Memoir of John Murray
James Ballantyne to John Murray, 28 February 1809
I received the Quarterly an hour ago. Before taking it to
Mr. Scott, I had just time to look into
the article on Burns, and at
the general aspect of the book. It looks uncommonly well. . . . The view of
Burns’ character is better
than Jeffrey’s. It is written in a
more congenial tone, with more tender, kindly feeling. Though not perhaps
written with such elaborate eloquence as Jeffrey’s,
the thoughts are more original, and the style equally
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powerful. The two first articles (and perhaps the rest are
not inferior) will confer a name on the Review, But why do I trouble you with my opinions, when I can give you Mr.
Scott’s? He has just been reading the Spanish article beside me, and he again
and again interrupted himself with expressions of the strongest admiration.
Robert Burns (1759-1796)
Scottish poet and song collector; author of
Poems, chiefly in the
Scottish Dialect (1786).
Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey (1773-1850)
Scottish barrister, Whig MP, and co-founder and editor of the
Edinburgh
Review (1802-29). As a reviewer he was the implacable foe of the Lake School of
poetry.
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.
Henry William Weber (1783-1818)
The son of a Moravian father and English mother, he published an edition of the works of
John Ford and Beaumont and Fletcher; after working as an editorial assistant to Walter
Scott he spent his latter years in a lunatic asylum.
The Quarterly Review. (1809-1967). Published by John Murray, the
Quarterly was instigated by Walter
Scott as a Tory rival to the
Edinburgh Review. It was edited by
William Gifford to 1824, and by John Gibson Lockhart from 1826 to 1853.
