CHAPTER VII

CONSTABLE AND BALLANTYNE

During the year in which the Quarterly was first given to the world, the alliance between Murray and the Ballantynes was close and intimate:  their correspondence was not confined to business matters, but bears witness to warm personal friendship.

Murray was able to place much printing work in their hands, and amongst other books, “Mrs. Rundell’s Cookery,” a valuable property, which had now reached a very large circulation, was printed at the Canongate Press.

They exerted themselves to promote the sale of one another’s publications and engaged in various joint works, such, for example, as Grahame’s “British Georgics” and Scott’s “English Minstrelsy.”

In the midst of all these transactions, however, there were not wanting symptoms of financial difficulties, which, as in a previous instance, were destined in time to cause a severance between Murray and his Edinburgh agents.  It was the old story—­drawing bills for value not received.  Murray seriously warned the Ballantynes of the risks they were running in trading beyond their capital.  James Ballantyne replied on March 30, 1809: 

Mr. James Ballantyne to John Murray.

“Suffer me to notice one part of your letter respecting which you will be happy to be put right.  We are by no means trading beyond our capital.  It requires no professional knowledge to enable us to avoid so fatal an error as that.  For the few speculations we have entered into our means have been carefully calculated and are perfectly adequate.”

Yet at the close of the same letter, referring to the “British Novelists”—­a vast scheme, to which Mr. Murray had by no means pledged himself—­Ballantyne continues: 

“For this work permit me to state I have ordered a font of types, cut expressly on purpose, at an expense of near L1,000, and have engaged a very large number of compositors for no other object.”

On June 14, James Ballantyne wrote to Murray: 

“I can get no books out yet, without interfering in the printing office with business previously engaged for, and that puts me a little about for cash.  Independent of this circumstance, upon which we reckoned, a sum of L1,500 payable to us at 25th May, yet waiting some cursed legal arrangements, but which we trust to have very shortly [sic].  This is all preliminary to the enclosures which I hope will not be disagreeable to you, and if not, I will trust to their receipt accepted, by return of post.”

Mr. Murray replied on June 20: 

“I regret that I should be under the necessity of returning you the two bills which you enclosed, unaccepted; but having settled lately a very large amount with Mr. Constable, I had occasion to grant more bills than I think it proper to allow to be about at the same time.”