Name/Title
Letter from Henry Brevoort to Washington IrvingEntry/Object ID
HHV 003.155Description
Letter from Henry Brevoort to Washington IrvingSubject
Likely, “the Sketch book” ??, packet courier, “No. 2”, “by the Atlantic” (packet?), 3d number, congratulations on his success, “misery of the times” (1819?), No 3, No 4, 1700 copies of No 1., paper needs, intricacies of publishing in the new style of serial volumes, publishers must comply with new style, Moses Thomas, the Analetic Magazine, possibly borrowed from Brevort? (“Extended”), WI on “the continent”, request to return to NYC, “copyright in England + America”, Marshall’s Life of Washington, “failure of his Salmagundi” (Paulding?)Subject Person/Organization
Washington Irving (1783-1859), Henry Brevoort, Moses ThomasSubject Place
* Untyped Subject Place
Bloomingdale, New YorkCollection
Irving Manuscript CollectionTranscription
Transcription
Packet Courier
Bloomingdale August 9 . 1819
My dear Irving
I sent you 5 copies of No. 2 by the / Atlantic, addrefsed to A + S Richards . __ The publica - / tion of the 3d number is announced for the 10 Sept’r. – / I hope the next arrival will bring in intelligence / from you, as well as a fourth No. __
The success of y’r work realizes all that I have / written to you on the subject; it has been in every / respect just such as you could have wished, and / greater than I believe you permitted yourself / to anticipate. _ I hear of nothing but praises / from every quarter ) [page folded, illegible] increases daily / notwithstanding the misery of the times which I feared / might impede the immediate circulation of the / work . _ 1700 copies of the first number have / been sold to the Booksellers, and are now actually / in the hands of the public _ The 2nd No. which was / published only a week since, promises a more / rapid sale than the first number . _ If we / were posfsefsed of a sufficient stock of paper (Similar / to that used) I believe we might venture upon / printing 4000 copies of No 3 _ but upon the whole, / it will be better to wait for No 4 ( which I think / will not be long) and then augment the Edition.
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By that time we shall be enabled to get enough paper / and in all probability receive orders form the different / cities, authorising the step. _ You can hardly conceive / the number of trifling impediments that have arisen / and been overcome, in printing + publishing a work in the manner yours has been done. _ The Booksellers / did not relish the prompt terms that were exacted; / fortunately, it has now become their interest / to comply with them _ They depart with sullenefs / from the old mode of bartering Books + selling / them at very long credits _ Matters are now / smoothly arranged with the Gentlemen, and unlefs / [page folded, illegible, most of the line], each number / (2000 copies) will net you 500$ at the end of 90 / days from the time of publication . _ I hope / therefore that you have had no scruples of conscience / in drawing upon me (at least) to this extent . __
Moses Thomas visited me lately _ he is perfectly / satisfied with the mode of publication we have / adopted, and from frankly acknowledged that / he could not have [rended?] the work in the manner, / [??] to the extent that we have done . _
[Moses] is a perfect Ishmaelite among the Craft _ / he has continued to make them all his enemies, / which I [regret] [?] for he is about as good as the best /
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Of them _ In speculating upon the [causes] that retard / our literary progreds, we sagely overlook the / needinefs + faithlefsnefs of our Booksellers _ obstacles / [^ in themselves] sufficient to discourage an author from any / literary enterprise that arises at any other / reward than fame _ I am satisfied your / work (had it been confided to their hands) would have yielded you nothing scarcely any [^ other] gratification / than this meager diet. _
I hope my [La-?] will encourage you / to proceed in your work with spirit; _ / you really have every motive to cheer and / animate your work to the extent that / you have proscribed _ I take it for granted / you will fulfill your promise, by returning / to N York _ So earnestly do I wish your / happinefs, that I am willing to forego my / own, by yielding to the motives [assigned] for / prolonging your absence until that period _ / but not a day beyond it. _
It is scarcely [possible] to point out subjects / for our consideration _ Thus far you have chosen / fortunately _ and if you have gone to the / continent as you [proposed?], many subjects of
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curious interest will present themselves to your / mind. _ Have you published yr. Work in England. / you are better qualified to decide, how far / such a step would be expedient _ I am unable / to foresee any serious objection _ the subjects you / have written upon pofsefs general interest _ / as to copy right in Engl’d + America, I believe / it was obtained in the case of Marshall’s Life / of Washington. _ Paulding + his wife are here / we pafsed yesterday with them at [Mr Kembles] _ / He does not seem [^ fully] aware of the failure of his Salma - / gundi . _ He says that he waited a long while / for your return + cooperation in the work _ I / am very sorry he did not wait longer, so that / his work might have been delayed a never have / been produced. _ I told him as delicately as I could / that the subjects of his satire were not tangible / to the public _ that it would have been better to have / begun a new work +c. _ He afsented, and observed / that Moses Thomas had prevailed upon with him to / resume; rather than start afresh. _ He proposes to / write about a dozen numbers, and from the matters / which he has in hand, I am inclined to hope he will / do better than he has done. _ He mentioned the odd / coincidence of your appearing before the public at the / same time without any previous [concert] . _
[END OF PAGE 4]Transcriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
EnglishOther Names and Numbers
Other Numbers
Number Type
Former NumberOther Number
W 211
