It appears that you are either not aware of the interesting nature of the MSS. which I shewed you, or that the indifference produced by the present frenzy about the Queen’s business* to all literary publications, has discouraged you from an undertaking in which you would otherwise engage most willingly. However, to come to the point. I have consulted Lord Waldegrave on the subject, and we agree that the two works, viz., his grandfather, Lord Waldegrave’s ‘Memoirs,’ and Horace Walpole’s ‘Memoirs of the Last Nine Years of George II.,’ should not be sold for less than 3000 guineas. If that sum would meet your ideas, or if you have any other offer to make, I will thank you to let me know before the second of next month. I am likely to be in the country for the next ten days, and I have not hitherto mentioned the subject of these MSS. to any publisher or bookseller, as both Lord Waldegrave and myself were anxious to give you the refusal. It will, however, for obvious reasons, be inconvenient to me and disadvantageous to Lord Waldegrave not to terminate the negociations soon. You will, therefore, excuse my pressing you for an answer in time enough to enable us (in case of your refusal) to enter into an arrangement with others for publishing the works next spring.
