Memoir of John Murray
Thomas Campbell to Walter Scott, 5 November 1806
A very excellent and gentlemanlike man—albeit a
bookseller—Murray, of Fleet
Street, is willing to give for our joint ‘Lives of the Poets,’ on
the plan we proposed to the trade a twelvemonth ago, a thousand pounds. For my
part, I think the engagement very desirable, and have no uneasiness on the
subject, except my fear that you may be too much engaged to have to do with it,
as five hundred pounds may not be to you the temptation that it appears to a
poor devil like myself. Murray is the only gentleman,
except Constable, in the trade;—I
may also, perhaps, except Hood. I have
seldom seen a pleasanter man to deal with. I foresee no chance of our
disagreeing about the minuter arrangements, should the affair proceed. I ![]()
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think our choice of the lives for each would not be likely
to set you and me by the ears. And, what makes me excessively desirous of the
engagement, independent of its being pleasant work and good reward, is that it
would probably fix me beside you in Edinburgh. . . . Our names are what
Murray principally wants—yours in particular.
The size, the manner, the time, and the whole arrangement of this work will be
in our hands. . . . For my own part, I am not assuming any mock modesty, when I
say that, so thankful shall I be to have an engagement to the amount of
£500, that I will think no effort too great to show my sense of the good
fortune to be associated with you in the undertaking. I have too much respect
for you, and for myself, to importune you to join names with me; but I cannot
disguise that I am deeply anxious for your answer. I will not wish, even in
confidence, to say anything ill of the London booksellers beyond their deserts; but I assure you that, to compare this offer of
Murray’s with their usual offers, it is
magnanimous indeed. Longman and
Rees, and a few of the great booksellers, have literally monopolised the trade,
and the business of literature is getting a dreadful one indeed. The Row folks
have done nothing for me yet; I know not what they intend. The fallen prices of
literature—which is getting worse by the horrible complexion of the
times—make me often rather gloomy at the life I am likely to lead. You
may guess, therefore, my anxiety to close with this proposal; and you may think
me charitable indeed to restrain myself from wishing that you were as poor as
myself, that you might have motives to lend your aid.
Archibald Constable (1774-1827)
Edinburgh bookseller who published the
Edinburgh Review and works
of Sir Walter Scott; he went bankrupt in 1826.
Thomas Norton Longman (1771-1842)
A leading London publisher whose authors included Southey, Wordsworth, Scott, and
Moore.
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.
Owen Rees (1770-1837)
London bookseller; he was the partner of Thomas Norton Longman and friend of the poet
Thomas Moore.
