Letter from Harriet Martineau

Pages

1 2 3 4 5

Page 1


line 1: Ambleside
line 2: January 24/1857
line 3:
line 4: Dear Sir
line 5: I have the pleasure of thanking
line 6: you for the high gratification of
line 7: possessing Mr Olmsted's second volume.
line 8: If you have the opportunity, will you
line 9: transmit to him, with my cordial
line 10: respects, my thanks also for
line 11: forwarding the volume to me?
line 12: Mr Olmsted's former volume
line 13: reached me from some unknown
line 14: quarter. I have wondered whether
line 15: it came from himself. It has been of
line 16: very great value to me, in furnishing
line 17: me with facts which I referred to their source for many "leaders" for
line 18: a London Daily paper. I reviewed it,
line 19: & have done everything in my
line 20: power to make it known, & to induce
line 21: my friends & the public to not only

Page 2


line 1: read it, but buy it, as a book worthy
line 2: of complete reliance & useful for
line 3: frequent reference. I need not tell
line 4: you how glad I am to have the
line 5: second part. Ill as I am, I can
line 6: still do something for the cause
line 7: which is nearly as important to the
line 8: rest of the world as to the United
line 9: States, & for which I have worked
line 10: for 20 years from sheer inability to
line 11: resist its overwhelming force. One
line 12: of my methods of working will be
line 13: to make this volume known, to
line 14: the utmost of my power, if (as I don't
line 15: in the least doubt) I find it as
line 16: valuable & important as its
line 17: predecessor.
line 18: I feel as if you, my dear Sir,
line 19: were not altogether a stranger, as my

Page 3


line 1: correspondence with Mrs Stowe has
line 2: passed (in part through your hands)
line 3: & I am tempted to try whether I
line 4: cannot, through you, get rid of a
line 5: weight which presses on my mind in
line 6: my illness. You are perhaps aware
line 7: that nothing can be more serious than
line 8: this illness, & that I have no strength
line 9: for the translation of business. Well:
line 10: a volume of mine which is out of print
line 11: is in very great demand; & I am
line 12: frequently hearing complaints that it
line 13: cannot be got for love or money. I
line 14: want to get it republished; but I am
line 15: not able to enter upon correspondence
line 16: & negotiation about it with (perhaps) a
line 17: succession of publishers. As I am writing
line 18: to you, it occurs to me to open the
line 19: subject with you; & if you have any
line 20: thing to say upon it, my niece,
line 21: Miss Maria Martineau, & you can

Page 4


line 1:
line 2: unusual favour, at once by the
line 3: religious & the secular public, among
line 4: both of whom it seems likely to have
line 5: a large circulation. Mr Moscon published
line 6: it; but it is quite out of his line; &
line 7: he and I are alike of opinion that it should
line 8: be republished by obe who sells something
line 9: else than poetry. I believe it would not
line 10: tempt a publisher like a new book,
line 11: because the reviews have said their
line 12: say about it: but I believe very few
line 13: republications have so fair a prospect
line 14: of a permanent sale. Would you under
line 15: take it? If so, tell me on what terms.
line 16: I don't suppose I should make difficulties
line 17: about that, because my main object
line 18: is to get the book out, & off my mind.
line 19: If you do not know it, & would like

Page 5


line 1: to see it, I must send you my
line 2: copy, though I have but one. There
line 3: is not a copy to be got; & I hear of its
line 4: being thumbed to pieces with lending
line 5: among people who want to buy it.
line 6: My copy is in good condition, however,
line 7: & could serve to print from.
line 8: It is an 800 vol: of 326 pages.
line 9: I wish it to be a cheap edition,
line 10: So far as is compatible with neatness
line 11: & cleanness. One cause of its popularity
line 12: is, no doubt, its containing many
line 13: facts of an autobiographical character
line 14: but this cannot be the whole reason
line 15: as it is in request where I am
line 16: not at all personally known, or consi-
line 17: dered in connection with it.
line 18: This is a long story for me. I
line 19: shall be glad if you are disposed to
line 20: reply to it.
line 21: I am, dear Sir, truly yours
line 22: H. Martineau