Can you oblige me by letting me have a third volume of
‘Wilberforce.’ The fact is, that at in reading that
MISS RIGBY.
441
work, my neighbour, Mr.
Alexander, fell fast asleep from exhaustion, and, setting
himself on fire, burnt the volume and his bed, to the narrow escape of the
whole Terrace. Since that book has been published, premiums of fire assurance
are up, and not having already insured my No. 2, now that the fire has broken
out near my own door, no office will touch my house nor any others in the
Terrace until it is ascertained that Mr. Alexander has
finished with the book. So pray consider our position, and let me have a third
volume to make up the set as soon as possible.
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.
