Observations on the address by the President, and on the statement by the council to the fellows of the Royal Society, respecting Mr. Panizzi, read at their general meeting, Nov. 30, 1837 / [Sir Anthony Panizzi].

  • Panizzi, Anthony, Sir, 1797-1879
Date:
[1838]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on the address by the President, and on the statement by the council to the fellows of the Royal Society, respecting Mr. Panizzi, read at their general meeting, Nov. 30, 1837 / [Sir Anthony Panizzi]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ** ration agreed upon for the completion of the Catalogue; “ such payment in advance never having been for a mo- u ment contemplated. His payment was to have been at “ the rate of £30 for every thousand titles the Catalogue “ might contain; but, in consideration that the work would “ probably require a long time to accomplish, it was agreed “ that one-third of the money should be given to him when “ he had written out all the titles on slips of paper, another “ third when the revises were finally corrected for the press, “ and the remaining third when the whole was printed off. “ The total number of titles written out by Mr. Panizzi, as “ counted by Mr. Shuckard, by whose computation he con- “ sented to abide, was found to be 24,136; which at the “ rate of £10 per thousand, would render the sum he u ought to have received at the present stage of his work,' “ £241 : 7s. 2d., but from this sum £27 :6s. is to be de- “ ducted in payment of Mr. Roberton, as had been agreed u to by Mr. Panizzi, reducing it to £214 : Is. 2d. At the “ period when Mr. Panizzi discontinued the work he had “ already received from the Society £450 on account, “ which is more than double the sum to which he was “ then strictly entitled. The Council, therefore, far from “ imagining that he had any further claims on the Society, “ considered that in advancing him so large a sum before “ he had completed the second term of his engagement, “ they had rather erred on the side of liberality. They u could never have had an idea that he expected any addi- “ tional payment, as he never gave them the slightest inti- “ mation to that effect; and it is not until after the lapse of “ sixteen months that he suddenly makes an appeal, not to “ the Council of the Royal Society, but to the public, by “ the circulation of a pamphlet, claiming further remune- “ ration, which he has never applied for to the party from “ whom he imagines it to be due.” I undertake to prove : 1st, That so far from assuming that the Council was to pay me in advance, I never would accept a farthing before it was due : 2nd, That the agree¬ ment as to the terms of payment is not as stated : 3rd, That I never consented to abide by Mr. Shuckard’s com¬ putation alone: 4th, That the Council never did advance me a farthing, but paid always less than was due and only when due: 5th, That they must have distinctly understood that I had a pecuniary claim upon them: 6th, That I did not suddenly appeal to the public. 1st, I do not know where the Council find that I assumed