HOME LIFE. 347 



entire work ought to bring in several thousand pounds, so that 

 there will be something for everybody. 



* HUMBOLDT.' 



To these plans, which, with characteristic enthusiasm, he had 

 laid out on possibly too extensive a scale, he adds the post- 

 script : 



' Meanwhile, to amuse the public, we must publish some- 

 thing of a comprehensive character. In selecting between 

 Nos. 3 and 4, my philosophy leads me to prefer a compre- 

 hensive view of Nature to a narrative of personal adventure. 

 Moreover, No. 3 indicates what I have accomplished ; it 

 shows that my attention was directed to phenomena of every 

 description, and above all it appeals to the imagination. The 

 world likes to see, and I there exhibit a microcosm in a leaf. 

 I think, therefore, that the charlatanry of literature will thus 

 be combined with utility.' 



He then proceeds to furnish Pictet with instructions in 

 reference to the English translation, and the attitude he should 

 assume towards the booksellers and literary men in England. 



' You might also drop a hint, that I have some idea of 

 bringing out an edition in America, where I do not hesitate 

 to say that among the anti-federal party the success of my 

 expedition has produced quite an enthusiasm, apparent even 

 in the newspapers that find their way here. The sale in the 

 United States will be very large, and should it be requisite to 

 find subscribers, (a method which always seems to me wanting 

 in delicacy), I am sure that my friends Messrs. Jefferson, 

 Madison, Gralatin, Whister, Berton, and others, will be able to 

 procure me a large number. An English edition, therefore, ought 

 at least to consist of 4,000 copies.' 



It would thus appear that Humboldt's keen insight into 

 matters of business did not save him from forming somewhat 

 too high an estimate of the sale of his works. 



At a subsequent conference, held at Paris on March 7, 1805, 

 to which Pictet had been summoned from Geneva, it was de- 

 cided that the conduct of the translation into English of certain 

 portions of the work should be entrusted to him, and that he 

 should supply any notes that might be necessary, and superin- 



