One of the pleasantest minor incidents in the history of
nineteenth-century publishing is that connected with Leigh Hunt's critical
anthology Imagination and Fancy. George Smith, telling the
often-quoted story in his delightful reminiscences, recollects that as a young
publisher he encountered the manuscript of the work lying on the table of
his friend Thomas Powell, who declared, "I advanced £40 to Leigh
Hunt on the security of that manuscript and I shall never see my money
again'"; that he nevertheless took it home and read it, offering £40 to
Powell for the manuscript; that he obtained it, took it to Hunt and paid him
"an additional £60" for the copyright, whereupon Hunt, enchanted with
his generosity, exclaimed rapturously, "'You young prince!'"[1]
There is no reason to doubt the truth of Smith's account, but he tells
the story from his own side of the affair, and not surprisingly an element
of distortion has crept in, with Hunt playing his familiar role, light-hearted,
gay—and rather inept. An impractical man. But Smith was prepared
to
see Hunt in this way because he knew Hunt's reputation.[2]
The following letter from Hunt to Charles Ollier, previously
unpublished, shows that in reality the situation was very different. Since
Hunt needed money he took pains to make his manuscript acceptable, but
he clearly recognized its value and was prepared to ask a fair price for it.
Ollier, to whom Hunt entrusted the work, had, after a career as publisher,
become a journalist, publisher's reader, and literary agent. Although his
relationship with Hunt had not always been smooth, at least from 1830
onwards the two men were close friends;[3] it is to Ollier in his capacity of
literary
agent that Hunt writes here.[4]
Kensington March 5. 1843
My dear Ollier,
I enclose, for your benignity, the papers necessary for Mr.
Longman,[5] to whom I wrote as
agreed on. "Preface" has a dull, uninviting sound; so I have
divided what I intended for one into two parts, the first explaining the
Object & Plan of the Work (which is a thing that readers like to
understand) and the second answering a question as to the nature &
peculiar properties of Poetry, (which are things also, I should think, that
most people would be glad to know, & not many actually do). In the
conclusion of this latter article I have taken care to identify it justly with the
work, so as not to seem a thing isolated, or arbitrarily put in; and I trust
that[6] the perusal thereof will not
displease you, since (modesty apart) it has pleased myself. The rest are list
of General Contents;—the Spenser extracts, preceded
by a
careful criticism & a biographical sketch (written
however,
I assure
you, with great pains of condensation, & not without particulars of my
own) and the Coleridge extracts, with a much shorter
biographical notice (for reasons which you will see, & which I think
both
you & Mr. Longman will approve) but a not very short
criticism, the musical parts of which I recommend to the relish of your
Fluteship;[7] and am,
my dear Ollier,
Your very thankful & faithful friend,
Leigh Hunt.
P. S. An unsmoky room shall be ready & warm
for
your reception tomorrow evening, or any future evening on which you may
come, should it not suit you to go out to-morrow. Also divers anticipative
& amazing luxuries of flesh-meats, should it suit you to carnosify with
your tea; especially as I hope you will be early to tea, in order that we may
have a proper chatty & book-loving interval before supper. And so
Heaven prosper all our undertakings, & enable us to compare notes of
comfort twenty years hence under the trellice of our respective suburban
elegancies on evenings in May, in the hearing of nightingales.
Pray let Mr. Longman understand that the selections from modern
poets will not be so great as to tread upon the irritable toes of property
&
that there will be
none from
living poets, unless
he
should particularly desire it. What do you think on that point? Do not
trouble yourself to answer this question by a letter. I am ashamed to give
you the trouble I do,—no, not ashamed, considering your friendship;
but
still, the friendlier you are, the more I must consider your time.
If the extracts from Spenser are too long, they can be shortened; but
it is to be recollected what a large <witer> writer, he was, &
that
few poets will demand extracts so long.
I shall not give such large abstracts from the beginning of Milton as
I spoke to you, but the finest passages from all his poem[s].
I send Coleridge with Spenser, in order that Mr. Longman may see
specimens of both <as he> ancient & modern poets, &
observe
how careful I am in managing points connected with religious controversy
& politics.
I told Mr. L. in my letter, that I could be ready to go to press in a
month from this time, if he liked it.— You will not mention
money of course, till all else is agreed on; &
then
you can postpone it, if you please, to one meeting more,
should
that not be too much for you. But pray use your own judgment in this as
in all other matters. In fact, the more I want money, the more I am
ashamed to speak of it. God send I may need no such shame by &
by.
My biographies & introductory criticisms are written in a good
large hand enough; but I fear many of the notes are in handwriting so
small, as to trouble a reader. However, Longman may probable
[sic] not care to read beyond a certain taste of
the
thing.— The notes are at the back of the
pages.
Longman presumably refused Imagination and Fancy,
for
he did not publish it. Perhaps Hunt asked for too much money; perhaps the
prospects of success with it appeared to be dim. In any case, after
Longman's refusal Hunt apparently entrusted it to another friend, Thomas
Powell, who also acted now and then as literary agent. Powell may
deliberately have left the volume on the table for Smith to see, or perhaps
he invented the story of the £40 debt to play on Smith's sympathy; he
could be unscrupulous if he chose.[8]
Be that as it may, he was able to manage the arrangements with regard to
Imagination and Fancy to Hunt's satisfaction. But his later
dealings with Smith on Hunt's behalf were a failure.[9] Powell may have been a shrewd
negotiator, but he could not drive as hard a bargain as Hunt
wished him to in the case of
Wit and Humour, the second
volume of the projected series of critical anthologies.
Hunt was without doubt genuinely pleased at the terms Smith offered
him for Imagination and Fancy, but he can hardly have been
surprised or overjoyed. Underneath his apparent flightiness and gaiety was
a hard core. He was not an impractical man, and the new letter, although
it does not contradict Smith's account, does provide a more accurate picture
of Hunt's part in the events preceding the publication of Imagination
and Fancy.
