Murray's agreeing to print and publish at his own cost
and risk the "Constitutional History of England," and pay to the author
two-thirds of the net profits. And these were the terms on which Mr.
Murray published all Mr. Hallam's subsequent works.
Mr. Wordsworth about this time desired to republish his Poems, and made
application with that object to Mr. Murray, who thereupon consulted
Lockhart.
_Mr. Lockhart to John Murray_. _July_ 9, 1826.
"In regard to Wordsworth I certainly cannot doubt that it must be
creditable to any publisher to publish the works _of_ one who is and
must continue to be a classic Poet of England. Your adventure with
Crabbe, however, ought to be a lesson of much caution. On the other
hand, again, W.'s poems _must_ become more popular, else why so many
editions in the course of the last few years. There have been _two_ of
the 'Excursion' alone, and I know that those have not satisfied the
public. Everything, I should humbly say, depends on the terms proposed
by the great Laker, whose vanity, be it whispered, is nearly as
remarkable as his genius."
The following is the letter in which Mr.
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