Page:A history of booksellers, the old and the new.djvu/444

404 404 THOMAS NELSON. was by means of a regular system of travelling, and Macdonald was succeeded by Mr. Peters ; whose success was considerably greater; but it was not until Mr. William Nelson, the eldest son of the founder, took to the road, that the trade business was really consoli- dated, not only in Scotland, but also in London and the chief towns of the united kingdom. In fact, it may be said, that Mr. William Nelson was the real builder of the business, working upwards from a foundation that was certainly narrow and circum- scribed. Mr. Thomas Nelson, the younger brother, was soon after this admitted to the firm, and under- took the energetic superintendence of the manufac- turing department, and was the originator of the extensive series of school-books. Johnson of Liverpool used to narrate that he re- membered young Nelson on his first (English) journey, and that he gave him what Nelson called a " braw order." Shortly after this he was, according to the same authority, joined by Mr. James Camp- bell, who left the carpenter's bench to become a "bagman," and was soon the chief assistant in the firm's employ.* Before this, however, the energy displayed by Mr. William Nelson had thoroughly consolidated the business, and had entirely dissipated the previous prejudice excited by the auction sales, the more es- pecially as the lowest prices were at once fixed to the trade upon every book issued by the establishment. Mr. Campbell's success as a commercial man was considerable, and by his subsequent energy and in- tegrity as an agent, at home and in the colonies, the
 * The Bookseller, 1861.