ectable publishers, and that he should purchase them at
their valuation. Mr. Hobhouse, to whom as one of the executors this
proposal was made, was anxious that the complete edition should be
published in England with as little delay as possible, but he stated
that "some obstacles have arisen in consequence of the Messrs. Hunt
having upon hand some hundred copies of their two volumes, which they
have asked a little time to get rid of, and for which they are now
accounting to the executors."

Murray requested Mr. Hanson to apply to the executors, and inform him
what sum they required for the works of Lord Byron, the copyrights of
which were in their possession. This they refused to state, but after
considerable delay, during which the Hunts were disposing of the two
volumes, the whole of the works of Lord Byron which were not in Mr.
Murray's possession were put up to auction, and bought by him for the
sum of L3,885. These included the "Hours of Idleness," eleven cantos of
"Don Juan," the "Age of Bronze," and other works--all of which had
already been published.

Notwithstanding the destruction of Lord Byron's Memoirs, described in a
previous chapter, Murray had never abandoned the intention of bringing
out a Biography of his old friend the poet, for which he possessed
plenteous materials in the mass of correspondence which had passed
between them. Although his arrangement with Thomas Moore had been
cancelled by that event, his eye rested on him as the fittest person,
from his long intimacy with the poet, to be entrusted with the task, for
which, indeed, Lord Byron had himself selected him.

Accordingly in 1826 author and publisher seem to have drawn together
again, and begun the collection of materials, which was carried on in a
leisurely way, until Leigh Hunt's scandalous attack on his old patron
and benefactor [Footnote: "Recollections of Lord Byron and some of his
Contemporaries," 1828. 4to.] roused Murray's ardour into immediate
action.

It was eventually resolved to publish the Life and Correspondence
together; and many letters passed between Murray and Moore on the
subject.

From the voluminous correspondence we retain the following extract from
a letter from Moore to Murray:

"One of my great objects, as you will see in reading me, is to keep my
style down to as much simplicity as I am capable of; for nothing could
be imagined more discordant than the mixture of any of our
Asiatico-Hibernian eloquence with