The work was eminently successful, and this immense expenditure shows us something of what “success” means in this instance. The commercial management of an undertaking like this was sufficient to occupy the attention of a man of extraordinary diligence; but Mr. Black found time, not only to contribute several articles to his Encyclopædia, but to take a very warm and prominent interest in the government of his native city; and from 1843 to 1848 he occupied the highest position to which a citizen of Edinburgh can aspire—that of Lord Provost.
Enterprise and success, more especially when they are mingled with real desert, and caused by honest service, are qualities of which the Scotch, perhaps more than any other nation, are peculiarly proud; and when the representation of Edinburgh became vacant in 1856, a large and influential party at once nominated Mr. Adam Black to fill the post. Mr. Adam Black was a thorough-going Liberal and a Nonconformist, and a party of the electors received his nomination in a spirit of the greatest bitterness, and an opposition candidate was brought forward. The election came off on the 8th February, 1856, and Mr. Black, the friend of political freedom when friends were few, the champion of religious charity and goodwill when enemies were many, was rewarded for his consistency and his many services by a larger number of votes than had been polled for twenty years—no weak test of popular approbation. As a contemporary opinion, we may quote the Scotsman of that date:—“Honour to the candidate! Sincerely reluctant to compete for the honour, no sooner was he embarked, and saw that the great principles and the reputation of the city were concerned and imperilled in his person, than he threw himself into the work with a vigour that made even the youngest and most energetic of his supporters stand aside. We don’t care who knows it: Mr. Black was the most effective member of his own committee—in word and in act, by day and by night, the veteran was ready with guidance and warning and incentive. In all his many battles in the public cause, he never made a better fight than when achieving this victory which so gloriously crowns his career.”
In the House Mr. Black distinguished himself by his assiduity to business, and in 1864 he introduced his Copyright Bill, which, though it contained much that was good, was ultimately thrown out.
Upon completion of the seventh edition, a number of cheap reprints were issued of the most famous articles of the “Encyclopædia,” and met with a very favourable reception.
We have seen that in 1851 the Messrs. Black, in conjunction with Messrs. Richardson Brothers, became possessed of the Waverley Novels. Ultimately, the Messrs. Black purchased, it is said, the Messrs. Richardsons’ share, and are now believed to be the sole proprietors of Sir Walter Scott’s works. In the management of this property Mr. Adam Black exhibited the same rare sagacity, and reaped the same successful reward as in the former important work. In the middle of 1852, he announced that 120,000 complete sets of the Waverley Novels had been sold in this country alone since their first publication; and in 1858 an ingenious mathematician computed that the weight of the paper used for them was upwards of 3500 tons.
Among the most important editions issued by Messrs. Black we may instance the following:—
| £ | s. | d. | ||||
| A Re-issue of the “Cabinet Edition” | in | 1853–54 | at | 3 | 15 | 0 |
| ”” | ” | 1860 | ” | 3 | 10 | 0 |
| The “People’s Edition” in 5 vols. | ” | 1855 | ” | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| “Railway Edition” in 25 vols. | ” | 1858–60 | ” | 1 | 17 | 6 |
| New Illustrated Edition in 48 vols. founded on “Author’s Favourite” | ” | 1859–61 | ” | 10 | 13 | 0 |
| “Shilling Edition” in 25 vols. | ” | 1862–63 | ” | 1 | 5 | 0 |
At our present writing a beautiful new edition, the “Centenary,” is being published.
The moment that the copyrights of the earlier novels expired the market was flooded with cheap reprints; but the Messrs. Black were equal to the occasion. They issued a trade reminder to the public that the edition of 1829 was thoroughly revised by the author, was altered in almost every page and largely augmented by notes, and that it still was copyright, and as a death-blow to the reprints by rival houses they brought out the “sixpenny edition” in monthly volumes, each volume containing a complete tale with all the matter that had appeared in the more expensive editions. Thanks to former stereotypes they were thus enabled to present a series of the cheapest and most valuable books that any house in the country has yet been able to produce. The publication lasted from November, 1866, to November, 1868, and the complete issue consisted of twenty-five volumes, and thus the public were able to purchase for twelve shillings and sixpence what had originally cost upwards of forty pounds. Constable himself in his wildest dreams of cheap publishing never imagined such a marvellous feature as this.
As a proof of their popularity we quote from a contemporary writer in the Illustrated Times, 25th of September, 1867. The writer was travelling down to Wales, and, at the London station, he said, “‘Boy, where are the Scott novels?’ ‘Don’t keep them,’ he replied. ‘Don’t keep them! Why not?’ ‘Because, if we did, we should not sell anything else.’ Here then, to begin with, is a small fact worth reflection. Some of the novels were first published fifty years ago. Can you point out any other series of books, or even any single book, a sixpenny edition of which Mr. Smith would be afraid to lay upon his bookstalls for fear the public might refuse to buy anything else?” At every station the writer made the same inquiry and met with the same result.