A Colossal Manuscript
even to him, accustomed as he was to manuscripts of many sorts and sizes. However he had one of the enormous bundles opened; and having attentively examined samples of it, he pronounced it 'workmanlike,' and after putting some searching questions, desired me to leave the tremendous pile for him to investigate more closely.
"He did not keep me waiting very long. In a few weeks he had thoroughly analysed my production, and with infinite labour and care had gone through it. He made some useful and acceptable suggestions, and then strongly recommended it for publication. For some time the matter remained under consideration, but in July, 1897, the Directors decided against the book.
"In the disappointment of the moment, my chief desire, when the MS. had been deposited once more at my door, was to hide the accursed thing from sight. Luckily it was too big for consumption in an ordinary fireplace, or it would certainly have perished by fire. It was stacked away in a dark lumber cupboard, and there it survived several spring cleanings. I had almost forgotten it when, on August 14th, 1905, a letter came to me from an old friend, Mr. Arthur Spurgeon, who had recently been appointed to take control of the House of Cassell, telling me that he wanted a Book of Quotations and had been informed that I had offered such a work to the House some years before. On making inquiries, I ultimately discovered that Mr. Sam H. Hamer, a member of the staff, had written to Mr. Manson, who had retired from the House, to know if he would care to undertake a Dictionary of Quotations. Mr. Manson declined, but added that if the House meant business he could tell them where to get the best book of the kind ever compiled, practically ready for press. He referred them to his report, which was found. I was then requested to submit my work, which was in due time accepted, and published in 1907. One of the first letters of congratulation which I received on the appearance of the book was from Mr. Manson, in which he eloquently expressed his pleasure that my 'unconquerable zeal and heroic devotion had at last been fully recognized.' The book was a costly production, but the House has had no cause to regret the decisive action of its General Manager."Mr. Gurney Benham has followed his "Book of Quotations" with "Cassell's Classified Quotations," issued early in 1921.
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