★ Keep up to date with the latest news - subscribe to the Transcribe Bentham newsletter; Find a new page to transcribe in our list of Untranscribed Manuscripts
9
The scolding sheet being written out, now for
news, such as it is that I have to tell you,
which is not much. Poor Code is out of luck.
Leonardi had written twice to his Bookseller
without receiving any answer. About a fortnight
ago he wrote a third time in a more peremptory
stile. If an answer does not come as soon
as there is time enough for it to have come,
which will be in about a fortnight, I shall
give up all expectations from that quarter,
and shall try another scheme of which presently.
Leonardi in the mean time not getting
any answer stopped his translation
presently, so that there is nothing of it done
to signify. When I had the conversation with him
in consequence of which he wrote (as he told
me at least) his third letter; I thought I should
hazard nothing by telling him where his translation
was to go: giving him to understand at
the same time that if I had not been engaged
to him, French was the language I should have
preferred, that being better liked; so that if no
answer should come from the Bookseller by
a certain time, our engagement was at an end
and I should take measures for getting the
book translated into French. That he might
not think I affected secrecy, I let him know
that it was not till after we had come to
an agreement that I knew for certain my
book was to be presented. At the same time
by way of a spur I shewed him an account
in a French review of a present that had
been made to Euler by the Empress of 2000
roubles for his book in ship building, & 100
ducats to a Russian translator. It is droll
enough
---page break---
enough by the bye that this was not given till
after a handsome present had been given to
Euler on the same account by the French King.
My succedaneous scheme is this. In the
town there liveth a man German of the name of Schiller
who has translated Smith's wealth of nations
as all the Germans say to admiration. They
say there never was a book so well translated
in this world, and that the man is au fait
of the German language and of metaphysics.
Yet they say at the same time that some
former translations as well as some original
pieces of his own are very poor stuff. He was
here by his pen being employ'd by German Booksellers
Him then I think of applying to if
Leonardi fails me. I am afraid I should have
to pay the Dog: which Wilson would be very much
against, not having the least hopes of the success
of any part of my Russia scheme on which
he has thrown all the cold water he could from
the beginning, as he did upon my original application
to Sambousky which you know was
the foundation ( fortunate I think it may be
called at any rate) of your plan of emigration.
Since our dear Kitty has begun to
look a little askew at us, he can not bear
to hear her name mentioned without abusing
her like a Cinder-wench.
Well but let that pass. This cursed
Introduction still sticks in hand. After having
begun printing the last chapter I find it necessary to
go back & cancel I don't know how many
sheets of the preceding chapter for the sake
of making alterations. It will be upwards of
300
|
Identifier: | JB/539/071/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 539.
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
1780-08-06 |
|||
|
539 |
|||
|
071 |
|||
|
001 |
|||
|
Correspondence |
|||
|
Jeremy Bentham |
|||