Page:A history of booksellers, the old and the new.djvu/165

131 CONSTABLE, CAD ELL, AND BLACtf. iji part of 1822 his health suffered so severely that he was obliged to sojourn in the south for a while. In 1823, though professedly a Whig in politics, he was included by the liberal policy of the Government in a list of new magistrates for the city of Edinburgh ; and in the same year he moved from the warehouse, which he had occupied for twenty years in the High Street, to an elegant mansion in the New Town, adjacent to the Register House, which had become his own through his second wife. Constable had at this time all the personal and outward appearance of a successful man. He was stout and portly in body, and rather defiant and imperious in his manner. Among the trade he was known as the " Czar of Muscovy ;" of the London potentates, John Murray had earned the sobriqiiet of the " Emperor of the West," arid Longman and his string of partners as the " Divan." Constable had christened John Ballantyne the " Dey of Algiers," but, as John complained, had subsequently deposed him. The " Czar," however, was too fond of these nick- names. Longman was one day dining with him : " What fine swans you have on your pond there," quoth the Londoner. " Swans," cried Constable, " they are only geese, man ! There are just five of them, if you please to observe, and their names are Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown." This skit cost "the Crafty" a good bargain. About the year 1825, Constable devised a scheme greater than any he had yet floated, and the adoption of which was eventually destined to effect an entire revolution in the bookselling trade. After long study of the annual schedule of tax-payers, he established his premises clearly enough. There was undoubtedly