That was rather modest and pleasant; but it is pleasanter than all to have an early copy of your book placed on the breakfast-table, unexpectedly, some sunshiny morning—to behold, for the first time, the darling of your meditation in a suit of embossed muslin. How your heart turns over—if you are not used to the thing. How you make pauses between your coffee and muffins, to admire the clear typography, the luxurious paper, the gold letters on the back!
Messrs. Printem & Sellem sent me two out-of-town papers, containing notices of "Daisy." These notices were solicited by advance copies of the work, for the purpose of being used in the publication advertisement. It is curious to remark how great minds will differ.
[From the Blundertown Journal.]
"NEW PUBLICATIONS.
"Daisy's Necklace, and what came
of it. New-York: Printem and
Sellem.
This production is an emanation
from the culminating mind of glorious
genius! Nothing like it has been produced
in this century. It possesses all
the fine elements of Dickens' novels,
without any of their numerous defects.
Its scope, its pathos, and wit, is[B]
beyond all praise. Our Britannic brethren
will no longer ask, 'Who reads
an American book?' For we can reply,
'The World!'
"We learn, from good authority, that
the publishers have received orders for
twenty thousand copies of the work, in
advance of its publication. We have no
doubt of it; for 'Daisy's Necklace' will
shed new lustre on the name of American
Literature! Envious authors will
abuse the work. As the immortal Goethe
says, 'De gustibus non est disputandum!
' Our rush of advertisements prevents
us from making voluminous
extracts from the novel; this, however,
would be useless, as everybody will
read it for themselves.
"Orders addressed to Higgins & Co.,
of this town, will be promptly filled."
I should take the editor of the "Blundertown Journal" to be a man of cultured taste, appreciative and discriminating. The second review was not quite so "favorable," and can scarcely be called "a first-rate notice."