John Blackwood to GHL, Edinburgh, 15 November 1861
Title
John Blackwood to GHL, Edinburgh, 15 November 1861
Title
John Blackwood to GHL, Edinburgh, 15 November 1861
Sender
John Blackwood
Recipient
George Henry Lewes
Date(s)
- 1861-11-15
Place
Edinburgh
Letter Content
John Blackwood to GHL, Edinburgh, 15 November 1861
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Edinburgh | November 15/61.
My Dear Lewes
I find as I expected on looking into the calculations upon which our agreement for the 6/- edition of the George Eliot Novels was based that the repeal of the paper duty makes a difference hardly worth considering.
When these calculations were made the paper intended for the Series was estimated at 20/- per ream and the binding in printed cloth like that over the one volume novel by Trollope published by Chapman and Hall and costing 4d. 868
The reduction of duty enables us to buy the same paper at present for 17/4 (or 6'bdd. per lb.) which would make a saving of about 'a34.3.4d on the thousand copies or one penny per book.
Our opinion in which I feel certain you will agree is that we should apply this saving to an improved style of binding. This might, we think, assist the sale, and considering that the volumes will contain no more for 6/- than Trollope's for 5/- the difference of quality should be extended to externals. Over at Strathtyrum I had forgot all about the form of book on which our calculations were based and feel doubtful whether we can venture to make that edition of Silas the same price as Adam and the Mill. It would be so thin a volume, as we would need to make it a book precisely like what it is at present for 12/- which would hardly do. The Scenes I think we may keep uniform in price, but we need not decide on that at present as I propose to begin with Adam. Suppose we start that on the first of January.
In the meantime I am hurrying on the 6/- edition of Silas to be ready as soon as possible. It is being made a handsome foolscap volume to range with the 12/- editions of the other works.
Your expectation of receiving 'bd as much per thousand for the 6/- edition as for the 12/- arose from your not knowing or reflecting that the difference in the cost of producing a foolscap octavo and a post octavo volume could only be very small, the quantity of matter and style of getting up being the same in both cases, so that the 6/- foolscap cannot produce anything like 'bd the profit of the 12/ post.
My offer of the 60 'a3 per thousand is I think a fair one. The only difference I could make would be to take a trifle off the payment for the first 2000 and after that number was sold to pay 'a370 per 1000.
I hope I have made myself clear and if not I wish you to write again that you may feel perfectly satisfied about everything. I think I am quite distinct, for which I deserve some credit although the scorings out testify to the some thirty callers I have had since I began this note.
ever yours truly
John Blackwood.
G. H. Lewes Esq.
P.S. It may strike you that being able to give 'a360 per 1000 for the 6/- Adam we ought to be able to give materially more for the 6/- Silas.
But the offer for 6/- Adam which will be really a cheap book was based on the expectation of a sale to an extent which we cannot reasonably expect for a 6/ Silas which is not cheap, and the difference in the style of getting up makes the difference in the cost of production much less than you would imagine.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Edinburgh | November 15/61.
My Dear Lewes
I find as I expected on looking into the calculations upon which our agreement for the 6/- edition of the George Eliot Novels was based that the repeal of the paper duty makes a difference hardly worth considering.
When these calculations were made the paper intended for the Series was estimated at 20/- per ream and the binding in printed cloth like that over the one volume novel by Trollope published by Chapman and Hall and costing 4d. 868
The reduction of duty enables us to buy the same paper at present for 17/4 (or 6'bdd. per lb.) which would make a saving of about 'a34.3.4d on the thousand copies or one penny per book.
Our opinion in which I feel certain you will agree is that we should apply this saving to an improved style of binding. This might, we think, assist the sale, and considering that the volumes will contain no more for 6/- than Trollope's for 5/- the difference of quality should be extended to externals. Over at Strathtyrum I had forgot all about the form of book on which our calculations were based and feel doubtful whether we can venture to make that edition of Silas the same price as Adam and the Mill. It would be so thin a volume, as we would need to make it a book precisely like what it is at present for 12/- which would hardly do. The Scenes I think we may keep uniform in price, but we need not decide on that at present as I propose to begin with Adam. Suppose we start that on the first of January.
In the meantime I am hurrying on the 6/- edition of Silas to be ready as soon as possible. It is being made a handsome foolscap volume to range with the 12/- editions of the other works.
Your expectation of receiving 'bd as much per thousand for the 6/- edition as for the 12/- arose from your not knowing or reflecting that the difference in the cost of producing a foolscap octavo and a post octavo volume could only be very small, the quantity of matter and style of getting up being the same in both cases, so that the 6/- foolscap cannot produce anything like 'bd the profit of the 12/ post.
My offer of the 60 'a3 per thousand is I think a fair one. The only difference I could make would be to take a trifle off the payment for the first 2000 and after that number was sold to pay 'a370 per 1000.
I hope I have made myself clear and if not I wish you to write again that you may feel perfectly satisfied about everything. I think I am quite distinct, for which I deserve some credit although the scorings out testify to the some thirty callers I have had since I began this note.
ever yours truly
John Blackwood.
G. H. Lewes Esq.
P.S. It may strike you that being able to give 'a360 per 1000 for the 6/- Adam we ought to be able to give materially more for the 6/- Silas.
But the offer for 6/- Adam which will be really a cheap book was based on the expectation of a sale to an extent which we cannot reasonably expect for a 6/ Silas which is not cheap, and the difference in the style of getting up makes the difference in the cost of production much less than you would imagine.
Signature
John Blackwood.
Citation
John Blackwood, John Blackwood to GHL, Edinburgh, 15 November 1861, Complete George Eliot Letters(2026), George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/95369