A History of Booksellers, the Old and the NewCurwen, Henry
History
A History of Booksellers, the Old and the New
Curwen, Henry
Book industries and trade -- Great Britain -- History; Booksellers and bookselling -- Great Britain -- History
The attempts already made by Constable and Murray to promote the
sale of cheap and yet excellent books, led Longman to establish his
_Cabinet Encyclopædia_. The management was given to Dr. Lardner,
then a professor at the London University, and all, or nearly all,
Longman’s literary connections were pressed into service on his staff
of contributors. In the prospectus we see the names of Scott, Moore,
Mackintosh, Coleridge, Miss Edgeworth, Herschell, Long, Brewster, De
Morgan, Thirlwall, and, of course, Southey. The _Times_ gave more
than a broad hint that some of the names were put forward as lures,
and nothing else. Southey was anxious that this “insinuation” should
be brought before a court of law, where the writer may be “taught
that not every kind of slander may be published with impunity.” The
proprietors, however, contented themselves with publishing books, most
indubitably written by the authors whose names they bore. The first
volume was published in 1829, and at the close of the series, in 1846,
one hundred and thirty-three volumes had been issued, the whole of
which were eminently successful, and some few of them, such as Sir John
Herschell’s _Astronomy_, in particular, have since been expanded into
recognised and standard works.
Another valuable work which has been a constant source of wealth to
the firm, somewhat similar in scope to the preceding, was McCulloch’s
_Commercial Dictionary_, first published in 1832; in which year the
present Mr. Thomas Longman was admitted a partner, being joined by his
brother, Mr. William Longman, in 1839. With young Mr. Thomas Longman,
Moore appears to have been particularly friendly, addressing him always
as “Dear Tom.” As far back as 1829, we see the poet requesting that
some one might be sent over to have “poor Barbara’s” grave made tidy,
for fear that his wife Bessy, who was about to make a loving pilgrimage
thither, might be shocked, and we read afterwards that “young Longman
kindly rode over twice to Hornsey for the purpose.” In Moore’s diary,
too, for 1837, we find many regrets for the loss of Rees--a man “who
may be classed among those solemn business-ties, the breaking of which
by death cannot but be felt solemnly, if not deeply.” And again, later
on, in 1840: “Indeed, I will venture to say that there are few tributes
from authors to publishers more honourable (or I will fairly say more
deserved) than those which will be found among my papers relative to
the transactions for many years between myself and my friends of the
‘Row.’”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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