LORD  BYRON  and  his  TIMES
Byron
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Memoir of John Murray
John Murray to Henry Hart Milman, 18 March 1822
INTRODUCTION & INDEXES
DOCUMENT INFORMATION
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Preface
Vol. 1 Contents
Chapter I.
Chapter II.
Chapter III.
Chapter IV.
Chapter V.
Chapter VI.
Chapter VII.
Chapter VIII.
Chapter IX.
Chapter X.
Chapter XI.
Chapter XII.
Chapter XIII.
Chapter XIV.
Chapter XV.
Chapter XVI.
Chapter XVII.
Chapter XVIII.
Chapter XIX.
Vol. 2 Contents
Chap. XX.
Chap. XXI.
Chap. XXII.
Chap. XXIII.
Chap. XXIV.
Chap. XXV.
Chap. XXVI.
Chap. XXVII.
Chap. XXVIII.
Chap. XXIX.
Chap. XXX.
Chap. XXXI.
Chap. XXXII.
Chap. XXXIII.
Chap. XXXIV.
Chap. XXXV.
Chap. XXXVI.
Chap. XXXVII.
Index
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Albemarle Street, March 18th, 1822.
Dear Sir,

I did not return to town in time to reply to your letter on Saturday; but, after my last to you, I have only to express my sincere and great regret that we should differ so totally in our estimates of copyright. Such a circumstance never occurred to me before, for I have usually had the good fortune to anticipate the expectations of those who have honoured me with the publication of their works. In the present instance you should consider that my valuation is formed upon the sale of your former works, and yours upon the opinion of friends. I have told you what has been gained by the one, and of the uncertainty which still obtains—if there may not be a loss—upon the other; and, in such circumstances, and as I was certainly not illiberal in my proposal for the first drama, I might have flattered myself that something might have been confided to me in case your new poem should succeed beyond my expectations. I will very readily print it and give you two-thirds of the profit. Your friends thought more of the ‘Martyr of Antioch’ than of the ‘Fall of
106 MEMOIRS OF JOHN MURRAY
Jerusalem’; but my opinion of it has already been verified by the public; and, if ‘Belshazzar’ be better than either, it would have made up for the last. What I mean by the three dramas forming a 12s. volume is, that this is what they naturally would form, and it was my own ingenuity that enabled me to publish them in a way never before attempted, and to put such a price upon them as might insure the return of the large sum I had given for them. You appear not to be aware that it is a much larger sum, considering their sale, than ever was given to Lord Byron; but, when our difference is so wide, more need not be said, and I shall conclude by repeating that I am at this moment uncertain if the sale of the ‘Martyr of Antioch’ will repay its expenses, and that, should you finally determine to quit me, you will be the first author who has ever left me upon account of money.

Yours very faithfully and obediently,
John Murray.