Lady Morgan's Memoirs (Volume 2); Autobiography, Diaries and Correspondence

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1863. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XVII. THE O'BRIENS AND O'FLA HERTIES--1827. Early in 1827 the novel of the O'Briens and the O'Flaherties was complete. There was a long negotiation about the price. Lady Morgan had a perfect conviction of her own value, and she stood out for terms. Colburn wrote pathetically that no other publisher ever would or could feel the interest he did in her works, or make so many sacrifices to insure their success, and as those things did not move Lady Morgan, he wrote on May 7, 1827, and made an offer of one thousand two hundred and fifty pounds, to be paid by instalments. This, Lady Morgan refused, and after some further correspondence, Colburn, sooner than see a rival in possession, agreed to her terms, which were one thousand three hundred pounds down for the copyright, one hundred pounds on the second edition, and another hundred on the third edition, with the stipulation that no edition was to exceed three thousand copies. The work was more popular than any of her former tales. The pictures of Irish society immediately before and after the Union, and the characters of the vice-regal Court under the Duke of Rutland, had a peculiar interest at the time the book came out, which has now evaporated; but there is still the perennial interest of human nature, dashes of Irish humour and Irish pathos, and traits of manners not now to be found, --for the Irish peasant of the present day is quite a different creature. As a repertory of the manners, customs, grievances, and society as it existed both in Dublin and the provinces in the time when Ireland was the seat of misgovernment and mistake, the O'Brien's and the 0'Flaherties will always be a standard work of reference. As a tale, the plot is too confused, and the interest too much diffused; the whole story is rambl...