He was educated at Glasgow University, and at an early age began his career in the publishing house of Longman.
[1] Apart from the ordinary business of the firm, Longman devoted much attention to the preparation of a sumptuous work, which was produced under his special superintendence, The New Testament Illustrated, with Engravings on Wood after Paintings by Fra Angelico, Pietro Perugino, Francesco Francia, Lorenzo di Credi, Fra Bartolommeo, Titian, Raphael, Gaudenzio Ferrari, Danielle da Volterra, and other great Masters, chiefly of the Early Italian School.
[1] Longman was chairman of the fund raised by "the trade" in London and the provinces for the relief of the booksellers of Paris during the siege by the Germans in 1870.
Of the general operations of the firm while he was its head one of the most notable was the publication of Lord Macaulay's works, especially the History of England, for his share of the profits of the third and fourth volumes of which the author received, and that merely as a payment on account, the famous cheque for £20,000, dated 13 March 1856.
He was the author of a pamphlet, published in 1872, Some Observations on Copyright and our Colonies, with special reference to Canada.