Blackwood (publishing house)

In 1804 William Blackwood opened a shop in South Bridge Street, Edinburgh, for the sale of old, rare and curious books.

[1] In May 1824 Blackwood's became the first British literary journal to publish work by an American with an essay by John Neal that got reprinted across Europe.

[1] William Blackwood died in 1834 and is buried in an ornate vault in the lower western section of Old Calton Cemetery.

During World War II Blackwood was a fighter pilot and at the height of the Battle of Britain recalled looking down from 25,000 feet to see the firm's London office in Paternoster Row ablaze.

Millions of books were lost in the fire and the destruction of Blackwood's base in the City of London marked the beginning of the firm's decline.