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A REPUTATION FOR EXCELLENCE
A History of the Glasgow Printing Industry
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Part Four - The Era of
Industrialisation
The Villafield Works of W. G. Blackie & Co. expanded from 350
sq. yds in 1831 to 6,000 sq. yds by 1874. A lithographic printing
department was established in 1866 and a French cylinder machine,
the first of its kind to be imported to Britain, was installed in
1869. John Blackie Senior retired in 1860 but had played a lesser
role from the 1840s, his three gifted sons John Junior, Walter and
Robert undertaking increasing responsibilities. Both of the younger
brothers joined John and their father as partners in Blackie &
Son Publishers. New agencies opened (including one in New York),
new printing techniques were adopted and new books issued with ever-increasing
care for the quality of production. Books in the Welsh language
were published in 1870 by the firm. John Blackie Senior was a man
of deep religious conviction and there is little doubt that his
heart was in the work that he had chosen. The family was involved
in public affairs but the highest prominence was attained by John
Junior when he became Lord Provost of Glasgow in 1863. He was involved
in early slum clearance schemes and worked very long hours. He died
in 1873 and was accorded a public funeral, predeceasing his father
who died in 1874 in his ninety-second year.
Public service and generosity had a high priority with the Glasgow
printer and publisher William Collins & Co. William Collins
died at Rothesay in his sixty-fourth year on 2 January 1853 from
bronchitis. During his short retirement he had been generous to
many causes and sent large donations — £100 for instance,
to a fund for evangelising Glasgow — but he seems to have lived
simply himself, with effects remaining after his death falling well
below £100. The firm he had established nearly forty years
earlier was in good heart with his son William II at its head. He
too made a significant contribution in public service as a Councillor
for Glasgow, and as its Lord Provost in 1877 when he was knighted
by Queen Victoria at Holyrood Palace. William II’s two sons,
William III and Alexander, born in 1846 and 1848, were made partners
in the firm in 1870. Despite the demands of public service William
II led the development and expansion of the firm for almost half
a century until he died in 1895. His son William III took over as
chairman and brought his nephews into the business.
In 1853 William II introduced steam presses into the firm and this
began the move towards mass production. There were new demands for
educational, travel and scientific books, encyclopaedias and dictionaries.
The firm also published and printed works of Shakespeare and The
Pilgrim’s Progress in cheap editions, making them available
to the masses. They began publishing atlases and held the monopoly
of scripture printing in 1856. In 1861 it was necessary to expand
to new premises at Herriot Hill, Stirling Road (now Cathedral Street).
Appointed Queen’s Printer for Scotland in 1862, in the next
five years the company developed its scientific list, and explored
and developed Canadian connections. By 1868 the family firm had
sixteen printing machines, seven litho presses and several small
complementary presses, plus a bindery machine. The gospels in native
African tongues were developed in 1870. The working week was reduced
from sixty-six to sixty hours in 1870 and later to fifty-seven.
William III invented an envelope-making machine. Employees totalled
1,200 at this time and the firm had its first representative offices
in New Zealand and Australia.
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Volume 2 published 1994
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