Dear Miss Yonge The first instalment of the Book of Worthies has just come to hand. I will at once send it to the printer, as I shall be glad to get it out if possible for the summer. I quite feel that you are right about the length of the Biographies. Too great brevity would lessen the interest of the stories, and a few well told & pretty fully told is better than many made ... continue reading

Dear Miss Yonge . The presentation copies will be attended to. The book however is hardly yet in the binders hands. Books like 'long-tailed birds of Paradise' will not light at the end.

I am glad that the Danvers name seems connected with Mr Peabody. We should send him a copy.

The 62 pages of your law[?] makes 92 of the Book of Worthies (I am afraid I [illegible] I like our first title best) so we would ... continue reading

Dear Mr Macmillan, Thanks for the books which the carrier will probably bring today. I will betake myself to St John’s pupils at once, though it is rather a sudden change from the banks of the Granicus, where I left Alexander.

And there is another thing that I should like to know ie - the sum that will come to me both for the Pupils of St John and the Danvers Papers. The reason I ask is ... continue reading

Dear Miss Yonge I am much obliged to you for so kindly undertaking the new work I hope when you are once in it you will find it not less pleasant than the others.

I propose paying you the same for that as I will for the Worthies. The amounts which will be due to you next half year & part or the whole we can pay you any time after August 1. are:-

Pupils £200 for copyright

Cameos ... continue reading

My dear Miss Yonge I have arranged with Mr Armitage a painter of considerable reputation particularly for pictures of Sacred & Christian subjects to draw us three designs for your The Pupils of St John. As I hope we may be able to make our start in January, it will be needful to be getting on with both the drawing and the engraving. Could you give Mr Armitage any hints that would enable him to make ... continue reading

Dear Mr Macmillan, I send you three four chapters that I have finished. My plan has come to this and I had been thinking of writing to you or Miss Martin about it.

Chapter I, Description of Ephesus

II Work of St Paul at Ephesus

III Life of St John up to the dispersion of the Apostles from Jerusalem

IV The 2nd visit of St Paul to Ephesus - review of all the chief disciples of Paul & John with the fates ... continue reading

Dear Miss Yonge I write mainly to acknowledge the receipt of your last four chapters, and also to say that your sketch seems to me very good. But were you not to give a third pupil of St John?

I will see Miss Martin today she will no doubt write to you on any point of detail. I do not in the least anticipate any difficulty on point of church arrangements. Only one thing has struck me ... continue reading

Dear Mr Macmillan I believe the childish form does not last, it is always cramping and a scratch of the pen will alter it where it prevails.

I was sorry afterwards I had not mentioned St John being recognised by his former pupil, the captain of the robbers, when he went out to be taken by him. It would be a fine subject for expression, and I wonder it has never been taken before. I believe I ... continue reading

Dear Mr Macmillan, I send up the two next chapters of St John, in case it should be convenient to show Mr Armitage the description of the scene with the Robber. Do you mean to have vignettes? If you do the cup with the serpent should come at the end of the last chapter I send you, and the one I am writing now should have the golden candlestick, I should try for Diana for the ... continue reading

My dear Miss Yonge . I have forwarded your letter to Miss Martin who has gone to Bude. I am sure there will be no difficulty in arranging matters. Her only object as I understood her was as the Series is to go over a long space there would be serious danger of one book repeating the work of another, and so there would [be] too much of one part given, and details of another that would ... continue reading

Dear Mr Macmillan I enclose my letter to Miss Yonge and will you send it on if you think well, but if not will you tell me what had better be done.

I have read her proofs again & the fact is that she is writing a Sunday Story Book (of which there are thousands) and she will not have the story broken up. It is very prettily told and no doubt will be very taking. Miss ... continue reading

My dear Mr Macmillan The sheets came on Tuesday with Miss Martin’s marks, and I have gone over them and marked with ink all that it seems to me that I could well part with. Her marks are in pencil and I see what she wishes to part with is the entire chapters that belong to the Gospels and Acts, which take away all the youth of St John. Now if I might be allowed to ... continue reading

My dear Miss Yonge I have a hurried note from Miss Martin in which she expresses her gratification at the kindly way in which you have written, and says that 'no doubt you have much right reason on your side', and repeats very much what I said yesterday. I am quite sure she will be satisfied with what you feel free to do in the way of abridgement of those early chapters. But I think ... continue reading

Dear Mr Macmillan, I am getting well again, and gone to work again. Clement of Alexandria is the first authority for the robber story, but Eusebius takes it from him. I have a queer old translation of Eusebius, Socrates and Co - from which I really did expand the account, and so I think I had better leave Eusebius, as it looks less as if it all came out of Smith’s dictionary as in fact much ... continue reading

Dear Miss Yonge I suppose you [illegible] the translation of Alexandre Dumas & after some difficulty we have a shabby copy which I am sending by post.

We will be glad to have the whole M.S. when it is ready. You can either send it to Miss Martin or to us

Yours very [illegible] Geo Lillie Craik

Dear Miss Yonge The end of the M.S. reached me with your letter. I at once sent it to the Printer. Whatever alteration you may wish to make either in [illegible] or modifying can be done in the proof.

Miss Martin - whom I saw yesterday - agreed with me in this.

Yours very [illegible] Geo Lillie Craik

Dear Miss Yonge I am very sorry indeed that you should be perplexed about this matter[.] I hope we will be able to arrange it without giving you serious trouble. I was under the impression that you understood that the volume should be about the size of the Hugh Macmillans - between 300 & 400. On May 10 I am sure I wrote to that effect.

As matters stand I think we had better publish in parts ... continue reading

Dear Miss Martin, I have read through Miss Yonge’s “Pupils” yesterday. It really is not satisfactory as regards the earlier part but what is one to do under the circumstances? There is much that is really very fine and especially in the latter part just as well done as it could be. So we must go on. It has occurred to me while reading the extracts from the letters that a complete translation of them ... continue reading

My dear Miss Yonge I am afraid I omitted to tell you that our intention in publishing the parts is that the parts should not even seem complete, but end at the end of a sheet, or given number of pages quite irrespective of whether a sentence or chapter ends or not. The volumes are to be complete works. Our only motive in publishing extracts is to enable people to pay a little bit at a ... continue reading

My dear Miss Yonge Thanks for your latest letter. I will have the setting up of the Epistle seen to at once.

Indeed you are a valuable ally for us, in our scheme. The man after all is never very far from the Child, and however much we learn we cannot unlearn what is worth all the learning in the world, the common humanity the recognition and expression of which in words is what we call ... continue reading

My dear Miss Yonge You shall have all the new matter in slips and the old sheets as they were so that the inserting may be all made at once when it is finally settled what these are to be. I have no doubt the result will be a very satisfactory volume of which we will be proud. Later down I hope you will get [illegible] your more modern volume.

In the meantime there is a small ... continue reading

Dear Miss Yonge Yesterday Mr Craik paid £200 into Hoare’s in your a/c. I hope my not telling you before will have caused you no [illegible]

I am very sorry you do not like the illustrations. It is now impossible to get fresh ones done, and pardon me saying I really like them. I hope you will get reconciled to them by and by

[Rest of letter indecipherable as is the one, dated 22 January 1868, that follows]

Dear Miss Yonge, We sent the 11 copies to make your dozen by rail the same day that the single copy was sent you by post Feb:27. I have seen in the parcels book the signature of the clerk at the Golden Cross booking office. I have sent down to enquire about it. Perhaps you could enquire at your end. The address was quite clear Elderfield Otterbourne Winchester I am sending you a copy of the ... continue reading

Dear Miss Yonge, Don’t you think that an Index and some chronological tables would be of similar use to the Cameos? If you agree with me I can get them done. The printer is making a table of contents of which you shall see a proof.

I enclose a letter about the terrible story(?). But I think the Little Duke has been close and [rest of paragraph indecipherable]

I hope you like the gilt-edged copy of the ... continue reading

Dear Miss Yonge, We will give you the £200 for the copyright of the Cameos. It is a rather full sum but the book is of a kind we like to possess. Some day we will get a series of actual Cameos engraved for it. But in the mean time we contract [illegible] with one for the title page & one for the cover. I think you will certainly like the look of the book.

We send ... continue reading

My dear Miss Yonge, I send you the first copy of the Cameos which has been bound. It has been delayed about that title page, in which I wanted to produce a cameo effect, [illegible] that may be. The book I am sure is a charming book and we tried to give it an adequate dress.

I think Clay is making better progress with the Selections. Miss Sewell seems satisfied. I have never I think spoken of ... continue reading

Dear Mr Macmillan, I believe the Little Duke has been translated into French, I am sure I have given leave for it, but I do not always hear whether a translation comes to anything

The Cameos would certainly be the better for an Index, I do not think a genealogical table is wanted

I find I still have one of your books, besides Julius Caesar. I will return them together.

The gilt edged copy is very pretty - many ... continue reading

Dear Mr Craik

I enclose the receipt with many thanks for the cheque, also for Bp Patteson and the loan of Islam.

When I can, I should like to add to Bp Patteson that the mission has learnt the manner of his death, and that it was the women who placed his body in the canoe and sent it out to meet the boat. I have not a copy left of Pioneers and Founders, so could you ... continue reading

Miss Yonge would be obliged if Messrs Macmillan would send to

the Revd R Bigg Wither St Thomas’ Home Basingstoke

a copy of each of

The Heir of Redclyffe Heartsease The Daisy Chain The Trial Pillars of the House Scripture Readings with comment Pupils of St John