My dear Lady Meath
Annie Cazenove and I agree that you would be greatly interested in Miss Margaretta Scott’s work. She is an American Churchwoman hard at work among the girls of superior class in Liberia
yours sincerely
C M Yonge
Annie Cazenove is as bright and energetic as ever
Dear Miss Manning
Miss Walter and I have much enjoyed reading Miss Lawrences’ letter all the more as last Sunday evening Mr Du Boulay kindly came and talked to the parish about Madagascar.1
If you will let me know in time, I will send you the Daisy Chain, Trial and Pillars of the Houseto send to her. I am very glad to have the pleasure of doing so
with many thanks
yours truly
C M Yonge
Dear Madam,
I have today paid to your credit with Hoare & Co – £200 – as arranged for the “Dove”.
Mr Macmillan has just left, and he asked me to say that a copy has been today sent to Lt. Col. Hall. I am glad to say that we have had a very good start
Yours faithfully
Geo Lillie Craik
Miss Yonge
Dear Miss Yonge,
I enclose a specimen page. You see we are giving you elbow room. This will make about 157 pages.
Your title seems to me very good at first sight. Perhaps we may leave the absolute decision a little later. I am not sure whether the general public will object to what school boys call – sold – as your publisher was. I can assure you there is something not unpleasant in in the sense of being fairly taken in – as P was. It is like mild tickling such as one delights a baby with.1
I will see to the capital when we are sure as to the length. In the mean time I only send you this page to see whether you like it
You need not worry over the Norseman you will find him brief(?) enough after a [illegible].
Very faithfully yours
Dear Miss Yonge,
I am sending [illegible] to you to
I would do nothing to explain the [illegible]. Leave it as it is. That is my present feeling. But we can see how it strikes you a little later. In the meantime you shall see a specimen page shortly.
The idea of the two characters is to me perfectly admirable, and contains lessons of charity which it was well we all [illegible]. It has the same quality that struck me so much in the Chaplet of Pearls, and proved to me that I had often felt that there may be a Church which if not Broad is [illegible] & which is perhaps better a Church of all divisions(?) High, low broad. [illegible] making it not lie in spiritual things.
Very f’lly yours
Dear Miss Yonge,
Very deeply do I feel your [illegible] and sympathy.1 The events of the past month are scarcely realizable to me, and on the whole the best healer, or at least anodyne is one’s daily work. I am very thankful as well that all the children – now all mine , are well, and my wife is settling everything wonderfully well, but needing rest, which she is having at her old house in Cambridge.
I shall be very glad to have the Cameos – to go on with, and you shall have proofs steadily and as fast as I can persuade the printer to go.
Miss Wilford has sent me her story. I have glanced carefully over it. I think it certainly has grace, but it is rather stately and stiff like brocade, it lacks the grace of life, and freedom of movement which will [illegible] a child. Even when you have [illegible] in chains, you hear them clank. Even the [illegible] of the boy being locked up and escaping from that stern old monk is hampered as though with a [next nine lines indecipherable.]2
Yours very faithfully
Dear Miss Yonge,
The [illegible] Palgrave’s ]Normandy, but volume 1 is nearly out of print. We have only very few copies and they are at present imperfect. If you want merely to use it for the future you can return the copy I send you by rail today, which is my own private copy if you want to possess it, let me know and I will charge it to you at trade price.1
Mrs Craik is very much gratified of course to know M. Guizot’s opinion of her book. She had heard it direct from himself, but will I am sure thank you for sending her good news.2 People often have bad ones delivered with no little gusto.
This cold weather is freezing all business as well as many people’s blood. I hope it will do them good after.
The parcel has gone to Miss Sewell.
Yours very faithfully
Dear Miss Yonge,
Indeed Miss Sewell is very wrong, and we would all get into serious trouble if we acted on her impression. She must have written permission from the owners of the copyright of the several books. I think it would not be hard for either Miss Sewell or yourself to obtain them but the thing does not at all depend on the author being living. You use some of Lord Macaulay I remember. Lady Trevelyan at Grosvenor Corner S.W. is I think the proper person to apply to. If you address a letter to Mr Pearson I can forward it to him. I do not quite remember who the other writers you quote from] are, but it you will give me their names I will give you their addresses.1
If you will kindly send us the copy for the Cameos up to the time you mean we will put the book in hand at once and get on with it quickly. I am not sure that I told you that you will have the stereotype plate of the Cameos as a possession after the sale of the full edition.
I am sending you by this post a made [illegible] of publishing on the Globe paper, same as that used for Scott. It is really a very pretty book prettier than the present edition. But the practical point is this, that you will require that of the Daisy chain goes at 8/6 [illegible]. But Daisy Chain is a terribly long book. It is some 5 sheets longer than Heir of Redclyffe. I am having calculations made as to what the average result of the whole would be. Also I am seeing what the result of the same book at 4/6 would be. The whole thing was by contrast that I am not sure that 4/6 is attractive(?) enough to command a very greatly increased sale. How does it strike you? Would you for instance [illegible] [illegible] before if wishing to make presents of them be induced to buy two books at 4/6 to one you bought at 6/- before to give to your friends? I think at 3/6 [illegible] might [illegible] more than doubled. [Next three lines indecipherable.]
Yours very faithfully
Can you tell me a little Miss Wilbraham is sister to a Mr Henry Wilbraham who was a fellow of Trinity [illegible] and is now “registrar of the Chancery of Manchester”? 2 If so he is an old friend of mine, and this might pass [illegible] as false(?).What you tell me of her makes me wish all the more that she will be enlisted as [illegible].
My dear Miss Yonge,
I omitted yesterday to say that I had sent to your bankers the amount of £275 – due at midsummer.
Also that I am reading Miss Peard’s “story of Prayer Book” , and I hope with perhaps a little modification, it may come well into our Series, but not early.
With all kind New Year wishes
Yours very faithfully
Dear Miss Yonge,
I have been going carefully into the question of the Cameos, and this is the result. If we mean to have a large sale, which I think you might have, we must make it rather cheap. At the same time we cannot expect a sale that would justify us in printing a very large number. This may come afterwards. I thought of printing in the first instance 3000 of a volume to sell at 6/-. Now in order to do this it ought not to contain more than about 430 to 440 pages. This would necessitate your giving not more than about 600 pages of g[illegible] in the first volume. Now there are two ways open. 1. of abridging what you have written if that is possible or 2. giving less. Of the two methods I confess myself unable to decide without reading over what you have written carefully, and even then I would prefer leaving the decision in all ways in your hands. For I know it is very hard to meddle with an artists work at any time. Commercially, however, there is no doubt that if it were possible to get vivid pictures into a rather 3. or 3 rather than 4 – it would be better to take the smaller number of volumes. Now if you could get the whole into the space I said –about 600 of your pages or 450 of ours, we might print 3000 copies, stereotype the book for new editions, and pay you £100 for the first, leaving the plates your own property. Tell me how this looks to you. If we print the larger quantity we must make the book 7/6 in order to do the same. I would rather have had the smaller prices.
I hope to write to you in a few days about a possible cheaper reprint of your works which you have once spoken to me about. [illegible] [illegible], re our printing rooms, and I am trying to see how it will look and work in a size like our [illegible] Shakespeare. I send you the Scotts Poetry which we have just reprinted in the same size. I will write you more particulars in a few days. I am in hopes we might make a success of a new cheaper edition of your works but I will write to you more in detail shortly.
I meant to have written a longer letter but this last day of the year has been a good deal interrupted and I did not want the year to close without telling you about the cameos and my my idea of the [[topic:264]cheap edition] of your novels. I shall be glad to hear how you can meet our requirements about the cameos and the size of the book, or increasing the number of volumes or the prices of each
with all kindest new year wishes,
Yours very faithfully
