendation of Mr. Lockhart—by Mr. Murray.

Having troubled you so often, and I fear seriously, on the subject of my lawsuit with Bohn, it is with peculiar satisfaction that I now write to tell you that it is at an end. Mr. Bohn has offered me terms which are satisfactory to me and not humiliating to him. He has destroyed for me all value in your works, and I make over to him the copyrights. I regret to part with them, but it seemed to me the only way to get out of the squabble, which was becoming very serious, my law expenses alone having run up to £850. One good, at least, has been elicited out of this contest—it has settled the right of foreigners to hold copyright in this country; for I am assured by my counsel, Sir Fitzroy Kelly, one of the soundest heads at our bar, that the recent decision of our judges on that head is not likely to be reversed by the House of Lords, or any other tribunal. Sir Fitzroy Kelly has studied the subject minutely, and made an admirable speech in the Queen’s Bench, on my side. I hope, therefore, that the ‘Life of Washington,’ and other works to come from your pen, may yet bring advantage to their author from this country; but priority of publication in England is an indispensable condition, and must in all cases be guaranteed and carefully attested at the time of appearance. No one can desire more than I do an international copyright arrangement with the Americans. In my desire, I am not surpassed by Mr. Bohn, nor Sir E. L. Bulwer; but I differ from them in the strong conviction which I feel, that it is not by pirating the American books that the object is to be attained.

Lockhart was by this time fully installed as editor of the Quarterly. While new to his position, he was always desirous of having the opinions of others as to his work. “You should tell me,” he wrote to Murray, on “all occasions what you feel and what you hear about the Review. It is only so that I can hope to be guided with advantage; for people will speak to you more candidly than to me.”

Mr. J. T. Coleridge, the late editor, had offered to review Hallam’s ‘Constitutional History of England,’ but the work was handed over to Robert Southey; and on the Quarterly reaching Mr. Hallam at Rome, he sent an angry message to Mr. Murray, protesting against the pique of Southey, and the hostility of the editor in admitting such a review; and intimating that his transactions with the publisher must come to an end. His impression was that the publisher was influenced by his deference to Tory opinions.

Mr. Murray continued that, if Mr. Southey’s article had been rejected, it would have been published elsewhere, and perhaps in a more objectionable form.

Mr. Hallam did not, however, allow his resentment to endure long, and this incident made no difference whatever in his friendship with Mr. Murray. Their next correspondence, after many interviews, was with respect to the appearance of the ‘History of Literature,’ which was published by Mr. Murray on the same terms as its predecessors.

Mr. Thomas Mitchell being, about this time, on a visit to Southey in the Lake country, communicated to Murray that Southey “complained of Lockhart’s personal neglect of him.” And yet Lockhart had one, if not two, papers in each number of the Quarterly by Southey, who received £100 for each of them, and this was the Laureate’s principal source of income.

Lockhart, like Gifford before him, had to act as a sort of buffer between Murray’s kindness to his contributors and the articles which they thought should appear in the Quarterly. Yet Lockhart was constantly praising Southey in his communications with Murray.

“I hope all is right about Southey. We cannot afford to lose him. For the actual bustle of passing politics his is not the hand; but he is continually upholding that grave character and Christian philanthropy which lends effect to the sharper diatribes of mere worldly intellects. If you write to him again on the length of articles, please say our object is only to restore the Q. R. to its own original plan and arrangement. Down to these four or five years past twelve articles were usual in a number. But perhaps he is not the one to be further cut down. I have read Mr. Dodd’s ‘Trial of Charles.’ It is not only well, but splendidly done.”*

The article which Murray had requested from Head was written from the notes which he had made on separate scraps of paper; but it was so utterly opposed to the view expressed by Southey in the Quarterly—in fact, it was an answer to his review—that it could not be accepted. Lockhart wrote to Head: “I don’t know how long Statesmen are expected to be constant, but Reviewers must make a fashion of being so for three or four months together at least.” Captain Head was annoyed at the rejection of his article, and on his proposing to issue it as an answer to Southey, Mr. Murray agreed to publish it as a pamphlet in the following year.

In January 1828, the Duke of Wellington was called upon to form his first Ministry, and the editor of the Quarterly soon found, as others have in similar circumstances, that the task of defence is more arduous than that of the attack. The question of Catholic Emancipation was pressing for legislation, and the first hints of Parliamentary Reform were making themselves heard. Lockhart and Milman were becoming alarmed at the state of affairs.

Milman was desirous that the Review should be more independent. With respect to his article on ‘Church Patronage and Clerical Jobs,’ he wrote:

The Quarterly had as yet taken no special position on the subject of Catholic Emancipation, and Lockhart was much exercised in his mind as to how it should be dealt with. In order to be properly guided he wrote the following letter to Murray:

In the meantime Mr. Lockhart went down to Brighton in the summer of 1828, accompanied by Sir Walter Scott, Miss Scott, Mrs. Lockhart and her son John—the Little-john to whom Scott’s charming ‘Tales of a Grandfather,’ which were at that time in course of publication, had been addressed. It was on the boy’s account the party went to Brighton; he was very ill and gradually sinking. While at Brighton, Lockhart had an interview with the Duke of Wellington, and wrote to Murray on the subject.

“I have a message from the D. of W. to say that he, on the whole, highly approves the paper on foreign politics, but has some criticisms to offer on particular points, and will send for me some day soon to hear them. I have of course signified my readiness to attend him any time he is pleased to appoint, and expect it will be next week.”

“Sir Walter met me here yesterday, and he considered the Duke’s epistle as an effort of the deepest moment to

’TALES OF A GRANDFATHER.’

271

the Quarterly and all concerned. He is sure no minister ever gave a more distinguished proof of his feeling than by this readiness to second the efforts of a literary organ. Therefore, no matter about a week sooner or later, let us do the thing justice.”

Sir W. Scott has already agreed to furnish Dr. Lardner’s ‘Cyclopædia’ with one vol.—‘History of Scotland’—for £1000, and he is now at this work. This is grievous, but you must not blame me, for he has acted in the full knowledge of my connection with and anxiety about the Family Library. I answered him, expressing my great regret and reminding him of Peterborough. I suppose, as I never mentioned, nor well could, money, that Dr. Lardner’s matter appeared more a piece of business. Perhaps you may think of something to be done. It is a great loss to us and gain to them.

After the failure of Ballantyne and Constable, Cadell, who had in former years been a partner in Constable’s house, became Scott’s publisher, and at the close of 1827 the principal copyrights of Scott’s works, including the novels from ‘Waverley’ to ‘Quentin Durward,’ and most of the poems, were put up to auction, and purchased by Cadell and Scott jointly for £8500. At this time the ‘Tales of a Grandfather’ were appearing by instalments, and Murray wrote to the author, begging to be allowed to become the London publisher of this work. Scott replied:

On his return to London, Lockhart proceeded to take a house, No. 24, Sussex Place, Regent’s Park; for he had been heretofore living in the furnished apartments provided for him in Pall Mall. Mr. Murray again wrote to him on the subject:

“Sir Walter Scott suggests overhauling Caulfield’s portraits of remarkable characters (3 vols., 1816), and having roughish woodcuts taken from that book and from others, and the biographies newly done, whenever they are not in the words of the old original writers. He says the march of intellect will never put women with beards and men with horns out of fashion—Old Parr, Jenkins, Venner, Muggleton, and Mother Souse, are immortal, all in their several ways. I am getting on with ‘Napoleon,’* and shall have a good store of MS. for the printer when I return, which will be very soon.”

Lockhart proceeded to Edinburgh to have an interview, on behalf of Murray, with Professor Wilson with a view to securing the Professor’s help in the publication by Murray of the ‘Naval History of Britain.’ Lockhart reported that Wilson was willing to do the work at the rate of £1000 for the four volumes. His proposal was agreed to; but, so far as we can understand, the work, if begun, was never printed or published.

By 1829 Scott and Cadell had been enabled to obtain possession of all the principal copyrights, with the exception of two one-fourth shares of ‘Marmion,’ held by Murray and Longman respectively. Sir Walter Scott applied to Murray through Lockhart, respecting this fourth share The following was Murray’s reply to Sir Walter Scott:—

Mr. Lockhart has at this moment communicated to me your letter respecting my fourth share of the copyright of ‘Marmion.’ I have already been applied to by Messrs. Constable and by Messrs. Longman, to know what sum I would sell this share for; but so highly do I estimate the honour of being, even in so small a degree, the publisher of the author of the poem, that no pecuniary consideration whatever can induce me to part with it. But there is a consideration of another kind, which, until now, I was not aware of, which would make it painful to me if I were to retain it a moment longer. I mean, the knowledge of its being required by the author, into whose hands it was spontaneously resigned in the same instant that I read his request. This share has been profitable to me fifty-fold beyond what either publisher or author could have anticipated; and, therefore, my returning it on such an occasion, you will, I trust, do me the favour to consider in no other light than as a mere act of grateful acknowledgment for benefits already received by, my dear sir,

Scott now began to decline rapidly, and was suffering much from his usual spasmodic attacks; yet he had Turner with him, making drawings for the new edition of his poems. Referring to his last article in the Quarterly on Pitcairn’s ‘Criminal Trials,’ he bids Lockhart to inform Mr. Murray that “no one knows better your liberal disposition, and he is aware that £50 is more than his paper is worth.” Scott’s illness increased, and Lockhart rarely left his side.

“Yesterday determined Sir W. Scott’s motions. He owes to Croker the offer of a passage to Naples in a frigate which sails in about a fortnight. He will therefore proceed southwards by land next week, halting at Rokeby, and with his son at Notts, by the way. We shall leave Edinburgh by next Tuesday’s steamer, so as to be in town before him, and ready for his reception. We are all deeply obliged to Croker on this occasion, for Sir Walter is quite unfit for the fatigues of a long land journey, and the annoyances innumerable of Continental inns; and, above all, he will have a good surgeon at hand, in case of need. The arrangement has relieved us all of a great burden of annoyances and perplexities and fears.”

In consequence of my sister-in-law, Annie Scott, being taken unwell, with frequent fainting fits, the result, no

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doubt of over anxieties of late, I have been obliged to let my wife and children depart by to-morrow’s steamer without me, and I remain to attend to Sir Walter thro’ his land progress, which will begin on Friday, and end, I hope well, on Wednesday. If this should give any inconvenience to you, God knows I regret it, and God knows also I couldn’t do otherwise without exposing Sir W. and his daughter to a feeling that I had not done my duty to them. On the whole, public affairs seem to be so dark that I am inclined to think our best course, in the Quarterly, may turn out to have been and to be, that of not again appearing until the fate of this Bill has been quite settled. My wife will, if you are in town, be much rejoiced with a visit; and if you write to me, so as to catch me at Rokeby Park, Greta Bridge, next Saturday, ’tis well.

It would be beyond our province to describe in these pages the closing scenes of Sir Walter Scott’s life: his journey to Naples, his attempt to write more novels, his failure, and his return home to Abbotsford to die. His biography, by his son-in-law Lockhart, one of the best in the whole range of English literature, is familiar to all our readers; and perhaps never was a more faithful memorial erected, in the shape of a book, to the beauty, goodness, and faithfulness of a noble literary character.

During the year 1827 the present Mr. Murray was residing in Edinburgh as a student at the University, and attended the memorable dinner, at which Scott was forced to declare himself the author of the ‘Waverley Novels.’ His account of the scene, as given in a letter to his father, forms a fitting conclusion to this chapter.

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Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English politician and man of letters, with his friend Richard Steele he edited The Spectator (1711-12). He was the author of the tragedy Cato (1713).

Thomas Aspinwall (1786-1876) He was United States consul at London from 1815 to 1858.

James Ballantyne (1772-1833) Edinburgh printer in partnership with his younger brother John; the company failed in the financial collapse of 1826.

Sir John Barrow, first baronet (1764-1848) English traveler, secretary of the Admiralty, and author of over two hundred articles in the Quarterly Review; he is remembered for his Mutiny on the Bounty (1831).

Richard Bentley (1794-1871) London bookseller who in 1819 partnered with his brother Samuel (1785-1868) and in 1829 formed an unhappy partnership with Henry Colburn that was dissolved in 1832.

Samuel Bentley (1785-1868) Printer and antiquary, the nephew of John Nichols; in 1819 he left the Nichols firm to go into business with his brother Richard (1794-1871).

Henry George Bohn (1796-1884) London bookseller who began publishing independently in 1831; his “Standard Library” began appearing in 1846.

Charles Butler (1750-1832) Of Lincoln's Inn, the first Catholic barrister to practice in more than a century; he wrote An Address to the Protestants of Great Britain and Ireland (1813).

George Gordon Byron, sixth Baron Byron (1788-1824) The author of Childe Harold and Don Juan.

Robert Cadell (1788-1849) Edinburgh bookseller who partnered with Archibald Constable, whose daughter Elizabeth he married in 1817. After Constable's death and the failure of Ballantyne he joined with Scott to purchase rights to the Waverley Novels.

James Caulfield (1764-1826) London antiquary and print-seller; among other works he published Gallery of British Portraits (1814).

Henry Colburn (1785-1855) English publisher who began business about 1806; he co-founded the New Monthly Magazine in 1814 and was publisher of the Literary Gazette from 1817.

Sir John Taylor Coleridge (1790-1876) Barrister, nephew of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and writer for the Quarterly Review, of which he was briefly editor in 1824, succeeding William Gifford.

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).

Benjamin Disraeli, earl of Beaconsfield (1804-1881) The son of Isaac D'Israeli, English novelist and prime minister (1867, 1874).

Sir Humphry Davy, baronet (1778-1829) English chemist and physicist, inventor of the safety lamp; in Bristol he knew Cottle, Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Southey; he was president of the Royal Society (1820).

Lady Jane Davy [née Kerr] (1780-1855) Society hostess who in 1798 married Shuckburgh Ashby Apreece (d. 1807) and Humphry Davy in 1812.

Charles Edward Dodd (d. 1835) Of the Inner Temple, English barrister who practised on the Norther Circuit; he published An Autumn near the Rhine; or Sketches of Courts, Society, and Scenery in Germany (1821) and legal works.

William Gifford (1756-1826) Poet, scholar, and editor who began as a shoemaker's apprentice; after Oxford he published The Baviad (1794), The Maeviad (1795), and The Satires of Juvenal translated (1802) before becoming the founding editor of the Quarterly Review (1809-24).

Robert Gooch (1784-1830) Educated at Edinburgh University, he was obstetric physician and lecturer in midwifery at St Bartholomew's Hospital, a friend of Robert Southey and contributor to Blackwood's and the Quarterly Review.

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.

John Stevens Henslow (1796-1861) Professor of mineralogy at Cambridge (1822) and friend of Charles Darwin; he published The Principles of Descriptive and Physiological Botany (1835).

John Cam Hobhouse, baron Broughton (1786-1869) Founder of the Cambridge Whig Club; traveled with Byron in the orient, radical MP for Westminster (1820); Byron's executor; after a long career in politics published Some Account of a Long Life (1865) later augmented as Recollections of a Long Life, 6 vols (1909-1911).

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.

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).

Sir Fitzroy Edward Kelly (1796-1880) English lawyer, son of the novelist Isabella Kelly: he was king's counsel (1834), MP, solicitor-general (1845), attorney-general (1858), and lord chief baron of the exchequer (1866).

Dionysius Lardner (1793-1859) Lecturer on science and contributor to the Edinburgh Review; he published the Cabinet Cyclopaedia (1829-1846).

Bartolomé de Las Casas, bishop of Chiapas (1484-1566) Bishop of Chiapas in New Spain who opposed the oppression of the Native Americans by the Spanish colonists.

Charles Robert Leslie (1794-1859) American-born genre-painter who came to England in 1811 and studied with fellow-Americans Benjamin West and Washington Allston; he published Memoirs of the Life of John Constable (1843).

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).

John Hugh Lockhart (1821-1831) The first child of John Gibson Lockhart and his wife Sophia, for whom Sir Walter Scott wrote Tales of a Grandfather (1828-1831).

Sophia Lockhart [née Scott] (1799-1837) Walter Scott's eldest daughter, who married John Gibson Lockhart in 1820.

Thomas Norton Longman (1771-1842) A leading London publisher whose authors included Southey, Wordsworth, Scott, and Moore.

Sir Charles Lyell, first baronet (1797-1875) Scottish geologist educated at Exeter College, Oxford; he was author of Principles of Geology (1830-33) and The Antiquity of Man (1863).

Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer Lytton, first Baron Lytton (1803-1873) English historical novelist and MP who began his career with Pelham: or the Adventures of a Gentleman (1828).

Charles Mackay (1787-1857) Scottish actor who performed characters from Walter Scott's novels, notably Bailie Nichol Jarvie.

Alexander Maconochie-Welwood, Lord Meadowbank (1777-1861) The eldest son of Allan Maconochie (1748-1816); he was Lord Advocate (1816) and a Tory MP.

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.

Thomas Mitchell (1783-1845) Son of a riding master; after study at Christ's Hospital and Pembroke College, Cambridge; Mitchell worked as a tutor for Thomas Hope, wrote for the Examiner and Quarterly Review, and translated Aristophanes.

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.

Charles Mordaunt, third earl of Peterborough (1658 c.-1735) English admiral, general, and diplomat; late in life he was intimate with Pope and Swift.

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

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).

Horatio Nelson, viscount Nelson (1758-1805) Britain's naval hero who destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of the Nile (1798) and defeated the combined French and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar (1805) in which action he was killed.

Gilbert Stuart Newton (1794-1835) Canadian-born painter of literary subjects who was the friend of Washington Irving and John Constable. Sir Walter Scott sat for him.

Robert Pitcairn (1793-1855) Scottish antiquary who did research for Walter Scott and the Bannatyne Club.

John Diston Powles (1788-1867) Speculator in Spanish American mining; John Murray and Benjamin Disraeli were involved with his projects, which went bankrupt in 1826.

Anne Scott (1803-1833) Walter Scott's younger daughter who cared for him in his old age and died unmarried.

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

Sir Walter Scott, second baronet (1801-1847) The elder son and heir of Sir Walter Scott; he was cornet in the 18th Hussars (1816), captain (1825), lieut.-col. (1839). In the words of Maria Edgeworth, he was “excessively shy, very handsome, not at all literary.”

George Julius Poulett Scrope (1797-1876) Originally Thomson: geologist and political economist, author of Considerations on Volcanos (1825) and Principles of Political Economy (1833); FRS (1826). He took the name of his wife, Emma Phipps Scrope, daughter of William Scrope (1772-1852).

Percy Clinton Sydney Smythe, sixth viscount Strangford (1780-1855) Irish peer and diplomat who published Poems from the Portuguese of Camoens (1803).

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).

Jan Steen (1625 c.-1679) Dutch artist renowned for his genre paintings.

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

Patrick Fraser Tytler (1791-1849) Sottish barrister, son of Alexander Fraser Tytler; he published The Life of the Admirable Crichton (1819), History of Scotland (1828-43), and other works.

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 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).

The Caledonian Mercury. (1720-1867). Twice-weekly newspaper incorporated into the Scotsman in 1867; it was edited by David Buchanan (1810-27).

Literary Gazette, and Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences, etc. (1817-1862). Edited by William Jerdan to 1850, the Literary Gazette was the most successful of the weekly literary newspapers.

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 Representative. (1826). A failed daily paper backed by John Murray issued from 25 January to 29 July 1826.

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.

Sir Humphry Davy, baronet (1778-1829) Salmonia; or, Days of Fly Fishing, in a Series of Conversations, with some Account of the Habits of Fishing belonging to the Genus Salmo. (London: J. Murray, 1828). Several times reprinted.

Benjamin Disraeli, earl of Beaconsfield (1804-1881) An Inquiry into the Plans, Progress, and Policy of the American Mining Companies. (London: J. Murray, 1825). Three editions in 1825.

Benjamin Disraeli, earl of Beaconsfield (1804-1881) Lawyers and Legislators, or, Notes on the American Mining Companies. (London: J. Murray, 1825).

Benjamin Disraeli, earl of Beaconsfield (1804-1881) The Present State of Mexico: as detailed in a Report presented to the General Congress by the Secretary of State for the Home Department and Foreign Affairs, at the Opening of the Session in 1825. (London: J. Murray, 1825).

Charles Edward Dodd (d. 1835) An Autumn near the Rhine; or Sketches of Courts, Society, and Scenery in Germany; with a Tour in the Taunus Mountains in 1820. (London: J. Murray, 1821). With translations from Schiller, Goethe, and other German poets.

Charles Edward Dodd (d. 1835) “Phillipps's State Trials” in Quarterly Review. Vol. 36 (October 1827): 511-557.

Henry Hallam (1777-1859) The Constitutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of George II. 2 vols (London: John Murray, 1827).

Henry Hallam (1777-1859) Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries. 4 vols (London: John Murray, 1837-1839).

Sir Francis Bond Head, first baronet (1793-1875) Bubbles from the Brunnens of Nassau. (London: J. Murray, 1834). An account of the German spa of Langen-Schwalbach; reprinted several times.

Sir Francis Bond Head, first baronet (1793-1875) “Cornish Mining in America” in Quarterly Review. Vol. 36 (June 1827): 81-106.

Sir Francis Bond Head, first baronet (1793-1875) Rough Notes taken during some Rapid Journeys across the Pampas and among the Andes. (London: J. Murray, 1826).

Washington Irving [Geoffrey Crayon] (1783-1859) Abbotsford and Newstead Abbey. (London: J. Murray, 1835).

Washington Irving [Geoffrey Crayon] (1783-1859) The Alhambra: a Series of Tales and Sketches of the Moors and Spaniards. 2 vols (Philadelphia: Carey & Lea, 1832).

Washington Irving [Geoffrey Crayon] (1783-1859) A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada. 2 vols (London: J. Murray, 1829).

Washington Irving [Geoffrey Crayon] (1783-1859) A History of New York, from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty. 2 vols (New York: Inskeep and Bradford, 1807-1808).

Washington Irving [Geoffrey Crayon] (1783-1859) A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus. 4 vols (London: John Murray, 1828).

Washington Irving [Geoffrey Crayon] (1783-1859) The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (New York: C. S. Van Winkle, 1819-1820). Published in seven parts; there were many later editions.

Washington Irving [Geoffrey Crayon] (1783-1859) Voyages and Discoveries of the Companions of Columbus. (London: J. Murray, 1831).

Dionysius Lardner (1793-1859) The Cabinet Cyclopædia. 132 vols (London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1829-1846). A series of inexpensive volumes edited by Lardner.

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

Sir Charles Lyell, first baronet (1797-1875) “Scrope's Geology of Central France” in Quarterly Review. Vol. 36 (October 1827): 437-483.

Sir Charles Lyell, first baronet (1797-1875) “State of the Universities” in Quarterly Review. Vol. 36 (June 1827): 216-268.

Sir Charles Lyell, first baronet (1797-1875) “Transactions of the Geological Society” in Quarterly Review. Vol. 34 (September 1826): 507-540.

James Justinian Morier (1782-1849) The Adventures of Hajji Baba, of Ispahan, in England. 2 vols (London: J. Murray, 1828).

Robert Pitcairn (1793-1855) Criminal Trials and other Proceedings before the High Court of Justiciary in Scotland. 10 vols (Edinburgh: W. Tait, 1829-1833).

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) “Ancient History of Scotland” in Quarterly Review. Vol. 41 (July 1829): 120-162. A review of Ritson's Annals of the Caledonians, Picts and Scots (1828)

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) “Hajji Baba in England” in Quarterly Review. Vol. 38 (January 1829): 73-99.

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) The History of Scotland. 2 vols (London: Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, 1829). Published as part of Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia.

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).

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field. (Edinburgh: Constable, 1808). A narrative poem set in the sixteenth century; the six cantos are introduced by epistles addressed to William Stewart Rose, James Marriot, William Erskine, James Skene, George Ellis, and Richard Heber.

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) “On Planting Waste Lands” in Quarterly Review. Vol. 36 (October 1827): 558-600.

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) “On Ornamental Plantations and Landscape Gardening” in Quarterly Review. Vol. 37 (March 1828): 303-344.

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) “Pitcairn's Ancient Criminal Trials of Scotland” in Quarterly Review. Vol. 44 (February 1831): 438-75.

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) Quentin Durward. 3 vols (Edinburgh: A. Constable and Co., 1823).

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) Rob Roy. 3 vols (Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Co., 1818). Published anonymously, as the rest of the Waverley novels.

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) “Salmonia, or Days of Fly-Fishing” in Quarterly Review. Vol. 38 (October 1828): 503-535. A review of the book by Sir Humphry Davy.

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) “Southey's Life of John Bunyan” in Quarterly Review. Vol. 43 (October 1830): 469-94.

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) Tales of a Grandfather; being Stories taken from Scottish History. 3 vols (Edinburgh: Cadell and Co., 1828-1831). Written for juvenile readers; a fourth series was published in 1831.

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) “Tytler's History of Scotland” in Quarterly Review. Vol. 41 (November 1829): 328-59. A review of Patrick Fraser Tytler.

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) Waverley: or, 'Tis Sixty Years Since. 3 vols (Edinburgh: Constable, 1814). Scott's first historical novel, set against the backdrop of the Jacobite rising of 1745.

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) Waverley Novels. 48 vols (Edinburgh: Cadell & Co., 1829-33). The Magnum Opus edition, with the author's revisions and new prefaces. Collected editions began appearing in 1820.

Sir Walter Scott, baronet (1771-1832) “Works of John Home, Esq.” in Quarterly Review. Vol. 36 (June 1827): 167-216.

George Julius Poulett Scrope (1797-1876) Memoir on the Geology of Central France including the Volcanic Formations of Auvergne, the Velay, and the Vivarais. (Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1827).

Robert Southey (1774-1843) Chronicle of the Cid, from the Spanish. (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1808). The Spanish original (from a twelfth-century work) was first published in 1544.

Robert Southey (1774-1843) The Pilgrim's Progress: with a Life of John Bunyan. (London: J. Murray and J. Major, 1830). The life by Robert Southey.

Patrick Fraser Tytler (1791-1849) History of Scotland. 9 vols (Edinburgh: William Tait, 1828-1843).

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