Dear Mr Murray

Attractively arranged, given ample context, and a diverting read - Sunday Telegraph

An entertaining picture of the day-to-day dealings between author and publisher over 250 years - Times Literary Supplement

Few if any names in publishing are as revered as John Murray … This book, compiled to celebrate the company’s 250th anniversary is just a small sampling of that treasure trove … Whether angry, apologetic, wheedling or rude, the fondness and regard in which the Murrays were held by their correspondents shines through - Herald

Writers writing about books has always made for compelling reading. Writers writing about their own books in private correspondence to their publisher tends to produce a particular kind of letter. There is passion, conviction, fluency, doubt, deference, sometimes frustration and anger, maybe even gratitude. The letters in Dear Mr Murray … show these qualities and more … this collection brings [Murray’s] salad days inexorably to life - Scottish Review of Books

As well as allowing us glimpses behind the public faces of some exalted authors, McClay has paid tribute here to a remarkable line whose shared name became synonymous with a sense of responsibility to their company, their authors and literature itself - Nation