Letters, 1856-1869, of Samuel Smiles to John Murray III with a few letters to Robert Cooke and related letters. The letters concern works of Smiles published by Murray, including “Life of George Stephenson”, “Self-help” and “Lives of the engineers”. Also included are letters, 1852-1900, of J. Smiles, Lilian Smiles and Samuel A. Smiles to John Murray, publishers. These letters are arranged in alphabetical order by correspondent, then by date. These are followed by the letters of Samuel Smiles in chronological order.

Smiles, J., 1852-1861: folios 1-5A.

Smiles, Lilian, 1900: folios 6-7.

Smiles, S. A., 1897-1900 and uncertain: folios 8-14.

Smiles, Samuel, 1856-1869:

1856-1857 and uncertain date: folios 15-42;

1858-1859: folios 43-94;(1)

1860-1861: folios 95-118;

1862-1863: folios 119-138;

1864-1865: folios 139-152;

1866-1867: folios 153-164;

1868-1869: folios 165-185.(2)

1. Includes copy of letter, 7 May 1858, of Samuel Smiles to Griffith and Farran, publishers: folios 54-58;

letter, 3 July 1858, of Samuel Smiles to John Murray III, the text of which includes a copy of part of a letter, 19 August 1857, of John Murray III to Samuel Smiles: folios 65-66;

letter, 4 October 1859, of Robert Leader to Samuel Smiles: folios 75-80;

letter, 27 December 1859, of Henry Ashworth to Samuel Smiles: folios 91-92.

2. Includes letter, 18 March 1868, of William Smiles to John Murray III: folios 167-168.