Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-11-02
vol. LvII NEW SERIES, VOL. xxx.

ffcnch employer Tor ID, on an agent III
the city who always pays me.
| want to give tho governor some money,
and if You will let me have rs much as
you can on account of the order, or the
whole, you can have the check"
'Will you transmit mo by bearer until
Saturday the enormous sum of IS? l
need not say I'm rather hard up this
week."
The tcrmsupon which Dickens arranged
for the publication of his first book, the
"Sketches by Boz" are imperfcctly ald
incorrectly stated by Forster, aud the
story is told for the first time in these
autograph volumes. Forster merely said
that the copyright of the first volume OF
| "Skctchcs" was sold to Macronc for
| conditional payment CT G150, but it ap-
pears fromsa letter of Dickcns's to Nit
ton that Macrono never paid anything for
| the copyright he obtained it by some
kind of an arrangement. After the fame
of the young author had been well cstab-
lishcd, Macronc proposed to reissue the
"Sketches" in numbers ; and to prevent
this enterprise, which it was feared would
| interfere with the sale of "Pickwick" and
"Ohver Twist" Dickens and his new
publishers, Chapman S Hall, bought off
Macrone and took the work into their own
hands. Macrone died soon nftcrward, aud
an attempt was made to hold Dickens lia-
bic, as a partner in the publication of the
"SketchcB, for some-of his debts. To
this claim Forster made no allusion.
"Nicholas Nickleby" was nearing its
conclusion when negotiations were opened
with Chapman ,S Hall for another work,
with respect to which Dickens was in n
position almost to make his own terms.
| The result of good deal of bargaining
was the beginning of "The Old Curiosity
| Shop" the scheme of which at first was
something III the nature Of a serial mis-
ccllany OF tales and sketches, with con-
tributions by various hands. In his letter
| to Milton, Dickens says, "The terms of
| the new thing were finally agreed upon
before l left town Mt night, and they adj
vertse it for the first time in the next
number Before ] tell you what they are,
| should premise that the form being
much more expensive, The profits are less
than those of 'Pickwick aud 'Nickleby,
which they do not deny were upon the
numbers and without the sale in books
e14, 900 upon each. I should also tell
you that every estimate has been (un-
known to them) riSidly checked by print
ers and paper makers, and pronounced
perfectly accurate, First, they give me
G1500 more for 'Nickleby :; secondly, they
pay me $50 week for The new work, out
of which [ pay for what assistance / re-
quire, which, upon liberal allowance,
may average G12 q week, but certainly not
more. They also pay all expenses of
printing, advertising aud illustrations
| (thc last, being woodcuts, will be very
cxpensive), and then of all profits allow
me one clear half-not deducing the eX-
pcnscs. By this arrangement, upon sale
of twenty thousand copies / shall get
nothing upon sale of forty thousand,
they get half the profit upon the addi-
tional twenty thousand, and ] add the
other half TO my .c50. il the work went
on for two years und were TO sell fifty
thousand (Which Bradbury * Evans think
certain, but which, [ confess, ] do not,
though there is good chance of it,, my
profits would be between ten and eleven
thousand pounds, and theirs five thou
sand"
At the end of the volume of autographs
arc two drafts in Dicliens's handwriting,
of cautionaIy notice TO be published by
his solicitors, and on the back Of one o.
them is list Of London newspapers, in
which the notice was probably to be
printed. 1t is evident that the Micaw-
bcrsms in the family, which voXcd lis
early days, reappeared III II most aggra-
waited form rs he grew prosperous and IA
nous. The trouble was much more seri
ous than any previous publication has
led the world to suppose and there were
many annoying incidents which have no
been disclosed. Miss Hogarth writes tC
Mr.. Ouvry that since Mr.. Forster hai
written so freely Of the family money
troubles she does not feel justified in de
stroSing all the early autographs whicl
refer to them, but there were several let
ters to Milton about the financial diilicul
ties OF Dickcns's father and his brothe
Frederick which she had no hesitation il
burning.
The 'caution" was n card in legal form
giving the public notice that the sac
ceptances of Il certain person having tin
same surname as our said client Mr.
Dickens) would not in future be hon
orcd."
, Then follow a number of letters in re
Q gard to his break with Chapman Il Hall
in which the great novelist exhibits muc
Q acrimonious feeling. In anotherlettcr Ii
g says
'Bradbury & Evans have sent me n
. account of the "Chimcs." They mad
: the profits on the first 1000 from clio
a to .el500. And they add, if they la
v charged only their own small commission
: and had not been obliged to emplo
o Chapman & Hall, the profit would hay
S been from Gl5O to Goo more. c. " II.
e accounts made profit of .e72G, only on
4 sale of 1900 Of the "Cnrol." So thai
n supposing it had sold 10000, the gros
: profit would have been about eloOO."
s The letters to Frederick Ouvry, VIII
Il succeeded Milton MS Dickens's solicitor
j. number eighty-threc, including two o
three addressed to the firm Of Fare
l. Ouvry & Farrer, or to William Fare
d one Of the partners. They are most
le short notes on matters of business NJ
he although tone Of friendly intimacy rul
to through them, they have less of the pc
m sonal element than the easy and carele
lg communications to Dear Tom" A Ion
g, series of notes refers 10 n negotiation +
N the purchase of liece of land at Cad
Hill, and in the course of it We find son
Il highly characteristic passages about
lis person of the neighborhood who touch,
Dickens's sense of humor. SIN any case
10 he writes of this man, "Brooker is
o. very much too pious for me that ] am II
fit to deal with him i'll the smallest mi
Ii ter"
ar ---
lis ALONG THE Congo.
| M n Ip