Memoir of John Murray
Sharon Turner to John Murray, 21 October 1819
. . . On ‘Don
Juan’ I have much apprehension. I had from the beginning, and
therefore advised the separate ![]()
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assignment. The counsel who
is settling the bill also doubts if the Chancellor will sustain the injunction. I think, when Mr. Bell comes to town, it will be best to have
a consultation with him on the subject. The counsel, Mr.
Loraine, shall state to him his view on the subject, and you
shall hear what Mr. Bell feels upon it. Shall I appoint
the consultation? The evil, if not stopped, will be great. It will circulate in
a cheap form very extensively, injuring society wherever it spreads. Yet one
consideration strikes me. You could wish Lord
Byron to write less objectionably. You may also wish him to
return you part of the £1625. If the Chancellor should dissolve the
injunction on this ground, that will show Lord B. that he must expect no more
copyright money for such things, and that they are too bad for law to uphold.
Will not this affect his mind and purify his pen? It is true that to get this
good result you must encounter the risk and expense of the injunction and of
the argument upon it. Will you do this? If I laid the case separately before
three of our ablest counsel, and they concurred in as many opinions that it
could not be supported, would this equally affect his Lordship’s mind,
and also induce him to return you an adequate proportion of the purchase money?
Perhaps nothing but the Court treating him as it treated Southey* may sufficiently impress Lord B.
After the consultation with Bell you will better judge.
Shall I get it appointed as soon as he comes to town?
Ever yours faithfully,
John Bell (1764-1836)
English barrister; after reading law with Samuel Romilly he practiced in the court of
chancery.
John Murray II (1778-1843)
The second John Murray began the
Quarterly Review in 1809 and
published works by Scott, Byron, Austen, Crabbe, and other literary notables.
John Scott, first earl of Eldon (1751-1838)
Lord chancellor (1801-27); he was legal counsel to the Prince of Wales and an active
opponent of the Reform Bill.
Robert Southey (1774-1843)
Poet laureate and man of letters whose contemporary reputation depended upon his prose
works, among them the
Life of Nelson, 2 vols (1813),
History of the Peninsular War, 3 vols (1823-32) and
The Doctor, 7 vols (1834-47).
Sharon Turner (1768-1847)
Attorney, historian, and writer for the
Quarterly Review; he wrote
History of the Anglo-Saxons, 4 vols (1799-1805).
George Gordon Byron, sixth Baron Byron (1788-1824)
Don Juan. (London: 1819-1824). A burlesque poem in ottava rima published in installments: Cantos I and II published in
1819, III, IV and V in 1821, VI, VII, and VIII in 1823, IX, X, and XI in 1823, XII, XIII,
and XIV in 1823, and XV and XVI in 1824.
