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To an Unknown Woman or to Alexander Macmillan?
Wantage
May 30th [1870]

MS British Library Add MSS 54920: 240-1 1

My dear Madam,2
I have been having some talk and consultation about the Godmother’s Readings with people who have so much to do with schools as to be really an influence

First, I am advised strongly to do – what I proposed at first – to have the Scripture part, without the comment, printed separately, as cheap as may be, for the children to use, while the teacher has the one with the comment. I do believe this would be greatly used in Schools if we can make it cheap enough1

Another advice is to keep the Godmother out of the title, as that is thought likely to discourage the sale for Schools. I suppose if my name goes to it, the individuality would be marked enough. I believe it is only the first page that this change would affect

Scripture Readings
by
Charlotte M Yonge

Then people would ask for it as Yonge’s Scripture Readings.

My address here is the Rev’d Wm Butler’s Wantage – I go home on Thursday

Yours sincerely
C M Yonge

1Black-edged paper.
2This letter is among the correspondence with Alexander Macmillan, and the salutation may simply be a mistake. Or the letter may have been addressed to his sister-in-law Eliza (Orridge) Macmillan, who was his partner, but one would expect CMY, who had met her, to address her as Mrs Macmillan. Or it is possible that the letter was addressed to Frances Martin, the editor of Macmillan's Sunday Library, although the Scripture Readings do not appear to have come out in that series.
3The first of the Scripture Readings for schools, with comments, Genesis to Deuteronomy, was published by Macmillan in May 1871; it cost 3s. 6d. and the version without comments was 1s. 6d.. Eventually there were 5 volumes, 1871-1879.

Cite this letter


The Letters of Charlotte Mary Yonge(1823-1901) edited by Charlotte Mitchell, Ellen Jordan and Helen Schinske.

URL to this Letter is: https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/yonge/2381/to-an-unknown-woman-or-to-alexander-macmillan-footnote1

One Comment
  1. Ellen Jordan says:
    June 9, 2011 at 3:58 am

    It is also possible that the letter was addressed to Frances Martin, who was at this date presumably still involved with the Sunday Library. However, the same problem that she and CMY had already met applies here.
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