436 



Griffin on the title he has chosen, so neither can we speak highly of 

 the pleading of his own cause. However, Dr. Balfour's rejoinder 

 serves to supply some of the missing links in the chain of evidence ; 

 and these, from a careful comparison of all the facts that remain, after 

 dismissing the doubtful or unproved assertions, are as follow : — 



Mr. Griffin, of the house of J. J. Griffin & Co., of 53, Baker Street, 

 Portman Square, conceived the idea of publishing a series of cheap 

 manuals on the natural sciences, and proposed to Dr. Balfour that he 

 should write that on botany, provided Mr. Grifl&n, then on his way to 

 Paris, succeeded in purchasing the cuts used in the French edition of 

 Jussieu's work. 



" The knowledge, possessed by both of us," says Mr. Griffin, "that 

 the French publisher had hawked some of his casts too much in Eng- 

 land, rendered it expedient that I should make certain inquiries before 

 buying them at all. It was agreed, that if I bought them I was to let 

 you know immediately, that you might proceed with the work, and 

 have it ready for use the next season. But, whether you should, or 

 should not, write the work, was left entirely contingent upon the fact, 

 whether I did, or did not, purchase the casts of the cuts of Jussieu's 

 Manual. It was not the case, that you were, at all events, writing a 

 Text-book, of which 1 was to have a license to print an edition ; but 

 it was the case, that I was projecting a series of publications, on one 

 of which you were to work, provided that, on my arrival in Paris, I 

 should still think it expedient to carry the project into execution. If 

 I had failed in obtaining the engravings, your Manual certainly would 

 not have been written for me, and, perhaps, would never have been 

 written at all. To such an extent was the enterprise mine — not yowrs." 

 — Singular Specimens, p. 5. 



Mr. Griffin purchased the botanical cuts of the French work, and 

 agreed with Dr. Balfour to furnish the letterpress, for the sum of £200. 

 But for what ? — the copyright or an edition ? 



Mr. Griffin says-: — 



" When I planned the work, provided the cuts, and offered you 

 X200 to translate Jussieu's treatise, it was, of course, in order that I 

 might acquire the copyright. I never agreed to pay £200 for leave to 

 print an edition of your Text-book. Yon had no text-hook at the 

 time, and it was not stipulated whether I should print 1000, 2000, or 

 20,000." — Singular Specimens, p. 5. 



Dr. Balfour says, in reference to this passage : — 



" It is not pretended, that in the negotiations between Mr. Griffin 

 and myself, anything was said on the subject of copyright. What 



