William Blackwood to Joseph Munt Langford, Edinburgh, 28 March 1860
Title
William Blackwood to Joseph Munt Langford, Edinburgh, 28 March 1860
Title
William Blackwood to Joseph Munt Langford, Edinburgh, 28 March 1860
Sender
William Blackwood
Recipient
Joseph Munt Langford
Date(s)
- 1860-03-28
Place
Edinburgh
Letter Content
William Blackwood to Joseph Munt Langford, Edinburgh, 28 March 1860
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
George St. 28 March 1860.
My Dear Sir
We have received your letter about the subscription of the Mill yesterday. It is very satisfactory so far as it has gone, and we think there will be another 500 from the East and other outlying parties. With regard to Mudie, we cannot bind ourselves not to publish a 12/ edition until a twelvemonth is past, or till any other time. We have no power to do so from our agreement with the author. We do not however think that it will be advisable either for author's or publisher's advantage to publish a cheaper edition until the three volume one has had it's full swing, but when this will be we could not fix just now. From the author's reputation and its own merits we have little doubt that the demand for The Mill will be great and immediate. We published the 12/ edition of Adam Bede sooner than we think we should have done for our own interest, having then only the comparatively limited sale of the author's previous work Clerical Scenes to guide us. We cannot however see that Mr. Mudie suffered by our doing so; the large numbers he took of the 12/ edition showed that he had not near enough of the 3 vol. edition wherewith to supply his readers. On referring to our books I see he had 1500 of the 3 volume edition Adam Bede, 235 of which were taken in May. The 2 volume edition was published in June; he took 250 immediately and another 250 a week later and 400 in July and August. Looking therefore both to the inconvenience to the author and ourselves of coming under any engagement as to the time of publishing a cheaper edition and to past effects in a similar case, upon Mr. Mudie's interest of such an edition, we do not think he has any reason to ask us for such a guarantee as he requires. We should be glad to meet his wishes and oblige him in any way we could, but a guarantee would tie us up in a way that might not only be inconvenient in the present case but as a precedent in future ones.
We are going to press immediately with another 2000, 522 and I have little doubt but that The Mill will find the Printing office work for some time. Fortunately we have got the new cylinder machine working beautifully as well as another Platen within the last month, otherwise we should have been in a fix.
Mr. Simpson I am glad to say appears to have got quite over the attack in the eyes. He is still complaining a little of weakness however. We are very sorry to hear of poor Mr. Sheard's death. 523 It is melancholy, just, poor fellow when he
[The rest of this letter is lacking.]
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
George St. 28 March 1860.
My Dear Sir
We have received your letter about the subscription of the Mill yesterday. It is very satisfactory so far as it has gone, and we think there will be another 500 from the East and other outlying parties. With regard to Mudie, we cannot bind ourselves not to publish a 12/ edition until a twelvemonth is past, or till any other time. We have no power to do so from our agreement with the author. We do not however think that it will be advisable either for author's or publisher's advantage to publish a cheaper edition until the three volume one has had it's full swing, but when this will be we could not fix just now. From the author's reputation and its own merits we have little doubt that the demand for The Mill will be great and immediate. We published the 12/ edition of Adam Bede sooner than we think we should have done for our own interest, having then only the comparatively limited sale of the author's previous work Clerical Scenes to guide us. We cannot however see that Mr. Mudie suffered by our doing so; the large numbers he took of the 12/ edition showed that he had not near enough of the 3 vol. edition wherewith to supply his readers. On referring to our books I see he had 1500 of the 3 volume edition Adam Bede, 235 of which were taken in May. The 2 volume edition was published in June; he took 250 immediately and another 250 a week later and 400 in July and August. Looking therefore both to the inconvenience to the author and ourselves of coming under any engagement as to the time of publishing a cheaper edition and to past effects in a similar case, upon Mr. Mudie's interest of such an edition, we do not think he has any reason to ask us for such a guarantee as he requires. We should be glad to meet his wishes and oblige him in any way we could, but a guarantee would tie us up in a way that might not only be inconvenient in the present case but as a precedent in future ones.
We are going to press immediately with another 2000, 522 and I have little doubt but that The Mill will find the Printing office work for some time. Fortunately we have got the new cylinder machine working beautifully as well as another Platen within the last month, otherwise we should have been in a fix.
Mr. Simpson I am glad to say appears to have got quite over the attack in the eyes. He is still complaining a little of weakness however. We are very sorry to hear of poor Mr. Sheard's death. 523 It is melancholy, just, poor fellow when he
[The rest of this letter is lacking.]
Citation
William Blackwood, William Blackwood to Joseph Munt Langford, Edinburgh, 28 March 1860, 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/95676