Abstract

The House of Murray

The article discusses the book A Publisher and His Friends: Memoir and Correspondence of the Late John Murray, With an Account of the Origin and Progress of the House, 1768-1843, by Samuel Smiles. This work contains a very rich collection of documents for literary history, especially during the period of the first half of this century. The great book-making age which began with Scott and Byron is the real subject of the volumes, and it is passed in review with an abundance of figures and details. Authors of every degree of reputation and books in every department of publishing receive more or less extended notice, and, to wake the view complete, the periodical literature of the time is closely attended to. Murray lived in the world of books and was a great potentate there.