Shorter Notice
IN 1819 William Collins—a native of East- wood, in Renfrewshire, a schoolmaster, and then thirty years of age—gave up teaching, and in partnership with Charles Chalmers went into the world of publishing. They opened a shop in Wilson Street, Glasgow, and a little printing works in the Candle- ` riggs, and in September brought out their first publication. This was by Charles's elder brother, Dr. Thomas Chalmers, - already famous as a preacher of qualities unusual even in that great sermon-tasting age. Thus the House of Collins began its expanding career with The Christian and Civic Economy of Large Towns.—No. I. Remarks applicable to the outset of Dr. Chalmers' connection with the Parish of St. John. Price, 1 shilling.
The association with the prolific and irritable Dr. Chalmers was profitable. In those days two-thirds of the-books sold in Scotland were religious in theme ; and it was in these, and in the question of temper- ance, that Collins was himself chiefly inter- ested. The partnership with Charles Chalmers, whose usefulness had always been in doubt, came to an end in 1825, and Collins was henceforth on his own, pulling the firm out of debt and laying the founda- tions of the large and lively business which _ flourishes today more variously than its founder could have foreseen.
Mr. Keir tells the story gracefully, from William I through the generations to the present, but it is inevitable that the his- - torical details should be seen in sharpest perspective in the earlier chapters. When Collins was building the business, Glasgow was in the throes of unfettered industrial expansion, and life was rough. " The office," Thomas Hamilton said, " of mingling the discordant elements of punch into one sweet and harmonious whole, is perhaps the only one which calls into full play the sympathies and energies of a Glasgow gentleman." This was a slight exaggeration : business and religion were , also to be pursued vigorously. Nevertheless, there was ample scope for William I in his temperance campaigns, which were carried on after his death by that stern Victorian William H. Even the great 'Dr. Chalmers, on whose uncertain temperament fresh light is thrown by Mr. Keir, had in his cellar, in September, 1824, 71 bottles of Madeira, 41 bottles of port, 14 bottles of sherry, 22 bottles of Teneriffe, 10 bottles of claret and 44 bottles of whisky. William Collins founded, as well as a famous- publishing house"; the first temperance society in Britain, and his lectures on the demon drink were to become almost as famous as Dr. Chalmers' interminable sermons. When he ' addressed the Man- chester Temperance Society he spoke for three hours, and at the end of the meeting- several of the reporters at the Press table joined the Society. To such a man, clearly, The House bf Collins. By David Keir. (Collins. 15s.) all things were possible. ' I. H.
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