Dear Mr Macmillan I return the two letters, somewhat appalled at Miss Yonge’s statement that the 'Library' is to edit itself & no one is to be responsible. Of course this is not in accordance with your wish but do you not think it is a mistake which is certain to arise unless I - as Editor - take all the correspondence from the first. I see the force of your objection that I am a ... continue reading

Dear Mr Macmillan I believe we agreed that except to those who know me my name shall not be mentioned as Editor of the Sunday Library. I think this, as you say, wise & desirable, but my difficulty with regard to Miss Yonge is that she says there is to be no editor. This of course is quite another thing & would be a very grave misunderstanding & one that would seriously affect me.

For all cases ... continue reading

Dear Mr Macmillan I have been more fortunate than I had expected & have much pleasure in sending you a carte of Harriet Martineau which, as you know, I had not expected to obtain. I have not seen her, nor have I sent my letter of introduction, but her niece - to whom one of our friends had written - called yesterday while we were at Furness Abbey & we propose going to the Knoll tomorrow.

Meanwhile ... continue reading

Dear Miss Yonge, [First page largely indecipherable, but seems to be concerned withThe Danvers Papers ]

The Sunday Library is making progress I hope. . . I have found it useful to have someone to depute the correspondence to and combat the kind of [illegible] on the spot to take matters over. A lady friend of Mrs Craik, a Miss Martin, has undertaken this. She is a lady of quite exceptional poise & cultivation, with extensive ... continue reading

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, 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

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 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 Marianne Here we are, after having, I think, done very well on our journey. We met Miss Martin on board the steamer. I forget whether I told you that she had begged to come at the same time for the benefit of our escort, and though we had rather have been alone, she was very helpful and pleasant. She is the editor of the Sunday Library, which is the way we fell in with ... continue reading

My dear Marianne- Yesterday was so rainy that there really is very little to say about it. The breakfast was enlivened by our being told that Madame Adelaide always had a set of bonbons placed beside the seat of each member of her brother’s cabinet whenever they met, and that they were of a superior quality or not according as to whether she liked the ministry or not. M. Guizot said he had the experience of ... continue reading

My dear Marianne- This last day will be a very quiet one, for M. de Witt is gone to a horse-fair at Falaise, and Julian, Frances and Miss Martin are gone with him, starting at eight this morning, and coming home at eleven at night; unluckily I could not go, and Mme. de Witt caught a bad cold yesterday and I fear will not be good for much to-day. Caen had to be given up because ... continue reading

Dear Mr Craik Would you be so kind as to direct this letter on to Miss Frances Martin. The address on her letter was printed in some ‘old English type’ and after much consideration I decided that the word looked more like Carrara than anything else but the Post acknowledges no such place.

Thank you for your letter. I think this will suit us, but I will write on to Miss Coleridge. If you do not ... continue reading

My dear Madam, 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 ... continue reading

Dear Mr Macmillan Do you not think that the parallel history should come out in time for Schools to set themselves up with this winter. The one I wrote it for is crying out for it, and it seems in vain to wait for a neater finish to France than the fall of the Empire.

I am glad you give hopes of clearing off the old History of Christian Names I have them bristling with corrections, and ... continue reading