APPENDIX. [IH] 



is, therefore, nothing * unwarrantable ' in the charge I complain of. The 

 purchasers are told at the commencement what they are to pay, and what 

 they are to expect." I have not the prospectus by me to refer to, and 

 therefore will take Mr. Swainson's word for the truth of the foregoing state- 

 ment : but, admitting the case to be as he says, still he appears to me to 

 be only shifting the o)ius one step farther back, and transferring the blame 

 from the author of the second series, now in the course of publication, 

 to the author of the first series, commenced, I believe, in 1820-1. For, 

 let me ask one question : Was it stated in the original prospectus or 

 advertisement of the first series, or even on the cover of the first number 

 published, that the purchasers (I must not call them subscribers) were to 

 be charged, 2s. 6d.y at the conclusion of each volume, for a few pages of title- 

 page, preface, and index ? If Mr. Swainson will tell me, on the word of a 

 gentleman, that such notice was given ; though even in that case the extra 

 charge would be, I should say, a very injudicious and objectionable mode of 

 reimbursing himself; — but if, I repeat, such notice, or any thing equivalent 

 to it, was given, then there is an end of the controversy, and I shall be 

 ready to acKnowledge that, in strict justice, I have no right to complain. 

 But if it was not, I do hold this charge to have been a very unwarrantable 

 transaction in the first instance, and only to be defended now by means of 

 a bad precedent. The case amounts to this : — Unless I greatly mistake, 

 the extra-charge was made without notice, and in an underhand way, 

 during the first or old series : at the commencement of the second or new 

 series, the purchasers and the public are plainly told that they are to be 

 treated in the same manner. To myself individually, and to every one, I 

 suppose, who takes the work, the extra-charge of 2s. 6d. at the end of each 

 volume can be but a trifling consideration in a pecuniary point of view : 

 but I detest any thing bordering on imposition or unfair dealing. I hear 

 the transaction 1 allude to universally reprehended ; the author reflected 

 upon, and his good faith impugned ; and I see, moreover, periodical works 

 in general fall into neglect and disrepute with many, in consequence of 

 these and similar practices. Of Mr. Swainson, as an author and a naturalist 

 of eminence, whose beautiful works are before the public, every one must 

 think well ; of his private character, too, I happen to have heard, from 

 those who know him, some traits which would do honour to the character 

 of any man : it is, therefore, the more to be regretted that such a man 

 should lay himself open to the imputation of shabby dealing, and that, too, 

 for the sake of so trifling a remuneration. Mr. Swainson will excuse me 

 for saying one word more, not in the spirit of angry complaint, but in per- 

 fect good-humour and good-will, on a point which concerns himself, per- 

 haps, as much as his purchasers : I allude to the irregularity in the 

 publication of the numbers, and to what I may call the absence of noti- 

 fication, or want of making such publication known. My bookseller has 

 a general order to supply me with the numbers as they come out. My 

 last number (xvi.) I received so long ago (t quite forget the exact time), 

 and I had so often enquired in vain tor the next, that I concluded the 

 work was finally discontinued. It was not till I had seen Mr. Swainson's 

 reply in your Magazine for November, that I was aware that Nos. xvii. 

 and xviii. of Zoological Illustrations were published. I then made, in 

 consequence, a fresh application to the bookseller, who supplied the de- 

 ficiency without delay. Would it not be for Mr. Swainson's advantage 

 rather to put forth his numbers, if possible, at regular stated periods, well 

 known to all concerned ; or, if the non-regular system be still continued, to 

 adopt some method of making his purchasers acquainted when the pub- 

 lication has actually taken place, so that they might make their application 

 accordingly ? As things now go on, the numbers come out nobody knows 

 when; the booksellers do not take care to procure them, without a 



