A Publisher and His Friends | Page 6

about it with a perfect zeal,
not lessened from the consideration of the troubles thou hast on my
account, and the favours I so constantly receive from thee; nor certainly
that my good friend Dr. Langhorne was not altogether out of the
question. None of the trade here will transport books at their own
risque. This is not a reading, but a hard-drinking city; 200 or 250 are as
many as a bookseller, except it be an extraordinary work indeed, ever
throws off at an impression."
Mr. Murray not only published the works of others, but became an
author himself. He wrote two letters in the Morning Chronicle in
defence of his old friend Colonel (afterwards Sir) Robert Gordon, who
had been censured for putting an officer under arrest during the siege of
Broach, in which Gordon had led the attack. The Colonel's brother,
Gordon of Gordonstown, wrote to Murray, saying, "Whether you
succeed or not, your two letters are admirably written; and you have
obtained great merit and reputation for the gallant stand you have made
for your friend." The Colonel himself wrote (August 20,1774): "I
cannot sufficiently thank you, my dear sir, for the extraordinary zeal,
activity, and warmth of friendship, with which you so strenuously
supported and defended my cause, and my honour as a soldier, when
attacked so injuriously by Colonel Stuart, especially when he was so
powerfully supported."
Up to this time Mr. Murray's success had been very moderate. He had
brought out some successful works; but money came in slowly, and his
chief difficulty was the want of capital. He was therefore under the
necessity of refusing to publish works which might have done

something to establish his reputation.
At this juncture, i.e. in 1771, an uncle died leaving a fortune of £17,000,
of which Mr. Murray was entitled to a fourth share. On the strength of
this, his friend Mr. Kerr advanced to him a further sum of £500. The
additional capital was put into the business, but even then his prosperity
did not advance with rapid strides; and in 1777 we find him writing to
his friend Mr. Richardson at Oxford.
_John Murray to Mr. Richardson_.
DEAR JACK,
I am fatigued from morning till night about twopenny matters, if any of
which is forgotten I am complained of as a man who minds not his
business. I pray heaven for a lazy and lucrative office, and then I shall
with alacrity turn my shop out of the window.
A curious controversy occurred in 1778 between Mr. Mason, executor
of Thomas Gray the poet, and Mr. Murray, who had published a
"Poetical Miscellany," in which were quoted fifty lines from three
passages in Gray's works.
Mr. Murray wrote a pamphlet in his own defence, and the incident is
mentioned in the following passage from Boswell's "Life":
"Somebody mentioned the Rev. Mr. Mason's prosecution of Mr.
Murray, the bookseller, for having inserted in a collection only fifty
lines of Gray's Poems, of which Mr. Mason had still the exclusive
property, under the Statute of Queen Anne; and that Mr. Mason had
persevered, notwithstanding his being requested to name his own terms
of compensation. Johnson signified his displeasure at Mr. Mason's
conduct very strongly; but added, by way of showing that he was not
surprised at it, 'Mason's a Whig.' Mrs. Knowles (not hearing distinctly):
'What! a prig, Sir?' Johnson: 'Worse, Madam; a Whig! But he is both!'"
Mr. Murray had considerable intercourse with the publishers of
Edinburgh, among the chief of whom were Messrs. Creech & Elliot,

and by their influence he soon established a connection with the
professors of Edinburgh University. Creech, who succeeded Mr.
Kincaid in his business in 1773, occupied a shop in the Luckenbooths,
facing down the High Street, and commanding a prospect of Aberlady
Bay and the north coast of Haddingtonshire. Being situated near the
Parliament House--the centre of literary and antiquarian loungers, as
well as lawyers--Creech's place of business was much frequented by
the gossipers, and was known as _Creech's Levee_. Creech himself,
dressed in black-silk breeches, with powdered hair and full of
humorous talk, was one of the most conspicuous members of the group.
He was also an author, though this was the least of his merits. He was
an appreciative patron of literature, and gave large sums for the best
books of the day.
Mr. Elliot, whose place of business was in the Parliament Close, and
whose daughter subsequently married Mr. Murray's son the subject of
this biography, was a publisher of medical and surgical works, and Mr.
Murray was his agent for the sale of these in London. We find from Mr.
Elliot's letters that he was accustomed to send his parcels of books to
London by the Leith fleet, accompanied by an armed convoy. In June