Charles Lever, His Life in His Letters Volume I Part 21

"I quote these words from his letter to me when last alluding to the transaction. So much, then, for the point on which I suppose, as M'G.

has expressed his firm opinion, Curry can scarcely dissent.

"Secondly, in the account forwarded previously to me of cost of production, I was charged with my share of the expense of all the copies of 'Hinton,' 'Burke,' and 'The O'Donoghue' printed but still unsold--that is, I was made a party to the cost of producing so much stock,--of my interest in which we have not one syllable, and which, if I were to purchase to-morrow, I should be buying what I have paid the moiety of the charge of producing.

"This last feature of the affair it is, I opine, which makes Curry so eager for a final settlement,--at least, it was this _coup_ which Chapman stigmatised as an atrocious piece of cheating.

"My opinion is, then, this: If Curry's a/c of the surplus 'Hinton' is fair, if he only charges me with what M'G. stipulated for and says I am responsible, and if I am not to pay for stock in which I hold a vested right, settle the a/c and let the transaction be finished.

"M'G. is quite right as to the relative advantages and disadvantages that Curry and I labour under. But it is quite clear _he_ will scarcely be able to sell his share in the three works so long as mine remain unpurchased,--first, because he cannot make out a t.i.tle until I give him one; and secondly, that no bookseller would like to buy hampered with my lien. I do not in the least desire to buy or sell with Curry. 'Hinton'

being once settled for, I'd rather lie patiently and wait for what may turn up.

"My proposition to Orr was this: and I would be very glad if you would communicate it to M'G., because if _he_ felt disposed to become a party in the compact I should be better pleased. Perhaps you would then read for him the following:--

"To enter into an arrangement with me to repurchase from Curry all the copyrights, as well those he owns entire as those in part, and then to commence from the stereotype plates a cheap weekly issue, with Notes and Prefaces by the Author. I would myself contribute 'O'Leary'--which is entirely mine--to the new edition, and do my utmost to give the whole a new feature of interest.

"If M'G. would enter into the speculation, he, more than any other, could contribute to its success, and I would myself pledge that whatever I wrote in the way of story hereafter should be reserved for similar publication.

"I believe I have now gone through the whole matter save the expression of my never-ceasing grat.i.tude to the friend who can devote of his few and scanty leisure hours nearly all in the cause of affectionate interest.

"The weather is again becoming wintry. Avalanches have fallen on every side of us--fifty feet of snow is lying in the Innspruck road; the mail for Italy is four days due, and even Switzerland--usually regular--is two days behind time. I do not venture to antic.i.p.ate when we may be able to cross the Alps,--certainly not under six or eight weeks if present appearances last.

"If M'G. has not replied to my last when you see him, urge him to do so, as it regards the contributing of some papers which I should like to despatch before I left this."

_To Mr Alexander Spencer._

"Riedenburg, _April_ 20, 1847.

"We are already busied with the stir and bustle of departure, though the time is still distant; but poor dear Germany is not a land of despatch, and to obtain a packing-box you must wait for a tree to be felled, barked, sawed, and planed, with all the vicissitudes attendant on these several processes, and the inevitable interruptions of saints' days and festivals in honour of every grand duke and grand d.u.c.h.ess that ever were chronicled in the 'Almanac de Gotha.'

"Speed, therefore, is out of the question, and my impatience has already more than once jeopardised my character for prudence and good sense among this, the easiest-going nation that ever smoked away existence.

Still, I am sorry to leave them, and feel that the exchange to Italy is, in every respect save climate, for the worse. The Germans are peaceful, good-natured, homely, honest souls, docile as dogs, and never treacherous. The Italians are falsehood incarnated,--their whole lives a long practical lie. Still, not to see the land would be a sad disgrace, the more as we have stood so long on the threshold--or rather at the bottom of the stairs--i.e., at the foot of the Alps.

"I have written to John a long prosy narrative of our Splugen journey--which really, albeit a novelist _par metier_, I have not exaggerated."

_To Mr Alexander Spencer._

"Riedenburg, _May_ 10, 1847.

"Except Orr and M'G., there are no others in the trade sufficiently cognisant of the profits of my books to undertake on a grand scale a reissue; and for this reason--because I was an Irish author, printed and published and mostly sold in Ireland, branded with the nationality of blunder in type as well as errors in thought,--and the same professional reputation hangs to me still. Now Orr and M'G. hang back. The invariable answer I meet from them is: 'We are so much suspected by Curry, that from us he would not accept a fair sum, whereas from you he would be likely to be restricted in his demand, because he would thereby by implication be setting a value on what _you_ might claim from _him_:

"Finally, the very qualified success of d.i.c.kens's new and cheap issue for 1s. 1 1/2d. (and pub. 1s. 2d.)--the greatest trial of cheapness ever made in bookselling--has shown that the profits of a new edition cannot be reckoned on till after a considerable lapse of time. When an author's popularity has lasted long enough to be more than a pa.s.sing taste, and to stand the test of a new generation of readers, then--and only then--can successive editions be regarded as profitable [? experiments].

"I have received a letter from the Custom House, Portsmouth, stating that 'a great number of your works in foreign editions (in English) pa.s.s through this Custom House, and as we received no notice of copyright subsisting thereon, we cannot prevent their entrance. We deem it only fair to let you know the fact for your information and guidance.' Now Mr Curry ought at once, through the Custom House, London, to take the requisite steps against this nuisance, which I already foresaw would be the result of the much boasted International Copyright Treaty.

"I am in a fix about Italy. I have my house at Como for June 1, but three avalanches have fallen in the Splugen, and the road will not be practicable before the middle of July, so that I have been compelled to retain my present house for three months longer,--a piece of the most ill-timed bad luck, as I never was more anxious to economise a little."

_To Mr Alexander Spencer._

"Bregenz, May 26,1847.

"Famine and money distress have cut off all the luxuries--of which books are the easiest to go without,--and so publishers won't make any contracts till better days arrive, and we who have no capital but our brains must live how we can meanwhile. I am not impatient, but I will be very glad when any prospect offers of concluding something with Curry."*

* With this letter he sent a cheque for the funeral expenses of a sister-in-law.--E. D.

_To Mr Alexander Spencer._

"Bregenz, _May_ 31 [1847].

"....I have formed no literary engagement for next year. My present contract concludes in July. Chapman is now winding up the a/c of the partnership, as Hall is dead; and from this cause and the great monetary crisis in England, will not, I believe, engage in any new speculation hastily,--so that I am really, for the first time, at sea. If I could have any occupation such as re-editing, &c., on hand, it would be my best mode of employing a season which can scarcely fail to be a bad one for books. If not this, I must try to get money by selling my copyrights somehow or somewhere, and wait for better days.

"M'Glashan is, I hear, in London. He is not coming this way certainly.

He has been at his old game of fast-and-loose with me; but as I never trusted him, I am not deceived.

"Curry should take prompt measures against the piracy, or we shall be inundated. All the United States out of the new treaty are at work robbing and stealing from every nation.

"P.S.--The thermometer stands at 118 Fahrenheit at the shady side of a room, as I write."

_To Mr Alexander Spencer._

"Bregenz, _June_ 9, 1847.

"Though I am without any over-confidence in what is whimiscally termed '12 honest men's award,' I would rather cry heads or tails for my right--by a lawsuit--than be bullied out of it by Curry and his secret adviser b.u.t.t, who I know is at the bottom of the whole proceedings.

I once laughed at b.u.t.t's pretensions to represent the University in Parliament: some one told him so....

"In M'G.'s letter to me a month ago he writes:--'I totally dissented from Curry's notion of these sales being made at your charge, and said that if he--Curry--did not consent to your receiving the usual sum you had hitherto received as moiety of profits, I would decline all interposition as his negotiatee.'"

_To Mr Alexander Spencer._

"Bregenz, _June_ 24, 1847.

"I hasten to say that the more I think of Curry and his conduct, the more I am impressed by the fear of some latent mischief. He is evidently acting under advice--b.u.t.t's, I conjecture; and if he does resist on threat of law, we have not the means of sustaining a costly suit--which, if merely requiring my presence in England, would more than counterbalance a victory, and make defeat half ruin. Before, therefore, making this last move,--if not yet too late,--I would advise your seeing M'G., and, having explained to him the impracticability of any dealings with Curry, whose subterfuges and evasions are never-ending, ask him if he would endeavour to effect an amicable arrangement. This I must submit to at great sacrifices, if requisite, because I find (within the last few days) the increasing difficulty of any new arrangement with booksellers, who, dreading a money crisis, are awaiting better and safer days.

"I have concluded an arrangement with Tauchnitz of Leipsic* to publish all my books in Germany,--with which Curry has nothing to do,--they (Tauchnitz) being limited to the circulation of the Continent; but I should be glad to have our affair with him (Curry) so concluded that he might not be disposed to give us any worry or inconvenience. In fact, sooner than risk a jury, I would take 300 for my interest, my debt of 300 being paid--600 for all. M'G. values my interest at 400--at least, so Baker told me. Do not speak of my German arrangement to M'G.

"Where has M'G. been on the Continent? and what [? wickedness has he been] at? He received a MS. from me above a month back, and I have not yet heard any tidings of its acceptance or rejection.... I had asked him here. Orr of London was to join him on his trip."

* On May 8, 1847, Lever wrote as follows to Baron Tauchnitz about 'The Knight of Gwynne':--