Glenda and I started building our library in the mid-1970s. Some of our acquisitions have been transferred over to Raven & Gryphon Fine Books. Many remain in our personal library including two cherished sets of books, both published by Blackie & Son, Glasgow. Before we get into the details of those two sets, let’s have a look at the history of Blackie & Son.
On November 20, 1809, John Blackie, sr. founded Blackie, Fullerton & Co. in Glasgow. Blackie was originally in business as a weaver but was persuaded that money could be made in the “numbers trade”, a form of selling sizeable books in monthly or quarterly installments, by subscription. By 1811, the firm was already beginning to publish its own books and in 1819, he expanded the scope of his business into printing. In 1829, he purchased the firm of Andrew & J.M. Duncan, printers to the University of Glasgow, called The Villafield Press. In 1821, John Blackie, jr., became a partner with his father and the firm was renamed Blackie & Son. John Blackie’s second son, Walter Graham Blackie, joined the printing side of the business in 1837, named W. G. Blackie and Co. The two companies were amalgamated after Blackie & Son became a public limited company in 1890, changing its name to Blackie & Sons Ltd.
The firm, starting in the mid-1800s, started to introduce major authors to their Scottish customer base, names such as Lord Byron, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Cowper, John Dryden, Robert Herrick, Thomas Heywood, Thomas Hood, Washington Irving, John Keats, Charles Lamb, John Milton, James Boswell, Geoffrey Chaucer, Algernon Charles Swinburne, and Alfred Tennyson.
But we started our Blackie & Son collection with the best of the bunch – open to argument!
The Works of Shakespeare; revised from the best authorities; with a memoir and Essay on his Genius by Bryan W. Procter (Barry Cornwall); also, annotations and introductory remarks on the plays by distinguished writers. And numerous illustrative engravings from designs by Kenny Meadows and T. H. Nicholson; Vol 1 Tragedies, Vol 2 Comedies, Vol 3 Histories; Blackie & Son, Limited, London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and New York, nd but mid to late 19th century.
These were very well produced volumes, bound in one-half leather with cloth. The mottled endpapers of both sets are top drawer. But the highlights of the work are the hundreds of wonderful illustrations, many full-page on heavier stock paper, but many embedded in the text, such as the last delightful illustration, above.
Pictures and Royal Portraits; illustrative of English and Scottish History, from the introduction of Christianity to the present time; engraved from important works by distinguished modern painters, and from authentic State Portraits; with descriptive historical sketches; by Thomas Archer; two volumes; Blackie & Son: Old Bailey: London, Glasgow and Edinburgh, 1880.
Bound in the publisher's deluxe binding of full red morocco, ribbed gilt decorated spines, covers elaborately tooled and paneled in gilt and blind stamping with various English and Scottish heraldic gilt crests on front and back boards, gilt dentelles, all edges gilt, marbled pastedowns and endpapers.
There are a total of 69 full-page engravings in the two volumes. Each has a protective blank, light gauge paper guard rather than the typical tissue guards, most commonly found in such volumes. Very high-quality printing and reproductions.
This set of volumes seems to be a bit out of character for the firm, but they considered this set to be one of their finest productions. In a history of Blackie & Son, this set was one of only two illustrated.