William Nelson A Memoir 6
Amid the stimulus and rivalry of such competitors for fame, the young
student devoted himself with renewed zeal to the classics, with
undefined visions of some honourable professional or academic reward as
his life-prize; and fulfilled the high anticipations of his earlier
career. But while thus steadily pursuing a course which gave abundant
promise of triumph, his father was suddenly prostrated by disease; and
William, as the eldest son of a large family, abandoned all the bright
prospects of his university career, and the dream of professional or
academic achievements, to grapple with the unfamiliar difficulties of a
commercial enterprise, till then conducted on a scale commensurate with
the modest aims of an elder generation in the Old Town of Edinburgh.
The business of Mr. Thomas Nelson was a curious survival of the system
borrowed from the great fairs of the Middle Ages, and grafted on to
their older traffic by the successors of Guttenburg and Fust; of Caxton,
Wynkin de Worde, and Chepman and Miller. Allan Ramsay had followed in
their steps, with his booth at the sign of the Mercury, opposite the
head of Niddry’s Wynd, from whence he transferred it to the Luckenbooths
at the City Cross. It was in just such another luckenbooth at the
Bowhead that Mr. Thomas Nelson originated the business which has since
developed into such great proportions.
William Nelson threw himself at once, with characteristic singleness of
aim, into his new vocation; nor did he ever express regret at his
enforced desertion of scholarship for trade. But few men have carried
away from school or college a keener sense of the attachments of student
life. To the last the plea of an old schoolmate ever presented an
irresistible claim which scarcely any demerit could cancel. The fate of
one whose life, by his own misconduct, had closed in miserable failure
is thus charitably noted in one of his letters: “Poor ---- died two days
ago of congestion of the lungs; and it is a wonder that he hung on so
long, as he has been in a very dilapidated condition for years. The last
time I saw him, his condition was truly pitiable. I sent him a fresh
bolster and bedding, for the ones he had were hard and foul. Poor
fellow! he did a great deal to hasten the approach of the last enemy.”
His loyalty to early friends was unfailing. He kept a record of his
classmates in the High School, and noted with keenest interest their
success or failure in life. He told with kindly humour of the refusal of
a liberal “tip” offered to a porter at Cairo who had been specially
serviceable, and then claimed fellowship by reminding him of old High
School doings. B---- was the ne’er-do-weel of Mackay’s class, who had
thus found his vocation in the land of the Pharaohs. His sympathy was
unbounded in any honour or good fortune achieved by a schoolmate; and
latterly, as he watched the rapidly diminishing numbers of the old group
of school and college companions, he recorded at the close of each year
the minutes of Death’s roll-call. To one who entered so keenly into
academic life, and whose career was so replete with promise, it was a
trying ordeal to abandon college for the uncongenial drudgery of a
trading venture for which such experiences seemed to promise no helpful
training. But in Scotland a university career is by no means regarded as
unsuitable preparation for trade and commerce; and William Nelson was
speedily to show what success the classical gold medalist of the High
School and the best writer of Latin verse in the College could achieve
in business life.
CHAPTER IV.
_THE CASTLE HILL._
With characteristic energy the young student, now in his nineteenth
year, set himself to grapple with the novel difficulties of the
book-trade. Neither the irksome drudgery nor the uncongenial demands
incident to the business daunted the youthful adventurer, who had so
recently found his highest vocation in the mastery of Latin quantities,
and the triumphs of competitive hexameters after the models of Horace
and Virgil. In the summer of 1880, the present writer spent some weeks
with his old schoolmate at Philiphaugh, in the vale of Yarrow, famous as
the scene of Montrose’s last battle. During an excursion to Berwick,
with the special object of visiting another schoolmate, he pointed out
more than one book-store in the old Border town, familiar to him in
association with his first experiences as a commercial traveller, and
humorously described those early ventures in the disposal of his
literary wares. According to Johnson of Liverpool, his journey extended
to that city, and Mr. Johnson gave him his first large order for books.
He had already succeeded in overcoming the prejudices of the regular
trade, and fixed a scale of prices which disarmed their antagonism.
The books, as already stated, were for the most part reprints from
standard and popular works beyond the range of copyright restrictions.
Their paper-covered boards and imperfect printing were in striking
contrast to the choice typography, paper, and binding, and the tasteful
illustrations, which characterized the works issued by the firm in later
days. Yet the germ even of this was already discernible in the engraved
frontispieces and vignette titles introduced to catch the eye and cater
for the popular taste.
So early as 1829, Mr. Thomas Nelson, senior, had aimed at the extension
of his business by engaging a commercial traveller to push the sales of
his publications with the trade. Mr. James Macdonald was first
despatched on this mission; but as Curwen states, in his “History of
Booksellers,” owing to the stigma attached to the unwonted nature of the
business, his mission was a failure. “At Aberdeen the booksellers rose
up in arms, and only one had the courage to give him an order.” To him
succeeded, ere long, Mr. James Peters, a more successful agent, and a
faithful _attaché_ of the house through all its later fortunes till his
death. But Curwen says: “It was not until Mr. William Nelson, the
eldest son of the founder, took to the road that the trade business was
really consolidated, not only in Scotland, but also in the chief towns
of the United Kingdom. In fact, it may be said that Mr. William Nelson
was the real builder of the business, working upwards from a foundation
that was certainly narrow and circumscribed. Mr. Thomas Nelson, the
younger brother, soon after this admitted to the firm, undertook the
energetic superintendence of the manufacturing department, and was the
originator of the extensive series of school books.”
William Nelson’s taste in literature was refined, and his reading
extensive. His mind was stored with the fruits of years of liberal
study; and when stimulated by the sight of beautiful scenery, or moved
by some unusual occurrence, he sometimes surprised strangers by his apt
and lengthened quotations from favourite poets. Soon after the removal
to the Castle Hill establishment, Mr. Duncan Keith,--the son of an old
friend of Mr. Nelson, with whom William had spent at Glasgow a brief
period of initiation into the mysteries of trading,--was welcomed as a
member of the West Bow home-circle, and took his place among the busy
corps on the Castle Hill. He was the junior of William Nelson by some
years, and thus writes: “My evenings were chiefly spent in the society
of the younger branches of the family; but I have a distinct
remembrance of William reading aloud from Horace and Virgil in a manner
that showed an intimate acquaintance with the language, and an
appreciation of the poetry in the original. Though a High School dux
myself, it was far above me; and, so far as my later observation goes,
above most people.” But it was only amongst intimate friends that he
gave free play to his literary sympathies. Nothing was more remote from
his character than any effort at display; and men of culture who, in
their intercourse with him, had long regarded him only as the man of
business, were sometimes startled by an unexpected betrayal of his
familiarity with classical and general literature, as well as by his
sound judgment on questions of critical discussion.
With a taste thus matured, his feeling for art was refined, and he
directed his efforts, with ingenious skill, to render the works issued
from the firm attractive. Novel methods of illustration were introduced.
Wood-cuts were printed with tinted grounds and relieved lights.
Chromo-lithographs vied in effect with the original water-colour
drawings. A late series of reproductions of Landseer’s pictures, though
designed only for a child’s book, constituted a valuable memorial of the
great animal painter. Inventive ingenuity was directed to the production
of fresh novelties in binding and illustration, many of which were
eagerly copied by the trade. William Nelson’s appreciation of artistic
excellence seemed to be innate and instinctive. “A thing of beauty” was
a joy to him wholly apart from his own share in its production. His
admiration for a well-got-up book, or for illustrations of unusual
excellence, found as hearty utterance in reference to the publications
of another firm as of his own; and hence he was always open to fresh
hints, and prepared for improvement on his most successful efforts. He
was, indeed, too easily beguiled by good looks both in books and men.
This characteristic passage occurs in a letter to an old friend: “I had
a call two days ago from a most fair-spoken English clergyman, who
wanted help to build a ragged school in Sheffield. He insisted that you
had introduced him to me, and that I had taken him over the works and
given him a book, which was likely enough; though, as I told him, I had
no recollection of it. He was most plausible, and very good-looking. A
good-looking outside takes my fancy in anything. I always find myself
expecting the best of a good-looking book; and I am apt to believe
pleasant things of good-looking people also. He assured me he was a
great friend of yours; and he had such a friendly look that I gave him
what he wanted. Do you know anything of this Dr. Pike? I have had my
suspicions of him that he is a plausible humbug,”--which, as in many a
similar case, proved to be only too well founded.
A writer in the _Scottish Typographical Circular_ remarks: “Mr. Nelson
was often popping in and out among artists and engravers who did work
for him, giving them new ideas and further suggestions. He did not
grudge trouble or expense if he got things nice and to his mind. He
rejoiced in beautiful typography, and displayed great artistic taste in
the wood-cuts and illustrations.” He was indeed a familiar visitor in
the studios of London and Paris, as well as of Edinburgh; and during his
frequent Continental tours derived intense pleasure from his visits to
the galleries both of ancient and modern art. His eye was quick to
discern the merits of a painting, and his judgment was prompt and
decided. He was indeed sensitive to any manifestation of bad taste; and
the unsightly disfigurement of the buildings or thoroughfares of his
native city by placards or signboards, excited his anger to a degree
that sometimes startled the offender. His remonstrance on such occasions
was apt to be expressed with a blunt sincerity that could not be
misunderstood. The same severe standard of taste was applied in his own
business, and made its influence felt in every department of typography,
illustration, and binding.
A memorandum, found among his papers after his death, preserves an
incident in the first stages of the inexperienced but energetic
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