CHAPTER XVII

SCOTT’S NOVELS—­BLACKWOOD AND MURRAY

The account of Mr. Murray’s dealings with Lord Byron has carried us considerably beyond the date at which we left the history of his general business transactions, and compels us to go back to the year 1814, when, as is related in a previous chapter, he had associated himself with William Blackwood as his Edinburgh agent.

Blackwood, like Murray, was anxious to have a share in the business of publishing the works of Walter Scott—­especially the novels teeming from the press by “The Author of ‘Waverley.’” Although Constable and the Ballantynes were necessarily admitted to the knowledge of their authorship, to the world at large they were anonymous, and the author still remained unknown.  Mr. Murray had, indeed, pointed out to Mr. Canning that “Waverley” was by Walter Scott; but Scott himself trailed so many red herrings across the path, that publishers as well as the public were thrown off the scent, and both Blackwood and Murray continued to be at fault with respect to the authorship of the “Waverley Novels.”

In February 1816 Ballantyne assured Blackwood that in a very few weeks he would have something very important to propose.  On April 12 following, Blackwood addressed the following letter to Murray, “most strictly confidential”; and it contained important proposals: 

Mr. W. Blackwood to John Murray.

MY DEAR MURRAY,

Some time ago I wrote to you that James Ballantyne had dined with me, and from what then passed I expected that I would soon have something very important to communicate.  He has now fully explained himself to me, with liberty to inform you of anything he has communicated.  This, however, he entreats of us to keep most strictly to ourselves, trusting to our honour that we will not breathe a syllable of it to the dearest friends we have.

He began by telling me that he thought he had it now in his power to show me how sensible he was of the services I had done him, and how anxious he was to accomplish that union of interests which I had so long been endeavouring to bring about.  Till now he had only made professions; now he would act.  He said that he was empowered to offer me, along with you, a work of fiction in four volumes, such as Waverley, etc.; that he had read a considerable part of it; and, knowing the plan of the whole, he could answer for its being a production of the very first class; but that he was not at liberty to mention its title, nor was he at liberty to ’give the author’s name.  I naturally asked him, was it by the author of “Waverley”?  He said it was to have no reference to any other work whatever, and everyone would be at liberty to form their own conjectures as to the author.  He only requested that, whatever we might suppose from anything that might occur afterwards, we should keep strictly to ourselves that we were to be the publishers.  The terms he was empowered by the author to offer for it were: