Archibald Constable
Archibald David Constable (24 February 1774 – 21 July 1827) was a Scottish publisher, bookseller and stationer.
Life
Constable was born at
In 1788 Archibald was apprenticed to Peter Hill, an Edinburgh bookseller, based on the Royal Mile south of the Mercat Cross. In 1795 Constable started in business for himself as a dealer in rare books, taking a unit immediately opposite Peter Hill, on the north side of the Mercat Cross. He was then living in a house in Calton village on the edge of Calton Hill.[2]
He bought the rights to publish the
In 1802 he published "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border" by Walter Scott and continued a lifelong friendship with Scott from at least this point. Walter Scott was primarily an advocate, and the Edinburgh courts were only 100m from Constable's shop.
From at least 1809 his head clerk Robert Cadell had a financial interest in the firm and in 1811 he replaced Hunter of Blackness as a partner, and from 1812 was sole partner with Constable.[3]
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
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] Around 1810 he bought a house at the head of Craigs Close, nearby his shop. The premises was previously the house of William Creech and historically had been the home of Andro Hart. The printworks linked to this house seem to have been leased by Constable since around 1800.[5]
In 1808 he served as Moderator of the High Constables of Edinburgh.[6]
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 died of
Park Place was a small square north of
Family
Constable was first married to Mary Willison (d.1814) daughter of David Willison, a rival Edinburgh printer.[11] They lived in Craigcrook Castle in western Edinburgh.[12] Among their children were a son, Thomas, and a daughter, Elizabeth.
Their son,
After Mary's death, Constable remarried in 1818, to Charlotte Neale, daughter of John Neale.[13]
Thomas Constable married Lucia Anne Cowan, daughter of
Their daughter, Elizabeth Constable (d.1818) married his junior publishing partner, Robert Cadell of Ratho.[18]
Publications
- Barry, George (1805). The History of the Orkney Islands. Edinburgh and London: Archibald Constable and Longman Hurst. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
- Gordon, Robert (1813) [Printed from original manuscript 1580 - 1656]. A Genealogical History of the Earldom of Sutherland. Edinburgh: Printed by George Ramsay and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company Edinburgh; and White, Cochrance and Co. London. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
- ISBN 9780665540820. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
- Stewart, David of Garth (1825). Sketches of The Character, Manners, And Present State of The Highlanders of Scotland: With Details of The Military Service of The Highland Regiments. Vol. I. Edinburgh and London: A. Constable and Longman, Hurst. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
In fiction
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.[4]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h Chisholm 1911, p. 981.
- ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1800
- ^ Kay's Originals vol.2 p.475
- ^ ISBN 9780748695980
- ^ Kay's Originals vol.2 p.473
- ^ List of Moderators of the High Constables of Edonburgh, Edinburgh City Chambers
- ^ Edinburgh Post Office directory 1827
- ^ Archibald Constable and his Literary Correspondents, by his son Thomas Constable (3 vols., 1873). This book contains numerous contemporary notices of Archibald Constable, and vindicates him from the exaggeration of J. G. Lockhart and others (Chisholm 1911, p. 982).
- ^ "about-constable-publisher". Little, Brown Book Group. Archived from the original on 30 January 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
- ^ "View map: OS town plan - Edinburgh, sheet 39 - Ordnance Survey large scale Scottish town plans, 1847-1895". maps.nls.uk.
- ^ Kay's Originals vol.2 p.475
- ^ Waterston & Shearer 2010, p. 200.
- ^ Kay's Originals vol.2 p.475
- ^ Dictionary of National Biography: Thomas Constable
- S2CID 251579034.
- ^ Chisholm 1911, p. 982.
- ^ Waterston & Shearer 2010, pp. 199–200.
- ^ Monuments and monumental inscriptions in Scotland: The Grampian Society, 1871
References
- Waterston, C D; Shearer, A Macmillan (8 November 2010), Former Fellows of The Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783 – 2002 (PDF), Royal Society of Edinburgh, archived from the original (PDF) on 19 September 2015, retrieved 28 March 2015
Attribution:
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911), "Constable, Archibald", Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 6 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 981–982 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
Further reading
- Henderson, Thomas Finlayson (1887). Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 12. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 32–33. . In
- Hewitt, David (January 2007) [2004]. "Constable, Archibald (1774–1827)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/6101. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
Published by Constable & Co.
- Edinburgh Gazetteer. Edinburgh: A. Constable & Co. 1822. (6 volumes)