Blackwood, William

William (1776-1834), an Edinburgh publisher. He was a bookseller from his youth up, and had experience in the trade, not only in his native city, but in Glasgow and London as well. He established Blackwood's Magazine in Edinburgh in 1817. It immediately took rank as a literary journal, corresponding in a way to our Atlantic Monthly. Among the earlier contributors who gave standing were John Wilson, J. G. Lockhart, De Quincey, and James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd. Mr. Blackwood combined the literary taste and genial manners that attracted men of letters and made them loyal to his enterprise. He was a man of delightful hospitality. In this respect, he resembled our American publisher, James T. Fields, whose Boston home was the resort of authors and magazine writers. Mr. Blackwood was succeeded in business by his sons, who have built up one of the influential publishing houses of Great Britain. W. E. Aytoun succeeded the elder Blackwood in the editorship of the magazine. See Black; Adam