Memoir of John Murray
John Wilson Croker to John Murray, [February 1819]
I wrote to you and our friend from Gloster Lodge [Canning’s residence], I hope with some
success, though I rather fear Mr.
G[ifford]’s illness may render him unwilling to have any
more changes made. I would not press it, if I did not in my conscience believe
that the character and efficacy of the Review is concerned, vitally concerned,
in the matter. . . . The Speaker longs to see the Review. Could you send him a number
to-night? You might request him not to show it till Monday; I will get back the
copy from him.
George Canning (1770-1827)
Tory statesman; he was foreign minister (1807-1809) and prime minister (1827); a
supporter of Greek independence and Catholic emancipation.
William Gifford (1756-1826)
Poet, scholar, and editor who began as a shoemaker's apprentice; after Oxford he
published
The Baviad (1794),
The Maeviad
(1795), and
The Satires of Juvenal translated (1802) before becoming
the founding editor of the
Quarterly Review (1809-24).
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.
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.
