As has been already noted, Parker established a publishing house in the Strand in 1832 and besides acting as agent for Cambridge bibles, he included in his catalogue the greater part of the educational books printed at the Press. The stock-books kept at Cambridge show that the bulk of the editions were delivered to Parker's warehouse in London or to Deighton's in Cambridge and the names of both firms frequently appear on title-pages. University publications, together with classical, mathematical, and theological text-books and treatises, predominate in the list and the names of such scholars as Blomfield, Babington, Colenso, Donaldson, Hare, Monk, Paley, Scholefield, Shilleto, Trench, and Whewell are to be found amongst the authors.
In 1844 it was proposed to reprint a number of standard works in theology and general literature "in order to provide against the loss which the want of full employment for the Workmen frequently occasions." It was hoped that by such an undertaking "the University would not only be enabled to secure regular occupation for their Printing Establishment, but would, also, acquire a copyright-interest in certain important Works which would ultimately prove a permanent source of income." Out of a long list three titles were chosen for publication: Stillingfleet's Conferences and Tracts, Cosin's History of the Canon, and Knight's Life of Erasmus.
Not all the books printed, of course, can be regarded as the publications of the Syndics of the Press. Some were printed to the order of an author or bookseller or society (e.g. the Parker Society); others were private ventures of Parker himself (such as his series of Popular Literature including Linnaeus and Botany, Smeeton on Lighthouses, Cuvier and Natural History, Sir Joseph Banks and the Royal Society); but others were definitely the property of the university, as the following minute of the Syndics of 25 May, 1838, shows:
At a meeting of the Syndicate held this day it was agreed, that the following be the form of an imprint for the New Edition of Wilson's Illustrations etc of the New Testament and that the same be adopted as the imprint in all such editions of books as shall be retained as the property of the University
Cambridge, printed at the Pitt Press,
by J. W. Parker, Printer to the University
and again in 1850 it was ordered that it should be stated on the title-page whether the book was printed for the author, editor, or publisher.
Towards the end of Parker's career in Cambridge, there was a distinct decline of business; the extension of the right of printing bibles to the Scottish printers in 1842 led to "the forced production of inferior editions which gradually lowered the prices of those of better quality produced in England." The Syndics, in a report to the Senate in 1849, while declaring the management of the previous 20 years to have been most satisfactory, found themselves faced by two alternatives for the future: either a large outlay upon new types and stereotype plates, or the placing of the establishment upon a reduced footing—and the second course was recommended.
The condition and extent of the Press in 1852 is summarised in the statement prepared by the Syndics for the Royal Commission.