The Publishers

• Thomas Cary & Company
• Neilson & Cowan
• Armour & Ramsay

Hitting The Books: The Early Canadian School Textbook Collection in UBC Rare Books and Special Collections

Neilson and Cowan

John Neilson (1776-1848) and his brother Samuel were apprentices of their uncle, William Brown (of the well-known Brown and Gilmore publishing firm in Quebec who was the first King’s printer in Quebec) When Brown died suddenly in 1789, he left his firm to the brothers. The Neilson firm trained many journeymen who later spread the knowledge of printing throughout Canada when they became master craftsmen.

Samuel Neilson (1800-1837), son of John, is a descendent of this dynasty in Quebec. In 1819, Samuel received his MA in Scotland and returned home to work at the family firm that was the largest shop for “printing, bookbinding, books, and office supplies in Lower Canada”.

In 1822, Samuel received the printing and publishing firm from his father. Political tensions at this time were high because of plans to unite Upper and Lower Canada. John Neilson did not want to be accused of conflict of interest between his role as a publisher and his role as a member of the Assembly, so he gave Samuel a two-thirds interest and Samuel’s partner William Cowan (dates unknown) one-third.

In 1828, John Neilson, Denis-Benjamin Viger, and Austin Cuvillier travelled to London to recall George Ramsay Dalhousie, Governor-in-chief of Canada. Dalhousie had abused his powers “by taking severe measures against some justices of the peace and militia officers as well as arresting journalists for publishing accounts of the mass meetings” about unification. During this time, “Samuel was arrested four times, charged with libel and released on bail”, but when Dalhousie was recalled in 1828, the charges against Samuel were dropped.

Samuel and William continued printing the Quebec Gazette as well as works of a political, education, religious, legal, scientific, medical, and literary nature in both French and English. As a large bookseller, they acted as the local agent for foreign booksellers or publishers. However, there was competition from independent agents who would supply people through door-to-door subscriptions.

Neilson and Cowan parted ways in April 1836 as Samuel was quite ill. Samuel gave the business to his brother William and the power of attorney to his father. Samuel died of tuberculosis in 1837.

We know little about William Cowan after the dissolution of the partnership, but by 1837, he went on to publish two books of interest, George Faribault’s Catalogue d’ouvrages sur l’histoire de l’Amérique, and Philippe Aubert de Gaspé (the younger)’s L’Influence d’un livre.