Thomas Constable (printer and publisher)

Thomas Constable
Thomas Constable
Born	Error: Invalid birth date for calculating age; Craigcrook Castle, near Edinburgh, Scotland
Died	May 26, 1881 (aged 68)
Occupation(s)	Printer, publisher
Known for	Printing and publishing in Edinburgh; His Majesty's Printer and Publisher in Edinburgh; Printer to the University of Edinburgh
Notable work	Archibald Constable and his Literary Correspondents (1873)

Thomas Constable FRSE (29 June 1812 – 26 May 1881) was a notable Scottish printer and publisher.

Early life and career

Thomas Constable was born at Craigcrook Castle, near Edinburgh, as the fourth son of Archibald David Constable (1774–1827), a prominent publisher, and Mary Willison. He received his printing training under Charles Richards in London before returning to Edinburgh to launch his own printing enterprise. After the passing of his father in 1827, Thomas assumed control of the family’s printing, publishing, and bookselling operations in 1833, moving the business to 11 Thistle Street in New Town, Edinburgh.

In alignment with his father’s aspirations, he maintained a focus on publishing practical works covering history, geography, engineering, and travel, including new editions within the Constable's Miscellany collection. Furthermore, he developed the Edinburgh printing business that had been bequeathed by his grandfather, David Willison.

In 1835, Constable was designated His Majesty's Printer and Publisher in Edinburgh, a role that conferred certain privileges for official publications but did not grant exclusive rights to print Bibles. Four years later, he was appointed Printer to the University of Edinburgh.

Throughout the 1830s, his company produced a range of materials such as small circulars, legal documents, and works for scholarly societies, as well as books commissioned by publishers Robert Cadell and Adam and Charles Black. Beginning in the early 1840s, Constable expanded into periodicals and magazines aimed at diverse audiences. Among these were the Edinburgh Ladies Magazine, Children's Missionary Record, British Mothers' Magazine, the Bulwark, or Reformist Journal, and reports from the Women's Home Missionary Society of the Free Church of Scotland. His firm also printed the Northern British Review and the Scottish Jurist.

Thomas Constable & Company

By the late 1840s, Thomas Constable started issuing publications under the imprint Thomas Constable & Company. In 1847, he secured the copyright for all writings of Scottish churchman Dr Thomas Chalmers (1780–1847), publishing them alongside William Hanna's Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Thomas Chalmers. Although this venture required an investment of £10,000 without full financial recovery, Constable remained committed to similar undertakings.

In 1854, he released an eleven-volume edition of Scottish philosopher Dugald Stewart’s complete works, edited by Sir William Hamilton (1854–1877). That same year marked the introduction of Constable's Educational Series, which included titles such as J. D. Morell's A Grammar of the English Language, James Clyde's Elementary Geography, and James Currie's The Elements of Musical Analysis. Additionally, he launched Constable's Miscellany of Foreign Literature.

Among important titles published were the 1855 Letters of Calvin Compiled from the Original Manuscripts and Edited with Historical Notes, novels by Giovanni Ruffini including Lorenzo Benoni Or Passages in the Life of an Italian (1853), The Paragreens on a Visit to the Paris Universal Exhibition (1856), and Doctor Antonio: A Tale (1858), as well as early works by John Brown, M.D., such as Rab and his Friends (1859).

By 1853, a significant portion of Constable’s printing output was devoted to Bibles. He broadened his reach beyond Scotland by entering the London market to provide printing services for publishers based there.

T. & A. Constable Ltd

In 1860, Thomas Constable divested the publishing segment of his business to Edmonston & Douglas but maintained control over printing activities. By the following year, he employed 50 compositors, surpassing all other Edinburgh-based firms in size. The company underwent a rebranding in 1865 when his son Archibald became a partner, adopting the name T. & A. Constable Ltd.

Publications

Later years

During the 1870s, Thomas Constable concentrated on his literary pursuits, notably authoring an important biography of his father titled Archibald Constable and his Literary Correspondents (1873). He also composed private memoirs including Memoir of Lewis D. B. Gordon, F.R.S.E., Professor of Civil Engineering and Mechanics in the University of Glasgow (1877) and Memoir of the Rev. Charles A. Chastel de Boinville (1880).

Honours

In recognition of his scholarly and literary achievements, he was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1866.

Personal life and death

Thomas Constable married Lucia Anna Cowan, daughter of papermaker Alexander Cowan from Valleyfield, Penicuik, on 14 October 1837. Their son, Archibald David Constable (1843–1915), was named in honor of his grandfather.

He passed away on 26 May 1881 at "Marston Biggot Rectory," which was the home of his brother, the Reverend John Constable.

Freemasonry

Constable was affiliated with Scottish Freemasonry, having been initiated into Lodge Canongate Kilwinning, No. 2 on 13 March 1835.

Assessment

Alexis Weedon, a scholar specializing in book history, characterized Thomas Constable’s professional journey as "modest." Nonetheless, he managed to sustain a longstanding publishing and printing enterprise by improving operational efficiency through modernization and broadening the range of typefaces to encompass Arabic, Hebrew, Coptic, Sanskrit, German, and Music fonts in addition to Greek. Equipment upgrades were significant; press numbers increased from four in 1835 to sixteen, alongside the addition of a cylinder press and three platen machines.

Assuming control of his father Archibald Constable’s business in 1833 following an earlier bankruptcy played a crucial role in ensuring the company’s endurance into the twentieth century as a prominent publisher of both fiction and non-fiction works. The Constable legacy continues today under the imprint Constable and Robinson.

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