Archibald David Constable (24 February 1774 – 21 July 1827) was a Scottish publisher, bookseller and stationer.
Archibald David Constable (24 February 1774 – 21 July 1827) was a Scottish publisher, bookseller and stationer.
Constable was born at Carnbee, Fife, son of the land steward to the Earl of Kellie. [1]
In 1788 Archibald was apprenticed to Peter Hill, an Edinburgh bookseller, but in 1795 he started in business for himself as a dealer in rare books. He bought the rights to publish the Scots Magazine in 1801, and John Leyden, the orientalist, became its editor. In 1800 Constable began the Farmer's Magazine, and in November 1802 he issued the first number of the Edinburgh Review , under the nominal editorship of Sydney Smith; Lord Jeffrey, was, however, the guiding spirit of the review, having as his associates Lord Brougham, Sir Walter Scott, Henry Hallam, John Playfair and afterwards Lord Macaulay. [1]
Constable made a new departure in publishing by the generosity of his terms to authors. Writers for the Edinburgh Review were paid at an unprecedented rate, and Constable offered Scott 1000 guineas in advance for Marmion . In 1804 A.G. Hunter joined Constable as partner, bringing considerable capital into the firm, styled from that time Archibald Constable & Co. In 1805, jointly with Longman & Co., Constable published Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel , and in 1807 Marmion. [1] He also published four of James Hogg's books, The Mountain Bard (1807), The Shepherd's Guide (1807), The Forest Minstrel (1810) and Poetical Works (1822). [2]
In 1808 a split took place between Constable and Sir Walter Scott, who transferred his business to the publishing firm of John Ballantyne & Co., for which he supplied most of the capital. In 1813, however, a reconciliation took place. Ballantyne was in difficulties, and Constable again became Scott's publisher, a condition being that the firm of John Ballantyne & Co. should be wound up at an early date, though Scott retained his interest in the printing business of James Ballantyne & Co. [1]
In 1808 he served as Moderator of the High Constables of Edinburgh. [3]
In 1812 Constable, who had admitted Robert Cathcart and Robert Cadell as partners on Hunter's retirement, purchased the copyright of the Encyclopædia Britannica , adding the supplement (6 vols, 1816-1824) to the 4th, 5th and 6th editions. In 1814 he bought the copyright of Waverley . This was issued anonymously; but in a short time 12,000 copies were disposed of, Scott's other novels following in quick succession. The firm also published the Annual Register. [1]
Through over-speculation, complications arose, and in 1826 a crash came. Constable's London agents stopped payment, and he failed for over £250,000, while James Ballantyne & Co. also went bankrupt for nearly £90,000. Sir Walter Scott was affected by the failure of both firms. [1]
Constable started business afresh, and began in 1827 Constable's Miscellany of Original and Selected Works consisting of a series of original works, and of standard books republished in a cheap form, thus making one of the earliest and most famous attempts to popularize high-quality literature. [1]
Constable died at home, 3 Park Place [4] in Edinburgh, on 21 July 1827, [5] but his firm survived, [1] and the Constable publishing business continued in the twentieth century, issuing a wide range of fiction and non-fiction books. It continues today as Constable & Robinson. [6]
Park Place was a small square north of George Square which was demolished later in the 19th century to build the new medical buildings for Edinburgh University. [7]
Constable was married to Mary Willison. They lived in Craigcrook House in western Edinburgh. [8] Among their children were a son, Thomas, and a daughter, Elizabeth.
Their son, Thomas Constable FRSE (1812-1881) took over his printing business on his father's death. In 1839 he was appointed printer and publisher in Edinburgh to Queen Victoria, and issued, among other notable series, Constable's Educational Series, and Constable's Foreign Miscellany.
Thomas married Lucia Anne Cowan, daughter of Alexander Cowan, an Edinburgh paper-maker (who clearly would have had business links with a major publishing firm such as Constables). [9] They lived at 11 Thistle Street in Edinburgh's First New Town. [10] Their son was also Archibald David Constable FRSE LLD (1843-1915), named after his grandfather, and followed in the family tradition as a printer. In 1865 he became a partner in the firm, and when Thomas retired in 1893 the firm continued under the name of T. & A. Constable. [11] [12]
Their daughter, Elizabeth Constable (d.1818) married his junior publishing partner, Robert Cadell of Ratho. [13]
The character John Paterson ('the Bishop') in John Paterson's Mare, James Hogg's allegorical satire on the Edinburgh publishing scene first published in the Newcastle Magazine in 1825, is based on Archibald Constable. [2]
Robert Baillie was a Church of Scotland minister who became famous as an author and a propagandist for the Covenanters.
Robert Baillie was a Scottish conspirator incriminated in the Rye House Plot against King Charles II. He was executed for treason.
William Blackwood was a Scottish publisher who founded the firm of William Blackwood and Sons.
Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in London, England, in 1724 and is owned by Pearson PLC.
Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey was a Scottish judge and literary critic.
Henry Glassford Bell was a Scottish lawyer, poet and historian.
Thomas Hamilton was a Scottish soldier and author.
James Ballantyne was a Scottish solicitor, editor and publisher who worked for his friend Sir Walter Scott. His brother John Ballantyne (1774–1821) was also with the publishing firm, which is noted for the publication of the Novelist's Library (1820), and many works edited or written by Scott.
Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field is a historical romance in verse of 16th-century Scotland and England by Sir Walter Scott, published in 1808. Consisting of six cantos, each with an introductory epistle, and copious antiquarian notes, it concludes with the Battle of Flodden in 1513.
The Bannatyne Club, named in honour of George Bannatyne and his famous anthology of Scots literature the Bannatyne Manuscript, was a text publication society founded by Sir Walter Scott to print rare works of Scottish interest, whether in history, poetry, or general literature. The club was established in 1823 and printed 116 volumes before being dissolved in 1861.
John Murray was a Scottish publisher and member of the John Murray publishing house. He published works by authors such as Sir Walter Scott, Lord Byron, Jane Austen and Maria Rundell.
Adam Black was a Scottish publisher and politician. He founded the A & C Black publishing company, and published the 7th, 8th and 9th editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica.
John Burnett or John Burnet FRSE was a Scottish advocate, judge and legal scholar.
Harold the Dauntless is a narrative poem in six short cantos by Walter Scott, published in 1817. It employs a variety of metres.
The Lord of the Isles is a narrative poem by Walter Scott in six cantos with substantial notes. Set in 1307 and 1314 Scotland it covers the story of Robert the Bruce from his return from exile in Ireland to the successful culmination of his struggle to secure Scottish independence from English control at the Battle of Bannockburn. Interwoven with this account is a romantic fiction centring on one of the Bruce's prominent supporters, Ronald, Lord of the Isles, involving his love for the Bruce's sister Isabel, who eventually takes the veil, and the transfer of his affections to Edith of Lorn to whom he had been betrothed at the beginning of the poem and whom he marries at the end.
John Ballantyne (1774–1821) was a Scottish publisher notable for his work with Walter Scott, a pre-eminent author of the time.
Archibald Fullarton and Co. was a prominent publisher in Glasgow in the 1800s, and maintained a prodigious output of books, atlases and maps.
The Field of Waterloo is a poem by Walter Scott, written and published in 1815. It is in iambic tetrameters and trimeters with a few Spenserian stanzas at the end. The work moves from a depiction of the site of the battle, with farm life renewing in the autumn, to an account of the conflict, highlighting Napoleon and Wellington, and a roll-call of prominent British casualties.
William Blackwood and Sons was a Scottish publishing house and printer founded by William Blackwood in 1804. It played a key role in literary history, publishing many important authors, for example John Buchan, George Tomkyns Chesney, Joseph Conrad, George Eliot, E. M. Forster, John Galt, John Neal, Thomas De Quincey, Charles Reade, Margaret Oliphant, John Hanning Speke and Anthony Trollope, both in books and in the monthly Blackwood’s Magazine.
Thomas Constable FRSE was a Scottish printer and publisher.
Attribution:
Published by Constable & Co.
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