"Gentle" Correction
Posted by Clare on March 18, 1998 at 13:14:45:
In response to The publisher, written by Helen on March 18, 1998 at 10:02:09
Wasn't it John Murray? I know one of her novels was sent to him by her father - big mistake: they probably thought, 'ah, yes, Murray, he publishes Byron' but by the time they were writing to him, he had changed direction and wasn't interested in novels. So it wasn't a comment on her work at all, though I would imagine they all took it as such - just a policy decision...
Of course, now I'm going to find that I've got the wrong incident entirely! Please correct me gently if I'm in error... ;-)
Page 121 of the Bio says that Mr. Austen wrote a letter to the publisher Thomas Cadell in London- this was in 1797. This is the incident that Cheryl was referring to, I believe. Maybe what you are thinking of happened much later- but I have not gotten that far in the book.
So it was ONLY a letter that was sent by Mr. Austen- the manuscript was never sent at that time. "He did not name an author but simply indicated that he had 'in my possesion a Manuscript Novel, comprised in three Vols, about the length of Miss Burney's Evelina.'"
Therefore, Mr. Cadell did not read the manuscript- he never had it. I am still wondering if he rejected the letter as well!
Clare, who likes her facts straight and nitpicks about the littlest things!
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