602
HISTORY OF PRINTING.
was purcbased, and the puUication was rety '< snccesfful. Robimon Cnuo^t manuscript also ' ran tbroueh the whole trade, nor would any one print it, though the writer, De Foe, was in good repute as an author. One boolueller at last, not remarkable forhis discernment, but for his specu- lative turn, engaged in this publication.* This bookseller got above a thousand guineas by it; and the iMoksellers are accumulating money every hour by editions of this work in all shapes. The undertaker of the translation of Rapin, after a very considerable part of the work nad been published, was not a little dubious of its success, and was strongly inclined to drop the design. It proved at last to be a must profitable literary adventure."
"It would be no uninteresting literary specu- tion," says D'lsiaeli, " to describe Uie difficul- ties which some of our most favourite works en- countered in their manuscript state, and even after they had passed through the press."
When Sterne had finishedhis two first volumes of Trittram Shandy, f he ofi°ered themtu a book- seller at York for £50, but was refused: he came to town with his manuscripts; and he and Robert Dodsley agreed in a manner of which neither repented. The Rtuciad, with all its merit, lay for a considerable time in a dormant state, till Churchill^ and his publisher became impaitient, and almost hopeless of success; but there is no doing without a patron ; for of this work, which had so great a run afterwards, only ten copies were sold in the first five days, in four days more six copies were sold! but when Oarrick found himself praised in it, Le set itafloat,and Churchill then reaped a large harvest.
Bum'G§ Juttice was disposed of by its author, who was weary of solicitingbooksellers to purchase the manuscript, for a trine, and it now vields an annual income. CoIlins|| burnt his Oaei before the door of his publisher; he moaned and
• 8ae page tis, ante.
t "The Mnnon in Triilram S^andf," njra Sterne, In his prefkce to his Sermotu, " was printed hj itself some years «^, but conld find neltlier purchasers nor readers.** When It was inserted in his eccentric work. It met with a most favonrahle reception, and occastoned the others to be collected.
t CbarlesChnrchlllwas thesonof acnrateofSt. John's, Westminster, where he was born in 1731, and educated at Westminster school, but was refused mabicniation at Ox. ford, on account of hlslnsaffidencrin riasairal luiowledKe. He tlien retained to Westminster, and married. At the age of S3 be was ordained, and serred a cnracy in Wales : be torned dealer in cyder ; but becoming a bankrupt he retnmed to London, and succeeded tiis fother. "Hie olti- roate saccess of the RowHad stimulated him to further ex- ertions as a satirist. He gave himself up to dissipation, renounced his deiical profession, discarded liis me, kept a mistress, and Joined Wilkes, the patriot of the day. He died at Boulogne, in Fiance, Nov. 4, 1784, and was buried at Dover. Besides his poems, he published some sermons.
i Richard Bum, D. D. was born at Kirkby Stephen, in Westmoreland, educated at Oxford, and became vicar of Oiton, in his native county, and a justice of the peace. Besides bis JtuUee 0/ th» Peace, he compiled the Bccleei- oMeat iMo, tat wtiich he was made cluncellor of CaiUsle. He also wrote part of the HUtorg of Weilmorebmd. He died at Orton, November SO, 1781.
I William Ckillins was born at Cblcbester, Dec. St. 17X0, and was educated at Winchester and Oxford, where he took the degree of B. A. and wrote his Oriental Sclogna. His uncle left him j£'3000, which he did not live to eq)oy. He died June I a, 17S6. His Oia are on the whole sublime.
raved amidst the cloisters of Chidtester cathe- dral, and died insane, in consequence of literary disappointment ; however, there was a fine monu- ment raised to his memory. The publication of the Senmotu of Dr. Hugh Blair,* was refused by Mr. Strahan ; and the Ettayi on the Jmmutability of Truth, by Dr. James Beattie,'!' could find no publisher, and was printed by two friends of the author, at their joint expense.
The Polyeucte of Comeille^ which is now ac- counted to be his master-piece, when he read it to the literary assembly held at the Hotel de Rambouillet, was not approved. Voitnre came the nest day, and in gentle terms acquainted him with the unfavourable opinion of the critics. Such ill Judges were then the most fashionable wits of Fiance. Comeille suffered all the hor- rors of poverty. He used to say, his poetry went away with his teeth. Some wdl think that thty ought to disappear at the same time, as one would not give employment to the other.
Samuel BoTse,§ audior of the Deity, a poem, was a fag author, and, at one time, employed by
- Hugh Blair was the son of a mercbaDtef E iUulimgb .
where be was bom, April 7, I718, and edncMed to the university of his native dty. In 1741 he was K cq i sc d to preach, and the following year was ordained. In 17S7 tlM university of St. Andrews conferred on him the degree W D.D., and he was the Hist preacher in Scntlaad who brought the graces of ptdite Inming^ the serric* of Ibc pnlptL Besue* his Srnnaiu,whicb were publiataedtai tie volumes, he was the author of Lectitret on ilAcfertc, and the Bellti Lettree, which eojoy a high reputatian. Di. Blair died at Edinburgh, Dec. S7, 1800.
t James Beattie was bora at Lawrenccktrk, KiooBitHBe- abire, in Scotland, Oct. IS, 17SS, where his fkther was a farmer, who, however, sent him to Aberdeen nnlTcnlty. He obtelned a pension of jtfSOO a. year fkmn George III. and was created LI.D. Dr. Beattie was the last of tiiase who can properly be placed in the first order of the poets of this time. In 1777, while professor of moral philoao^y at Aberdeen, he published hlscclebrated poem the JfiiwCrTi which describes in the stanza of Spencer, tiie progress at the imagination and feellnn of a young and rastic poet. He also wrote several philosophical and ixj u ti m eis i il works. His poetry Is characterized by a peculiar nedBa- tive pathos. He died at Aberdeen Aug. 18, isos.
t There were two brothers of this name, both pacts cf eminence. Peter was born at Boaen, in France, June t, Ifiod, and was brought up to the bar. The aaoat fsmoos of bis plays is the Cid. He died at Paris, Oct. 1, ICM. Thomas, the younger brother, was a member ot the French academy, and wrote a Dietionarf 0/ Arti, In two volumes folio, and a Oeograpkieai ana Biatorieai Di^ tionarf, in three volumes folio. He died in 1700, aged Si.
I Samuel Boyae was bora at Dublin in 17M. At an early age he was sent to Glasgow, where he nanied a tradesman's daughter before he was twenty. This impra- dent step, added to the extnivagance of himself and wife, involved him in misery. He published a volume cfpoea* at Edinburgh, addressed to lady EgUnton, who libetaBy rewarded him ; and an elegy on the countess of StormcKt, procured him, f^om lord Stormont, a handsome prcaest. Ftom Edinburgh he came to London, with a rec mume nda. tory letter, written by the duchess of Ooidon, to Mr. Pope, and another to chancellor King, both of whldi be nig- lected to deliver. He loved mean company, and indulged in the habits of low life. His principal support was ky writing for periodical publications. The wretched situ- ation he was in at this time, is thus described by one who knew him — " He sat up in bed with the blanket wrapped about him, through which he had cut a hole lati^ enoai^ to receive his arm, and placing the paper on his ka«a scribbled In the best manner be conld the venes he was obUged to make." In I74S be wrote ao Hietoriemt Refkw of the Traneaetions of Europe. He also pabtlsbed aa- meious poems, none cf which are now read, except (he DeUn, which Is admitted into many oollectiotts, and kai been praised by two dlH^rent writers, Fielding and Har- vey. He died in 174D, in Shoe-Iaoe, and was buried at the expense of the parish.
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