New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-02-08
ALEXANDER MACMILLAN.
"A GREAT PUBLISHER AND HIS FflEND"
in CIRCLE WHERE LITERARY
AGENT WAS NOT NEEDED.

last honors are paid to-day at Bramshott IN the
Haslemere district was one OF the FOUNDERS OF
what is now one Of the greatest puplshins
houses in the world. 1t was IN 1883 tra'
he came up to London 10 accept saiar!
OF 5000 a year. which his brother. Dan
iel Macmillan. had secured for him IN
bookstore He was the son Of poor Scotch
farmer on the Ayrshire coast. and had been
struggling 10 make living in one way or
another He had sailed before the mast on voy-
age to Quebec; he had been a salesman in small
bookshop: he had lived on five shillings week;
ne had tried to study medicine; and at last he had
taken charge of a small school at Nitshill near
Paisley. II was a humble beginning OF business
career which destined TO be crowned with
honorable distinction and with literary friend
ships Of exceptional interest.
The two Scotch brothers took modest lodgings
in Hoborn with sister at first to keep house for
them and not long afterward they moved INTO
Charterhouse Square. which was not then as ais
NAL quarter Of London as 1t Is now. Ihey mao
only moderate educa tion but 1t was Scotch. and
what there was Of II was Thoroughly mastered.
They were natural booksellers. one with taste
for theology inherited from the father, who poor
peasant as he was had loved stif Calvinistio
argument: and the other with a strong vent for
poetry and philosophy To their peasant mother
they owed their intellectual force and nberallty
Of thought. Thomas Hughes describes her as
having "a remarkable openness OF mind, whlch
expressed itself in such phrases as 'puir body he
has nae room in him. when she heard OF overzeal-
Gus persons speaking bitterly Of opponents; or
when to the scandal OF many in Irvine. she stated
that to her thinking such Of them as had the good
fortune to reach heaven would have to put UP
with the company OF many Rcmanists
Daniel Macmillan the leader owing TO MS
ND
posed early In 1s4s that they should set up bust
ness as booksellers on their own account; and
when this was done 1t was ne again who. with
the aid of a timely loan from Archdeacon Hare
bought out book business in Cambridge where
the foundations OF the great publishing trade OF
the Macmlans, with their houses in London ana
New-York were really laid. The success of the
enterprise was dependent in its earliest stages
upon the friendship Of Hare, Maurice and Kings
ley; and 1t was Daniel Macmillan who COM
manded the support OF these leaders OF liberal
theology by his controversial zeal and ardent
sympathy He was a brilliant and original talk
err with an earnestness of manner and force of
character which commanded respect. He was at
once a bookseller and missionary OF liberal
Christianity.
While the older brother was pre-eminently the
founder of the house, the younger Macmillan dur
ing the last forty years has been mainly re-
enonsbe for the control and direction Of It's fort
unes In 1853. the year following the untimey
death Of Daniel Macmillan. the new publications.
of the firm numbered only forty-four. Although
Maurice's works and Charles Kingsleys ana
Thomas Hushess books had been published, the
business was still small and only moderately
profitable 1t was in that year that the pubca-
ton of books was resumed in London. where the
first volume bearing the Macmans imprint A
r. Craig's PHILOSOPHY OF Training" had been
issued fifteen years before. The Cambridge retail
trade s still retained, but since 1868 London mas
been the headquarters of the publishing business
with q branch house IN NewYork since 1863,
which has been for six years on an independent
basis The development of the publishing trade
of the house has been the lifes work of Alexander
Macmillan and 1t required mercantile enterprise
and intelligence Of high order.
A STRONG PERSONALITY.
The distinction Of excelling in the number Of
annual publications 1.-The literary output Of any
similar house at home or abroad Is not one tina,
needs 10 be enlarged upon. What is more IN
terestng and important is the strong personality
Of this eminent publisher because 1t has attracted
the friendship of a distinguished group Of Eng
lsh writer's Mr. Macmillan was not. perhaps, as
original talker as his mpulsive and enthusiastic
brother but he was something more than sym
qualities and was characterized by breadth Of
view and refinement of thought He was inter
ested In many subjects outside the range Of theo-
logical controversy-in science philosophy, poetry
and letters generally. He q broad-minded
man. Few publishers have ever established more
direct personal relations between Themselves and
the authors whose works they sold. They were
his intimate friends, and not only his house but
his heart well. was open TO them
Hare. Maurice Kingsley and Thomas Hughes
were primarily his brothers friends but they
were his also Matthew Arnold a frequent
guest at his table, and their relations were init
mate Lord Tennyson did not have the reputa-
ton of making many close friends. but Alexander
Macmillan one OF them. Bramshot chase
was within driving distance Of Lord Tennyson's
home, and publisher and poet saw much or each
other Lord Tennyson enjoyed reading his poetry
to so appreciative listener. and would recite 1t
with his peculiar information. pausing once In
while to exclam under his breath, THAT Is fine
line
The historians Freeman and Green. were often
at Mr. Macmllans house, and were among his
closest friends. John Bright was always a
welcome guest there. 1t was from him and from
Thomas Hughes that Mr.. Macmillan took fro
during the American Civil War. when the sym
pathes Of the upper and educated classes were
enlisted against the North. The publisher was
as strong partisan Of the anti-savery cause
as his inpetuous friends. Ordinarily tenn
perate and conciiatory in conversation. he could
hardly maintain sef-restraint when any dis
putant undertook in those days to ridicule or
condemn the Union cause. He made journey to
America after the war. going as far as Chicago.
and opened the way for the establishment Of a
branch house in New-York His relations with
Americans were always cordial but never so In
innate as with his own countrymen. Lowell he
knew. but as an acquaintance rather than as
q friend Henry James. whose books he pup
l!shed, was sometimes seen at his house.
THE FRIEND OF HUXLEY.