934
HISTORY OF PRINTING.
ton had been for forty years a highly respectable local preacher in the Wesleyan methoaist con- nexioD. He was an affectionate father, a kind master, and a humble and sincere Christian.
1834, July 27. The duty on almanacks re- pealed to the amount of £25,000.
1834. The number of advertisements pub- lished in Great Britain, was 1,110,000 at one shilling and sixpence each.
1834, Aug. 4. Hbnrv Hetherington, prin- ter, in the Strand, London, convicted in bis absence, he having neglected to obey the magis- txate's summons, in two penalties of £20 each, for Tending two numbers of the T\i>opennt/ WeeUy D^patek, an unstamped newspaper
1834, Awf. 27. Died, Geoboe Cltmeb, inventor and manu£actuier of the Columbian printing press. He was descended from a Swiss family, wno left Geneva, and settled in Penn- sylvania, in North America, long before the revolution of 1776, and in that struggle for liberty they took an active part, for a Clymer appears among the sUrnatures to the declaration of independence, lu. Clymer's father was an extenave farmer, settled in Bucks countv, state at Pennsylvania, and brought up the subject of this memoir till about the sixteenth year of bis age, who, even at that very earlv period, showed very superior mechanical skill in the construction of a plough, on a new and greatly improved principle, so infinitely superior to those then m use, as to attract the attention of the most scientific men of the day. After many years spent at carpenter work and cabinet making, he turned his attention to the study of hydra^ics, in which he soon excelled most of his predecessors in the construction of a pump, the superiority of which was proved in clearing the coffer-dams of the first permanent bridge erected across the Schuylkill, at Philadelphia. This pump was capable of discharging five nun- dred gallons of water per minute, together with sand, gravel, stones, &c. Such was its amazing power, that eighteen and twenty-four pound shot nave often been pumped up and discnarged by one individual. For this invention he obtained a patent at Washington, and subsequently one in England. The crude and defective condition of the printing press was the next object which took his attention ; and in 1797, Mr. Clymer commenced his improvements first upon the old wooden presses, and afterwards of meul, till by great attention and anxiety he produced the Columbian, which he introduced into England in the year 1817. Without wishing to detract from the merits of one or two other presses, now generally used, it must be acknowledged, and uiat upon the authority of many experienced journeymen printers, that there is not a press bv which the workman can do a day's labour with less exertion to himself than the Columbian. Its beauty, simplicity of construction, durability, and power, must ever rank this presses the most perfect ever invented. Mr. Clymer, for his inven- tion, had the honour of receiving a gold medal of the value of one htmdred golden
ducats ftom tho Ung of the Netherlands.* On one side is a conect likeness of his majesty, beautifully executed, surrounded with
wiuH. MAM. nuM. BIX. i.vxiaa. ■. Bra.)
and on the other side is the following inscription, surrounded with a wreath of exquisite woA- manship —
Qaoaoio
CLVMBRO
v»a tai.s*TiuiHo rso OBUiTO
rRBLO TVroOKArHICO
BIHOVLABI AKTB
CO.VVBCTO
BBS
DBDIT
MDCCCZIZ.
Mr. Clymer married Margaret, daughter of the late judge Backhouse, of Durham iron works, Pennsylvania, by whom he had several children; but only three daughters survived him. The youngest daughter was married to Mr. Alexander Renfrew Shaw, of Finsbniy- street, London.f In person Mr. George Clyniet was rather tall, wiUi a manly and dienifiel countenance ; the true index to a noble snd generous mind. He was a good husband, a firm friend, and an indulgent parent. He died in London, at the advanced age of eighty yeas.
1834, Sept 3. T. S. Ddncombe, esq., M.P., sent a challenge to Mr. Fraser, proprietor of Prater's Magazine, for an article inserted therein, animadverting on that gentleman's public con- duct. Mr. Fraser very justly had him bound over to keep the peace in a bond of £500.
1834, iS'<pM6. IKe(2, William Blackwood, an eminent bookseller and publisher, in the cit; of Edinburgh, and originator of the magasine which bears his name. He was born in £diD- burgh, December 20, 1776, of parents who, though in humble circumstances, bore a respect- able character, and were able to give him a superior elementary education ; and his devotion to literature determined them in the choice of his calling. At the age of fourteen, he commenced an apprenticeship with the well-known house of Bell and Bradfute, booksellers, in Edinburgh, and before he quitted their roof, had largely stored his mind with reading of all sorts, but more especially Scottish Histoiv and Antiquities. Soon after the expiration of his apprenticeship, [1797] he was selected by Messrs. J. Mundell and Co. then carrying on an extensive publisli- ing business in the Scottish capital, tu take the charge of a branch of their concern, which the; had resolved to establish in the city of Glasgow. Mr. Blackwood acted as the Glasgow agent of Mundell and Co. for a year, during which lime he improved greatly as a man of business. At the end of the year, when the business he had
- The medal weiglu between eleven and twelve onncea,
and was allowed by several scientific gentlemen to be the most elegant they had ever seen.
See Tettimonialt retpecting the tuperioriisi, viiUig, ami iurabUUt of the Patent Columbian Prinlimg Prat. IsaC.
t Where the Colombian press continues to be raannCK' ttircd. December 31, 1 838.
VjOOQ IC
