George Nicol

George Nicol, the king's bookseller, from William Roberts's The Book-Hunter in London. George Nicol (1740? – 25 June 1828) was a bookseller and publisher in 18th-century London. In 1781, he became bookseller to George III, a position he held until 1820. In 1785, he published an improved edition of James Cook's third voyage. In 1786, he became involved with John Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery and bore responsibility for the letterpress. He and the others in the project wanted to create a type that would be both utilitarian and beautiful.

Early life and work Nicol was born in Liberton, Midlothian, Scotland, in May 1741). Around 1769, he moved to London and began working for his uncle, David Wilson at his shop in the Strand. Later, the two men became partners. In fact, Nicol had instructions from George III not to bid against any buyers who wanted "books of science and belles lettres for their own progressive or literary pursuits".

Association with Boydell family Nicol was married twice. His first marriage was to Elspeth Wilken, though little is known about her. The union produced six sons, including William. While Martin was working on the typeface, Nicol and Boydell met the printer William Bulmer by chance, resulting in the agreement to establish Bulmer and Nicol's Shakespeare Press at 3 Russell Court, off Cleveland Row at the western end of Pall Mall. Bulmer set and printed Cicero's De Officiis on four large octavo pages in a style mimicking Bodoni's output. Implying that the type was Bodoni's, Nicol showed the sample to various customers, who were so impressed by its beauty that they were anxious to buy copies. Nicol told them "that Mr. Bodoni had an agent in town; and if they would turn to the bottom of the last page of the specimen, they would find his address". The customers turned the page to find printed: "W. Bulmer and Co. Shakspeare Press." (Nicol denied Dibdin's initial assertion that the name "Bodoni Hum" derived from an exchange between Nicol and George III.)

As well as Nicol's substantial involvement with Boydell's developing Shakespeare Gallery, he also embarked on a romance with Mary Boydell, niece of John and sister of the painter Josiah Boydell. Mary had previously toured Europe with her uncle and written an illustrated memoir of the trip. She was described as a beauty at the time and was sought after by several suitors.

On 9 July 1787 as Nicol and Mary Boydell were walking up Prince's Street (now the southern section of Wardour Street) near Leicester Square, Mary Boydell was shot by Dr. John Elliot with a pair of pistols tied together. Although the shots had been close enough to burn half her cloak, Mary was only bruised by the attack. Elliot was a former suitor of Mary's who had become convinced that she had reneged on a promise to marry him, and that he had thereby lost a share in what he believed to be John Boydell's £30,000 fortune. Elliot was also the developer of the idea that different elements of the retina respond to different portions of the spectrum of light, a theory advanced in a posthumously published medical textbook.

At Elliot's subsequent Old Bailey trial, it was argued that he may have failed to load his pistols with shot, or have intentionally used unloaded weapons. Elliot's counsel unsuccessfully attempted also to argue a defense of insanity, based largely on the supposedly evident insanity of Elliot's theories of solar radiation. The jury nevertheless acquitted Elliott of attempted murder as they did not accept that the pistols had been loaded. Elliot remained charged with assault and was remanded to Newgate Gaol, where he refused food and water and died on 22 July 1787. George Nicol and Mary Boydell were married on 8 September 1787. Mary became a print collector and writer in her own right. She died on 21 December 1820 and her prints were bought by the Duke of Buckingham. In addition to publishing and selling books, Nicol also served as a librarian to several aristocrats. He was a friend of George III, John Ker, 3rd Duke of Roxburghe and Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton. In 1812, after the Duke of Roxburghe's death he worked with a fellow bookseller, Robert Harding Evans, on the sale of the duke's extensive library. Nicol wrote the catalogue and organised the auction. The sale went on for 42 days, garnered £23,341 (the books had been purchased for £5,000), and started a "bibliomania" and the Roxburghe Club. It was Evans's first experience as an auctioneer, and the huge success of the sale spurred him to become the leading book auctioneer in early 19th-century London. Nicol and Evans collaborated again in 1815, on the sale of the library of the Duke of Grafton.

Later life George Nicol retired in 1825 and Evans conducted a sale of Nicol's library the same year. Among the works sold was the copy of the Gutenberg Bible on vellum that is now in The Huntington Library. After a long illness, Nicol died at his home in Pall Mall on 25 June 1828. Both he and his wife are buried at St. Olave Old Jewry.