nication with Mr. Blackwood, found
that he refused to sell "Don Juan" because it contained personalities
which he regarded as even more objectionable than those of which Murray
had complained in the _Magazine_.

When the copyright of "Don Juan" was infringed by other publishers, it
became necessary to take steps to protect it at law, and Mr. Sharon
Turner was consulted on the subject. An injunction was applied for in
Chancery, and the course of the negotiation will be best ascertained
from the following letters:

_Mr. Sharon Turner to John Murray_.

_October_ 21, 1819.

DEAR MURRAY,

... on "Don Juan" I have much apprehension. I had from the beginning,
and therefore advised the separate assignment. The counsel who is
settling the bill also doubts if the Chancellor will sustain the
injunction. I think, when Mr. Bell comes to town, it will be best to
have a consultation with him on the subject. The counsel, Mr. Loraine,
shall state to him his view on the subject, and you shall hear what Mr.
Bell feels upon it. Shall I appoint the consultation? The evil, if not
stopped, will be great. It will circulate in a cheap form very
extensively, injuring society wherever it spreads. Yet one consideration
strikes me. You could wish Lord Byron to write less objectionably. You
may also wish him to return you part of the L1,625. If the Chancellor
should dissolve the injunction on this ground, that will show Lord B.
that he must expect no more copyright money for such things, and that
they are too bad for law to uphold. Will not this affect his mind and
purify his pen? It is true that to get this good result you must
encounter the risk and expense of the injunction and of the argument
upon it. Will you do this? If I laid the case separately before three of
our ablest counsel, and they concurred in as many opinions that it
could not be supported, would this equally affect his Lordship's mind,
and also induce him to return you an adequate proportion of the purchase
money? Perhaps nothing but the Court treating him as it treated Southey
[Footnote: In the case of "Wat Tyler," see Murray's letter to Byron in
preceding chapter, April 12, 1817.] may sufficiently impress Lord B.
After the consultation with Bell you will better judge. Shall I get it
appointed as soon as he comes to town?

Ever yours faithfully,

SHARON TURNER.

Mr. Bell gave his opinion that the Court would not afford protection to
the book. He admitted, however, that