a share of the business, or on a high salary. The letter has no date; but from internal evidence must have been written about or after 1780, as he indirectly states himself to have been then forty years of age; and from the mention of his having been recently elected Superintendant of Natural History to the Scottish Antiquaries, it must have been in 1781.

In this letter he expresses a strong inclination to see London; but in this he was never gratified, owing to his close and arduous attention to business and literary pursuits and speculations, The low situation of printing and bookselling at Edinburgh, which he states to have been the case when he wrote this letter, about thirty years ago, is now very materially changed for the better. It has been ascertained, London alone excepted, that there are now more printing in this place than in the whole island besides; and that as elegantly and as correctly printed books now issue from the Edinburgh press as from any in the known world. Mr SMELLIE was himself a first rate printer; and almost the whole Scots literature any moment in his day was printed and

of

corrected by him. This could be easily and fully substantiated, were it deemed proper to give an abstract of his ledgers, as has been done in the life of a London brother in profession, Mr BOWYER. No person of his day could read proofs more accurately, or make more correct work than Mr SMELLIE, especially when the subject and composition was interesting or pleasing: But, as he abhorred the mere mechanical drudgery of this part of the employment, it frequently happened that his mind wandered from the dull subject in hand into a different train of thinking, which afterwards occasioned him a great deal of additional trouble, The allusion which he makes to certain abominable editions of many of the best English classics, must be understood of some underling printers, who, having no regular employment, had taken to printing cheap editions of popular books, of which the property right was expired, upon coarse paper, and with small worn-out types; some of which reprints were so grossly inaccurate, and so shamefully ill printed, as to be a disgrace to Edinburgh and the profession. The subject of the proposed lectures on the Philosophy of Natural History, mentioned in this letter, will be discussed

more at large in a subsequent part of these

Memoirs.

SIR,

No. LXVIII,

Mr WILLIAM SMELLIE to WILLIAM
STRAHAN, Esq.

I THANK you for your kind letter of the 10th current, which I ought to have answered sooner. I have long had a most ardent desire to see the capital, and this ardour has increased ever since I had the honour of your acquaintance; but I have never been able to command time, or to spare money sufficient to procure me a repast so luxuri

ous.

WITH regard to printing and bookselling here, they are both in a wretched condition. When you left Scotland, I suppose there were not above half a dozen printing-houses in Edinburgh. Now there are near thirty. How the masters of them live, GoD alone knows: But, by printing abominable editions,

and selling often below cost, they have ruined the reputation and sale of many of the best English classics. For this irreparable injury the booksellers have themselves to blame. Instead of publishing good editions, or of employing men who could execute business with accuracy, they encouraged ignorant journeymen to set up, and bought from them the trash they produced; because, as was alledged, they could by this means purchase 100 copies of any book as cheap as they could print 1000. They did not foresee the effects. They now feel them; and deserve what they have met with.

YOUR affectionate inquiries concerning my private affairs I shall never forget; and they merit a candid exposition. I have a family of no less than nine children. My income I suppose to be about L.200 annually, arising from the profits of business. Were this money well paid, I might contrive to be tolerably easy; but could never acquire riches. * My partner has for some years printed little or nothing; and it is not likely that he will again become an adventurous publisher. Every other bookseller of any

The late Mr JOHN BALFOUR, bookseller in Edinburgh.

note, except Mr. CREECH, is likewise a print, er; so that, instead of increasing, it is probable that my business will diminish. This is not a flattering prospect; but I must submit. From the age of fourteen to forty, inclination and fortune have condemned me to a

very laborious life. During that period,

without the aid of relations, I went through a regular course of the University, including chemistry, botany, and all the medical classes. You will perceive, Sir, from this course of studies, when joined to the sole management of the printing-house, that I could not be idle. The leisure hours which many young men spend in amusement or dissipation, I obliged myself to dedicate to study. Habits are acquired by a frequent repetition of the same tenor of conduct. Besides the necessary attention to business, I find that I can. not be happy without some literary project to amuse me. It was this penchant which produced the translation of BUFFON, from which I still entertain hopes of some little emolument. The undertaking was laborious, but not unpleasant.

I MENTION another project. In the year 1774, my honourable friend Lord KAMES