The sly
and pungent humour, and the banter with which the counsel derided
and laughed down this witness, were inimitable. The printer won
his case; but he eventually consented to remove his steam presses
from the neighbourhood, on the Duke paying him a certain sum to
be determined by the award of arbitrators.
It happened, about this period, that a sort of murrain fell upon
the London publishers. After the failure of Constable at
Edinburgh, they came down one after another, like a pack of
cards. Authors are not the only people who lose labour and money
by publishers; there are also cases where publishers are ruined
by authors. Printers also now lost heavily. In one week, Mr.
Clowes sustained losses through the failure of London publishers
to the extent of about 25,000L. Happily, the large sum which the
arbitrators awarded him for the removal of his printing presses
enabled him to tide over the difficulty; he stood his ground
unshaken, and his character in the trade stood higher than ever.
In the following year Mr. Clowes removed to Duke Street,
Blackfriars, to premises until then occupied by Mr. Applegath, as
a printer; and much more extensive buildings and offices were now
erected. There his business transactions assumed a form of
unprecedented magnitude, and kept pace with the great demand for
popular information which set in with such force about fifty
years ago.
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