as yet say little for certain upon this matter, which has been the
occasion of no little trouble and expense; for I have been obliged to
take no less than three journeys to Peterhof, a town about 30 _versts_
distant, where stands the paper manufactory, for there is no such paper
as we want in the Russian capital. In this manufactory they have about
50 _stopes_ or reams (we should require ten times that quantity for only
1000 copies) of the very paper, I believe, on which the Mandchou Gospel
of St. Matthew was printed, and some of the workmen said that they could
make as much more as should be required. Concerning the price of this
paper, I could obtain no positive information, for the director and first
and second clerks were invariably absent, and the place abandoned to
ignorant understrappers (according to the custom of Russia). And
notwithstanding I found out the director in Petersburg, he himself could
not tell me the price, but informed me that he would inquire, and
speedily send me word; but as I have as yet heard nothing from him, I
write lest it should be supposed in England that I am sleeping on my
station. _I shall write again in a few days on this point_; _in the mean
time you would oblige me by causing the accounts of Dr. Pinkerton's
expenses to be referred to_, for the purpose of ascertaining how much he
paid per ream for this kind of paper. I believe it to be extravagantly
dear, at least five times dearer than good common paper, which can be
procured for fifteen roubles per ream; and if that be the case, common
paper must be used and the book printed in the common fashion, unless the
Society be prepared to disburse thousands instead of hundreds; for if the
work were printed on this Chinese paper, four times more paper would be
required than if it were printed on the other, as five multiplied by four
make twenty, the expense of paper would be twenty times greater.
Thirdly, respecting Mr. Lipoftsoff, with whom I have of late had much
conversation. He has behaved very handsomely. He has made an immense
number of alterations in his translation, all of which are excellent
improvements, and all these are to be at our disposal gratis. He says
that he cannot receive any remuneration for looking over the work, being
bound to do so as Censor. I shall therefore edit it, and have the
supervision of the proof sheets, which he will peruse last of all. He
having examined me in Mandchou did me the honour to say I required no
assistance at all; but should the Committee and yourself be of opinion
that it would be advisable to procure a little, the 'pundit' would be
very happy for an extra six or seven shillings per week to collate with
me when wanted. I have derived great benefit from this man, who though
in many respects a most singular and uncouth being speaks Mandchou
gallantly, with the real pronunciation of _Pekin_, which differs
considerably from that of _Pekhan_ (the desert), being far more soft and
melodious. During the interval which will elapse between my writing to
you and hearing from you, I shall borrow from Baron Schilling the
Mandchou Old Testament and reperuse the notes in order to be able to give
a suitable opinion as to their value. My present opinion of them is no
mean one. In answer to your query _respecting the transcript of the Old
Testament_, I beg leave to inform you that it is in the hands of a Mr.
Merrilies, an English merchant, to whom Mr. Swan entrusted it. I believe
he starts for England by the first steam-boat.
I have the honour to remain, Revd. and dear Sir, sincerely yours,
GEORGE BORROW.
P.S.--Since my last letter I have been laid up for some time with a
nervous fever, but thank God I am quite recovered. My best respects to
Mr. Brandram. Pray excuse the haste in which this letter is written, it
will be barely in time for the post.
To the Rev. J. Jowett
(_Endorsed_: recd. May 26th, 1834)
ST. PETERSBURG, April 28 (old style) 1834.
REVD. AND DEAR SIR,--Being at length able to communicate some positive
information respecting the price of the paper, which we are in need of, I
lose no time in doing so. The day after I despatched my last epistle,
which I hope you have received, I was favoured with a communication from
the director of the Peterhof Fabrik or Manufactory, a gentleman who
amongst other titles bears that of Councillor of State. He was kind
enough to say that I should have the 50 reams of paper which remained,
and which I before alluded to, at 75 roubles per ream; but that if any
more were necessary, one hundred roubles per ream would be required, and
not any reduction would be made. You may easily guess that I was
somewhat startled at this piece of information, for upon making a
calculation I found that one ream of paper would be little more than
sufficient for two copies of the entire Mandchou New Testament. There
are 480 sheets in a Russian ream, and I suppose that our book will
consist of seven parts, each containing about the same number of sheets
as the printed Mandchou Gospel of St. Matthew. Now that Gospel contains
31 sheets, and 31 multiplied by 7 amounts to 211 [_sic_], which
multiplied by 2 makes 422 sheets, leaving only a surplus of 58.
Therefore the paper necessary for 1000 copies only would amount to about
450 reams, the price of which, after allowance had been made for the 50
reams at 75 roubles, would exceed 40,000 roubles. The next day I hired a
calash, and spent the best part of a week in causing myself to be driven
to all the places in the vicinity of Petersburg where paper is made.
Knowing but too well that it is the general opinion of the people of this
country that Englishmen are made of gold, and that it is only necessary
to ask the most extravagant price for any article in order to obtain it,
I told no person, to whom I applied, who I was, or of what country; and I
believe I was supposed to be a German. In some places I had now the
pleasure of hearing that I could have the paper at 60 roubles per ream.
At last I came to a person whom, after having informed him that I was in
need of a very great quantity, perhaps a thousand reams or more, I beat
down from 50 to 40 roubles, from 40 to 35, and it is probable that I may
be able to obtain a large quantity at 30. I must inform you that I also
employed two agents, and we three going various ways have ascertained
that the necessary paper may be procured for between 30 and 40 roubles
per ream, paper of as good a quality--nay, better than that on which the
Gospel of St. Matthew was printed, and that for which 100 roubles were
demanded at Peterhof. It is therefore now time for the Committee to come
to a decision respecting the number of copies to be printed, and I wish
it to be borne in mind that the price of the paper per ream in some
degree depends upon the quantity required. I do not think it possible to
obtain any where paper of a similar quality at a less price than 30 or 35
roubles; for the specimens which I have obtained are very beautiful, and
a work printed on such paper need not be ashamed to show its face amongst
the most fastidious Tartars and Chinese. To print the Testament on
common paper would certainly not be advisable, as in that case the
probability is that notwithstanding the reverence of those singular
people for written or printed characters, the sacred volume, if put into
their hands, would be destroyed.
I am in conformity with your expressed desire getting every thing into
readiness for commencing printing, and therefore earnestly beg for a
speedy communication, informing me how much paper I am to bespeak, and in
what manner I am to pay for it. I must here observe that in all dealings
within Russia the purchaser must have his money ready in his hand;
consequently, if I am authorised to purchase any quantity of paper, I
must have a letter of credit upon some firm here resident, that I may be
able to pay for the article immediately upon its delivery.
I remain, Revd. and dear Sir, most truly yours,
GEORGE BORROW.
P.S.--With respect to the paper, if purchased; would you have me deliver
the whole of it into the printer's hands at once, or should a small
apartment be hired in which to keep part of it until wanted? In this
country the wisdom of the serpent is quite as necessary as the innocence
of the dove.
To J. Thornton, Esq.
(_Endorsed_: recd. July 22nd, 1834)
ST. PETERSBURG, _June_ 27_th_, 1834.
SIR,--Having drawn upon Messrs. Simondsen and Company of St. Petersburg
for the sum of 2000 roubles (two thousand roubles) as a deposit upon an
order for 450 reams of Chinese paper, at _twenty-five roubles_ per ream,
I have to request that you will honour their draft to the like amount.
I remain, Sir, yours,
GEORGE BORROW.
To the Rev. J. Jowett
REVD. AND DEAR SIR,--Our types are in the hands of the printer, they have
been cleaned and set in order. St. Matthew's Gospel has been corrected,
and the work of printing commences next week. Most truly yours,
G. B.
To John Jackson, Esq.
_Octr._ 1 (old style), 1834, ST. PETERSBURG.
MY DEAR SIR,--I am exceedingly sorry that you should have had the trouble
of writing to me to no purpose; for in respect to the letter, which it
seems by your favour of the 29th ult. you committed to a private hand to
be forwarded to me, I beg leave to state that I have never received it,
or heard anything of it. I must earnestly intreat that in future all
letters relating to business be despatched by the regular post, otherwise
great inconvenience and misunderstanding will be the result. Private
individuals seldom give themselves the slightest trouble to deliver
letters. If they chance to fall in with the persons for whom they are
intended--well and good! if not, the letters are flung aside and
forgotten. In respect to the monies furnished me by our friend Mr. Tarn
for my journey I have sent an account of the disbursement on the other
side, and also of what I have expended already upon the Mandchou New
Testament, of which _St. Matthew's Gospel has been completed and St.
Mark's entered upon_.
I remain, my dear Sir, most truly yours,
GEORGE BORROW.
To J. Tarn, Esq.,
_Under-Treasurer of the British and Foreign Bible Society_.
Account of the disbursement of certain monies received by me for my
journey to St. Petersburg in the service of the B. S.:--
Received of Mr. Tarn (if I mistake not) 30 pounds, and 7 pounds, making
together 37 pounds.
Paid for fare to Hamburg by steam-boat, diet not included, 7 pounds, 0s
0d
For expenses of conveying myself and baggage to the custom-house wharf,
and of getting on board, 0 pounds, 6s, 0d
Carry forward, 7 pounds, 6s, 0d
Brought forward 7 pounds, 6s, 0d
Expenses on board the packet, viz. diet, servants, and baggage fees at
Stade on the Hanoverian coast, 1 pound, 9s, 0d
Expenses attending my landing at Hamburg, conveyg. baggage to the hotel,
etc., 0 pounds, 5s, 0d
Expenses on the day of my arrival, for medical advice, physic, etc.,
having been seized by severe illness, 0 pounds, 7s, 0d
Expenses during three days' sojourn at Hamburg, viz. for lodging, diet,
and _valet de place_, 1 pound, 19s, 0d
Expenses of journey to Lubeck, namely hire of calash, driver, etc., 1
pound, 10s, 0d
Expenses of two days' sojourn at Lubeck, 1 pound, 7s, 0d
Expenses for removal of baggage to the river-side and journey down the
river Trave to steam-boat at Travemunde, 0 pounds, 7s, 0d
Fare from Travemunde to St. Petersburg, diet not included, 1 pound, 0s,
0d
For diet, servants, etc., 1 pound, 17s, 6d
Total, 27 pounds, 7s, 6d
Surplus of money, 9 pounds, 12s, 6d
From which surplus of 9 pounds, 12s. 6d. are to be deducted 7 pounds,
4s., or the salary of twelve days not drawn for, which twelve days were
spent in the journey. The salary commencing from the hour of
embarcation.
Surplus due to Mr. Tarn, 2 pounds, 8s, 6d
MY DEAR SIR,--At the expiration of this quarter I shall draw for the sum
of 47 pounds, 11s. 6d. instead of the usual 50 pounds, whereby my account
with you will be liquidated. I have, according to your suggestion when
we parted, deducted the salary of the days passed in journeying from the
money which I received from you, Messrs. Simondsen having received advice
to pay me from the day of my arrival at St. Petersburg, whereas by the
words of my agreement (see books) the salary commences from the time of
embarcation. I believe, previous to my departure, that I accounted to
you for the sums advanced for passports. I have had the good fortune, as
I suppose you are aware, to procure for 25 roubles per ream the paper for
which I was originally asked 60, and of which previously the very lowest
price has ever been 35. This paper is far superior to that for which the
Society formerly paid 40 (and which was not dear at 40), being far
stronger and more glossy. You will particularly oblige me by taking care
that Messrs. Simondsen's drafts are honored without the slightest delay.
If I were unable to pay for the paper at the stated time I should
probably be arrested, and, what would be far more lamentable, the
contract with the merchants would be broken; and upon a fresh contract I
could not obtain the paper in question for less than 60 roubles per ream,
for the winter has already come upon us, during which most of the paper
manufactories are at a stand-still, and an order for paper would be
consequently given under every possible disadvantage. I have forwarded,
according to your desire, an account of the sums of money hitherto drawn
for, and of the manner in which they have been disbursed. I intended to
have reserved my account for Christmas, by which season I hope, with the
blessing of God, to have brought out the four Gospels. Excuse these
hasty lines, and believe me, dear Sir, ever yours,
GEORGE BORROW.
To the Rev. J. Jowett
(_Endorsed_: recd. Nov. 10th, 1834)
ST. PETERSBURG, _Oct._ 8 [old style], 1834.
I have just received your most kind epistle, the perusal of which has
given me both pain and pleasure--pain that from unavoidable circumstances
I have been unable to gratify eager expectation, and pleasure that any
individual should have been considerate enough to foresee my situation
and to make allowance for it. The nature of my occupations during the
last two months and a half has been such as would have entirely unfitted
me for correspondence, had I been aware that it was necessary, which, on
my sacred word, I was not. Now, and only now, when by the blessing of
God I have surmounted all my troubles and difficulties, I will tell, and
were I not a Christian I should be proud to tell, what I have been
engaged upon and accomplished during the last ten weeks. I have been
working in the printing-office, as a common compositor, between ten and
thirteen hours every day during that period; the result of this is that
St. Matthew's Gospel, printed from such a copy as I believe nothing was
ever printed from before, has been brought out in the Mandchou language;
two rude Esthonian peasants, who previously could barely compose with
decency in a plain language which they spoke and were accustomed to, have
received such instruction that with ease they can each compose at the
rate of a sheet a day in the Mandchou, perhaps the most difficult
language for composition in the whole world; considerable progress has
also been made in St. Mark's Gospel, and I will venture to promise,
provided always the Almighty smiles upon the undertaking, that the entire
work of which I have the superintendence will be published within eight
months from the present time. Now, therefore, with the premise that I
most unwillingly speak of myself and what I have done and suffered for
some time past, all of which I wished to keep locked up in my own breast,
I will give a regular and circumstantial account of my proceedings from
the day when I received your letter, by which I was authorised by the
Committee to bespeak paper, engage with a printer, and cause our type to
be set in order.
My first care was to endeavour to make suitable arrangements for the
obtaining of Chinese paper. Now those who reside in England, the most
civilised and blessed of countries, where everything is to be obtained at
a fair price, have not the slightest idea of the anxiety and difficulty
which, in a country like this, harass the foreigner who has to disburse
money not his own, if he wish that his employers be not shamefully and
outrageously imposed upon. In my last epistle to you I stated that I had
been asked 100 roubles per ream for such paper as we wanted. I likewise
informed you that I believed that it was possible to procure it for 35
roubles, notwithstanding our Society had formerly paid 40 roubles for
worse paper than the samples I was in possession of. Now I have always
been of opinion than in the expending of money collected for sacred
purposes, it behoves the agent to be extraordinarily circumspect and
sparing. I therefore was determined, whatever trouble it might cost me,
to procure for the Society unexceptionable paper at a yet more reasonable
rate than 35 roubles. I was aware, that an acquaintance of mine, a young
Dane, was particularly intimate with one of the first printers of this
city, who is accustomed to purchase vast quantities of paper every month
for his various publications. I gave this young gentleman a specimen of
the paper I required, and desired him (he was under obligations to me) to
enquire of his friend, _as if from curiosity_, the least possible sum per
ream at which the _printer himself_ (who from his immense demand for
paper should necessarily obtain it cheaper than any one else) could
expect to purchase the article in question. The answer I received within
a day or two was 25 roubles. Upon hearing this I prevailed upon my
acquaintance to endeavour to persuade his friend to bespeak the paper at
25 roubles, and to allow me, notwithstanding I was a perfect stranger, to
have it at that price. All this was brought about. I was introduced to
the printer, Mr. Pluchard, by the Dane, Mr. Hasfeldt, and between the
former gentleman and myself a contract was made to the effect that by the
end of October he should supply me with 450 reams of Chinese paper at 25
roubles per ream, the first delivery to be made on the 1st of August; for
as my order was given at an advanced period of the year, when all the
paper manufactories were at full work towards the executing of orders
already received, it was but natural that I should verify the old
apophthegm, 'Last come, last served.' As no orders are attended to in
Russia unless money be advanced upon them, I deposited in the hands of
Mr. Pluchard the sum of 2000 roubles, receiving his receipt for that
amount.
Having arranged this most important matter to my satisfaction, I turned
my attention to the printing process. I accepted the offer of Messrs.
Schultz and Beneze to compose and print the Mandchou Testament at the
rate of 25 roubles per sheet, and caused our fount of type to be conveyed
to their office. I wish to say here a few words respecting the state in
which these types came into my possession. I found them in a kind of
warehouse, or rather cellar. They had been originally confined in two
cases; but these having burst, the type lay on the floor trampled amidst
mud and filth. They were, moreover, not improved by having been immersed
within the waters of the inundation of '27 [1824]. I caused them all to
be collected and sent to their destination, where they were purified and
arranged--a work of no small time and difficulty, at which I was obliged
to assist. Not finding with the type what is called 'Durchschuss' by the
printers here, consisting of leaden wedges of about six ounces weight
each, which form the spaces between the lines, I ordered 120 pounds
weight of those at a rouble a pound, being barely enough for three
sheets. I had now to teach the compositors the Mandchou alphabet, and to
distinguish one character from another. This occupied a few days, at the
end of which I gave them the commencement of St. Matthew's Gospel to
copy. They no sooner saw the work they were called upon to perform than
there were loud murmurs of dissatisfaction, and . . . [four Russian
words] which means 'It is quite impossible to do the like,' was the
cry--and no wonder. The original printed Gospel had been so interlined
and scribbled upon by the author in a hand so obscure and irregular,
that, accustomed as I was to the perusal of the written Mandchou, it was
not without the greatest difficulty that I could decipher the new matter
myself. Moreover, the corrections had been so carelessly made that they
themselves required far more correction than the original matter. I was
therefore obliged to be continually in the printing-office, and to do
three parts of the work myself. For some time I found it necessary to
select every character with my own fingers, and to deliver it to the
compositor, and by so doing I learnt myself to compose. We continued in
this way till all our characters were exhausted, for no paper had
arrived. For two weeks and more we were obliged to pause, the want of
paper being insurmountable. At the end of this period came six reams;
but partly from the manufacturers not being accustomed to make this
species of paper, and partly from the excessive heat of the weather which
caused it to dry too fast, only one ream and a half could be used, and
this was not enough for one sheet; the rest I refused to take, and sent
back. The next week came fifteen reams. This paper, from the same
causes, was as bad as the last. I selected four reams, and sent the rest
back. But this paper enabled us to make a beginning, which we did not
fail to do, though we received no more for upwards of a fortnight, which
caused another pause. At the end of that time, owing to my pressing
remonstrances and entreaties, a regular supply of about twelve reams per
week of most excellent paper commenced. This continued until we had
composed the last five sheets of St. Matthew, when some paper arrived
which in my absence was received by Mr. Beneze, who, without examining
it, as was his duty, delivered it to the printers to use in the printing
of the said sheets, who accordingly printed upon part of it. But the
next day, when my occupation permitted me to see what they were about, I
observed that the last paper was of a quality very different from that
which had been previously sent. I accordingly instantly stopped the
press, and, notwithstanding eight reams had been printed upon, I sent all
the strange paper back, and caused Mr. Beneze to recompose three sheets,
which had been broken up, at his own expense. But this caused the delay
of another week.
This last circumstance made me determine not to depend in future for
paper on one manufactory alone. I therefore stated to Mr. P[luchard]
that, as his people were unable to furnish me with the article fast
enough, I should apply to others for 250 reams, and begged him to supply
me with the rest as fast as possible. He made no objection. Thereupon I
prevailed upon my most excellent friend, Baron Schilling, to speak to his
acquaintance, State-Councillor Alquin, who is possessed of a paper
manufactory, on the subject. M. Alquin, as a personal favour to Baron
Schilling (whom, I confess, I was ashamed to trouble upon such an affair,
and should never have done so had not zeal for the _cause_ induced me),
consented to furnish me with the required paper on the same terms as Mr.
P. At present there is not the slightest risk of the progress of our
work being retarded--at present, indeed, the path is quite easy; but the
trouble, anxiety, and misery which have till lately harassed me, _alone_
in a situation of great responsibility, have almost reduced me to a
skeleton.