Joseph Munt Langford to William Blackwood, London, 13 June 1866
Title
Joseph Munt Langford to William Blackwood, London, 13 June 1866
Title
Joseph Munt Langford to William Blackwood, London, 13 June 1866
Sender
Joseph Munt Langford
Recipient
William Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1866-06-13
Place
London
Letter Content
Joseph Munt Langford to William Blackwood, London, 13 June 1866
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Paternoster Row | June 13th 1866.
My dear Sir
Your uncle will probably have told you of the progress made in the subscription of Felix Holt but in case he should not have given you the details I enclose a memorandum of the numbers taken to the present time -- there will be some additions but no important ones. The list is to some extent disappointing but to me it is not discouraging; the great change that has taken place in the trade within the last few years places every one in a state of uncertainty and renders it impossible to know through what channels a successful book reaches the public. At Simpkin's where they used to be such good judges of their own sales of a book they seemed quite at a loss what to do. Mr. Miles said that if I could convince them that this would be the most successful of the Adam Bede novels it would not relieve them of their difficulty as to what they ought to take. I had some trouble to get Mudie up to the mark, but he had heard a good deal of the book and was evidently impressed with it though he did not look upon the story as strong enough to please ordinary novel readers. My own impression is that he will want as many more. Looking back to the subscription paper of The Mill on the Floss there is evidently a great change in the book trade since 1860. Then Simpkin's took 500 and Hamilton's 350. That to be sure was in the wake of a great success while this book follows a failure. Longman's number is simply ridiculous.
You will be glad to hear that Delane has sent the book to Dallas for an early review in the Times -- the sooner the better for Europe will be in a blaze in a fortnight. The Emperor's letter evidently means that if there is a scrimmage and a scramble he will snatch what he can. 480
We are all ready to deliver Felix Holt to-morrow and you may look for our sensational advertisements in the daily papers. We are giving it away very freely to the press; both your uncle and Mr. Simpson think that it should be made known as widely as possible and I quite agree with them -- the more it is read the better it will be liked. . . .
I am, my dear Sir,
Yours faithfully
J. M. Langford.
Wm. Blackwood Esq.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Paternoster Row | June 13th 1866.
My dear Sir
Your uncle will probably have told you of the progress made in the subscription of Felix Holt but in case he should not have given you the details I enclose a memorandum of the numbers taken to the present time -- there will be some additions but no important ones. The list is to some extent disappointing but to me it is not discouraging; the great change that has taken place in the trade within the last few years places every one in a state of uncertainty and renders it impossible to know through what channels a successful book reaches the public. At Simpkin's where they used to be such good judges of their own sales of a book they seemed quite at a loss what to do. Mr. Miles said that if I could convince them that this would be the most successful of the Adam Bede novels it would not relieve them of their difficulty as to what they ought to take. I had some trouble to get Mudie up to the mark, but he had heard a good deal of the book and was evidently impressed with it though he did not look upon the story as strong enough to please ordinary novel readers. My own impression is that he will want as many more. Looking back to the subscription paper of The Mill on the Floss there is evidently a great change in the book trade since 1860. Then Simpkin's took 500 and Hamilton's 350. That to be sure was in the wake of a great success while this book follows a failure. Longman's number is simply ridiculous.
You will be glad to hear that Delane has sent the book to Dallas for an early review in the Times -- the sooner the better for Europe will be in a blaze in a fortnight. The Emperor's letter evidently means that if there is a scrimmage and a scramble he will snatch what he can. 480
We are all ready to deliver Felix Holt to-morrow and you may look for our sensational advertisements in the daily papers. We are giving it away very freely to the press; both your uncle and Mr. Simpson think that it should be made known as widely as possible and I quite agree with them -- the more it is read the better it will be liked. . . .
I am, my dear Sir,
Yours faithfully
J. M. Langford.
Wm. Blackwood Esq.
Signature
J. M. Langford.
Citation
Joseph Munt Langford, Joseph Munt Langford to William Blackwood, London, 13 June 1866, 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/95521