CONSTABLE AND BALLANTYNE
During the year in which the _Quarterly_ was first given to the world,
the alliance between Murray and the Ballantynes was close and intimate:
their correspondence was not confined to business matters, but bears
witness to warm personal friendship.
Murray was able to place much printing work in their hands, and amongst
other books, "Mrs. Rundell's Cookery," a valuable property, which had
now reached a very large circulation, was printed at the Canongate
Press.
They exerted themselves to promote the sale of one another's
publications and engaged in various joint works, such, for example, as
Grahame's "British Georgics" and Scott's "English Minstrelsy."
In the midst of all these transactions, however, there were not wanting
symptoms of financial difficulties, which, as in a previous instance,
were destined in time to cause a severance between Murray and his
Edinburgh agents. It was the old story--drawing bills for value _not_
received. Murray seriously warned the Ballantynes of the risks they were
running in trading beyond their capital. James Ballantyne replied on
March 30, 1809:
_Mr. James Ballantyne to John Murray_.
"Suffer me to notice one part of your letter respecting which you will
be happy to be put right. We are by no means trading beyond our capital.
It requires no professional knowledge to enable us to avoid so fatal an
error as that. For the few speculations we have entered into our means
have been carefully calculated and are perfectly adequate."
Yet at the close of the same letter, referring to the "British
Novelists"--a vast scheme, to which Mr. Murray had by no means pledged
himself--Ballantyne continues:
"For this work permit me to state I have ordered a font of types, cut
expressly on purpose, at an expense of near £1,000, and have engaged a
very large number of compositors for no other object."
On June 14, James Ballantyne wrote to Murray:
"I can get no books out yet, without interfering in the printing office
with business previously engaged for, and that puts me a little about
for cash. Independent of _this_ circumstance, upon which we reckoned, a
sum of £1,500 payable to us at 25th May, yet waiting some cursed legal
arrangements, but which we trust to have very shortly [_sic_]. This is
all preliminary to the enclosures which I hope will not be disagreeable
to you, and if not, I will trust to their receipt _accepted_, by return
of post."
Mr. Murray replied on June 20:
"I regret that I should be under the necessity of returning you the two
bills which you enclosed, unaccepted; but having settled lately a very
large amount with Mr. Constable, I had occasion to grant more bills than
I think it proper to allow to be about at the same time."
This was not the last application for acceptances, and it will be found
that in the end it led to an entire separation between the firms.
The Ballantynes, however, were more sanguine than prudent. In spite of
Mr. Murray's warning that they were proceeding too rapidly with the
publication of new works, they informed him that they had a "gigantic
scheme" in hand--the "Tales of the East," translated by Henry Weber,
Walter Scott's private secretary--besides the "Edinburgh Encyclopaedia,"
and the "Secret Memoirs of the House of Stewart." They said that Scott
was interested in the "Tales of the East," and in one of their hopeful
letters they requested Mr. Murray to join in their speculations. His
answer was as follows:
_John Murray to Messrs. Ballantyne & Co_.
_October_ 31, 1809.
"I regret that I cannot accept a share in the 'Edinburgh Encyclopaedia.'
I am obliged to decline by motives of prudence. I do not know anything
of the agreement made by the proprietors, except in the palpable
mismanagement of a very exclusive and promising concern. I am therefore
fearful to risk my property in an affair so extremely unsuitable.
"You distress me sadly by the announcement of having put the 'Secret
Memoirs' to press, and that the paper for it was actually purchased six
months ago! How can you, my good sirs, act in this way? How can you
imagine that a bookseller can afford to pay eternal advances upon almost
every work in which he takes a share with you? And how can you continue
to destroy every speculation by entering upon new ones before the
previous ones are properly completed?... Why, with your influence, will
you not urge the completion of the 'Minstrelsy'? Why not go on with and
complete the series of De Foe?... For myself, I really do not know what
to do, for when I see that you will complete nothing of your own, I am
unwillingly apprehensive of having any work of mine in your power. What
I thus write is in serious friendship for you. I entreat you to let us
complete what we have already in hand, before we begin upon any other
speculation. You will have enough to do to sell those in which we are
already engaged. As to your mode of exchange and so disposing of your
shares, besides the universal obloquy which attends the practice in the
mind of every respectable bookseller, and the certain damnation which it
invariably causes both to the book and the author, as in the case of
Grahame, if persisted in, it must end in serious loss to the
bookseller.... If you cannot give me your solemn promise not to exchange
a copy of Tasso, I trust you will allow me to withdraw the small share
which I propose to take, for the least breath of this kind would blast
the work and the author too--a most worthy man, upon whose account alone
I engaged in the speculation."
Constable, with whom Murray had never entirely broken, had always looked
with jealousy at the operations of the house of Ballantyne. Their firm
had indeed been started in opposition to himself; and it was not without
a sort of gratification that he heard of their pecuniary difficulties,
and of the friction between them and Murray. Scott's "Lady of the Lake"
had been announced for publication. At the close of a letter to Murray,
Constable rather maliciously remarks:
_January_ 20, 1810.
"I have no particular anxiety about promulgating the folly (to say the
least of it) of certain correspondents of yours in this quarter; but if
you will ask our friend Mr. Miller if he had a letter from a shop nearly
opposite the Royal Exchange the other day, he will, I dare say, tell you
of the contents. I am mistaken if their game is not well up! Indeed I
doubt much if they will survive the 'Lady of the Lake.' She will
probably help to drown them!"
An arrangement had been made with the Ballantynes that, in
consideration of their being the sole agents for Mr. Murray in Scotland,
they should give him the opportunity of taking shares in any of their
publications. Instead, however, of offering a share of the "Lady of the
Lake" to Mr. Murray, according to the understanding between the firms,
the Ballantynes had already parted with one fourth share of the work to
Mr. Miller, of Albemarle Street, London, whose business was afterwards
purchased by Mr. Murray. Mr. Murray's letter to Ballantyne & Co. thus
describes the arrangement:
_John Murray to Messrs. Ballantyne & Co_.
_March_ 26, 1810.
"Respecting my _Review_, you appear to forget that your engagement was
that I should be your sole agent here, and that you were to publish
nothing but what I was to have the offer of a share in. Your deviation
from this must have led me to conclude that you did not desire or expect
to continue my agent any longer. You cannot suppose that my estimation
of Mr. Scott's genius can have rendered me indifferent to my exclusion
from a share in the 'Lady of the Lake.' I mention this as well to
testify that I am not indifferent to this conduct in you as to point it
out to you, that if you mean to withhold from me that portion which you
command of the advantages of our connexion, you must surely mean to
resign any that might arise from me. The sole agency for my publications
in Edinburgh is worth to any man who understands his business £300 a
year; but this requires zealous activity and deference on one side, and
great confidence on both, otherwise the connexion cannot be advantageous
or satisfactory to either party. For this number of the _Review_ I have
continued your name solely in it, and propose to make you as before sole
publisher in Scotland; but as you have yourself adopted the plan of
drawing upon me for the amount of each transaction, you will do me the
favour to consider what quantity you will need, and upon your remitting
to me a note at six months for the amount, I shall immediately ship the
quantity for you."
_Mr. James Ballantyne to John Murray_.
"Your agency hitherto has been productive of little or no advantage to
us, and the fault has not lain with us. We have persisted in offering
you shares of everything begun by us, till we found the hopelessness of
waiting any return; and in dividing Mr. Scott's poem, we found it our
duty to give what share we had to part with to those by whom we were
chiefly benefited both as booksellers and printers."
This letter was accompanied with a heavy bill for printing the works of
De Foe for Mr. Murray. A breach thus took place with the Ballantynes;
the publisher of the _Quarterly_ was compelled to look out for a new
agent for Scotland, and met with a thoroughly competent one in Mr.
William Blackwood, the founder of the well-known publishing house in
Edinburgh.
To return to the progress of the _Quarterly_. The fifth number, which
was due in February 1810, but did not appear until the end of March,
contained many excellent articles, though, as Mr. Ellis said, some of
them were contributed by "good and steady but marvellously heavy
friends." Yet he found it better than the _Edinburgh_, which on that
occasion was "reasonably dull."
It contained one article which became the foundation of an English
classic, that of Southey on the "Life of Nelson." Of this article Murray
wrote to its author:
"I wish it to be made such a book as shall become the heroic text of
every midshipman in the Navy, and the association of Nelson and Southey
will not, I think, be ungrateful to you. If it be worth your attention
in this way I am disposed to think that it will enable me to treble the
sum I first offered as a slight remuneration."
Mr. Murray, writing to Mr. Scott (August 28, 1810) as to the appearance
of the new number, which did not appear till a month and a half after it
was due, remarked on the fourth article. "This," he said, "is a review
of the 'Daughters of Isenberg, a Bavarian Romance,' by Mr. Gifford, to
whom the authoress (Alicia T. Palmer) had the temerity to send three £1
notes!" Gifford, instead of sending back the money with indignation, as
he at first proposed, reviewed the romance, and assumed that the
authoress had sent him the money for charitable purposes.
_Mr. Gifford to Miss A.T. Palmer_.
"Our avocations leave us but little leisure for extra-official
employment; and in the present case she has inadvertently added to our
difficulties by forbearing to specify the precise objects of her bounty.
We hesitated for some time between the Foundling and Lying-in Hospitals:
in finally determining for the latter, we humbly trust that we have not
disappointed her expectations, nor misapplied her charity. Our publisher
will transmit the proper receipt to her address."
One of the principal objections of Mr. Murray to the manner in which
Mr. Gifford edited the _Quarterly_ was the war which he waged with the
_Edinburgh_. This, he held, was not the way in which a respectable
periodical should be conducted. It had a line of its own to pursue,
without attacking its neighbours. "Publish," he said, "the best
information, the best science, the best literature; and leave the public
to decide for themselves." Relying on this opinion he warned Gifford and
his friends against attacking Sydney Smith, and Leslie, and Jeffrey,
because of their contributions to the _Edinburgh_. He thought that such
attacks had only the effect of advertising the rival journal, and
rendering it of greater importance. With reference to the article on
Sydney Smith's "Visitation Sermon" in No. 5, Mr. George Ellis privately
wrote to Mr. Murray:
"Gifford, though the best-tempered man alive, is _terribly_ severe with
his pen; but S.S. would suffer ten times more by being turned into
ridicule (and never did man expose himself so much as he did in that
sermon) than from being slashed and cauterized in that manner."
The following refers to a difference of opinion between Mr. Murray and
his editor. Mr. Gifford had resented some expression of his friend's as
savouring of intimidation.
_John Murray to Mr. Gifford_.
_September_ 25, 1810.
"I entreat you to be assured that the term 'intimidation' can never be
applied to any part of my conduct towards you, for whom I entertain the
highest esteem and regard, both as a writer and as a friend. If I am
over-anxious, it is because I have let my hopes of fame as a bookseller
rest upon the establishment and celebrity of this journal. My character,
as well with my professional brethren as with the public, is at stake
upon it; for I would not be thought silly by the one, or a mere
speculator by the other. I have a very large business, as you may
conclude by the capital I have been able to throw into this one
publication, and yet my mind is so entirely engrossed, my honour is so
completely involved in this one thing, that I neither eat, drink, nor
sleep upon anything else. I would rather it excelled all other journals
and I gained nothing by it, than gain £300 a year by it without trouble
if it were thought inferior to any other. This, sir, is true."
Meanwhile, Mr. Murray was becoming hard pressed for money. To conduct
his increasing business required a large floating capital, for long
credits were the custom, and besides his own requirements, he had to
bear the constant importunities of the Ballantynes to renew their bills.
On July 25, 1810, he wrote to them: "This will be the last renewal of
the bill (£300); when it becomes due, you will have the goodness to
provide for it." It was, however, becoming impossible to continue
dealing with them, and he gradually transferred his printing business to
other firms. We find him about this time ordering Messrs. George Ramsay
& Co., Edinburgh, to print 8,000 of the "Domestic Cookery," which was
still having a large sale.
The Constables also were pressing him for renewals of bills. The
correspondence of this date is full of remonstrances from Murray against
the financial unpunctuality of his Edinburgh correspondents.
On March 21, 1811, he writes: "With regard to myself, I will engage in
no new work of any kind"; and again, on April 4, 1811:
Dear Constable,
You know how much I have distressed myself by entering heedlessly upon
too many engagements. You must not urge me to involve myself in renewed
difficulties.
To return to the _Quarterly_ No. 8. Owing to the repeated delay in
publication, the circulation fell off from 5,000 to 4,000, and Mr.
George Ellis had obviously reason when he wrote: "Hence I infer that
_punctuality_ is, in our present situation, our great and only
desideratum."
Accordingly, increased efforts were made to have the _Quarterly_
published with greater punctuality, though it was a considerable time
before success in this respect was finally reached. Gifford pruned and
pared down to the last moment, and often held back the publication until
an erasure or a correction could be finally inserted.
No. 9, due in February 1811, was not published until March. From this
time Southey became an almost constant contributor to the _Review_. He
wrote with ease, grace, and rapidity, and there was scarcely a number
without one, and sometimes two and even three articles from his pen.
His prose style was charming--clear, masculine, and to the point. The
public eagerly read his prose, while his poetry remained unnoticed on
the shelves. The poet could not accept this view of his merits. Of the
"Curse of Kehama" he wrote:
"I was perfectly aware that I was planting acorns while my
contemporaries were setting Turkey beans. The oak will grow, and though
I may never sit under its shade, my children will. Of the 'Lady of the
Lake,' 25,000 copies have been printed; of 'Kehama', 500; and if they
sell in seven years I shall be surprised."
Scott wrote a kindly notice of Southey's poem. It was not his way to cut
up his friend in a review. He pointed out the beauties of the poem, in
order to invite purchasers and readers. Yet his private opinion to his
friend George Ellis was this:
_Mr. Scott to Mr. G. Ellis_.
"I have run up an attempt on the 'Curse of Kehama' for the _Quarterly_:
a strange thing it is--the 'Curse,' I mean--and the critique is not, as
the blackguards say, worth a damn; but what I could I did, which was to
throw as much weight as possible upon the beautiful passages, of which
there are many, and to slur over its absurdities, of which there are not
a few. It is infinite pity for Southey, with genius almost to
exuberance, so much learning and real good feeling of poetry, that, with
the true obstinacy of a foolish papa, he _will_ be most attached to the
defects of his poetical offspring. This said 'Kehama' affords cruel
openings to the quizzers, and I suppose will get it roundly in the
_Edinburgh Review_. I could have made a very different hand of it
indeed, had the order of the day been _pour déchirer_."
It was a good thing for Southey that he could always depend upon his
contributions to the _Quarterly_ for his daily maintenance, for he could
not at all rely upon the income from his poetry.
The failure of the _Edinburgh Annual Register_, published by Ballantyne,
led to a diminution of Southey's income amounting to about £400 a year.
He was thus led to write more and more for the _Quarterly_. His
reputation, as well as his income, rose higher from his writings there
than from any of his other works. In April 1812 he wrote to his friend
Mr. Wynn:
_Mr. Southey to Mr. Wynn_.
"By God's blessing I may yet live to make all necessary provision
myself. My means are now improving every year. I am up the hill of
difficulty, and shall very soon get rid of the burthen which has impeded
me in the ascent. I have some arrangements with Murray, which are likely
to prove more profitable than any former speculations ... Hitherto I
have been highly favoured. A healthy body, an active mind, and a
cheerful heart, are the three best boons Nature can bestow, and, God be
praised, no man ever enjoyed these more perfectly."