Cadell, Robert (1788 -1849)

Robert Cadell of Ratho, the publisher, was the son of Mr Cadell of Cockenzie in East Lothian. He entered the publishing house of Archibald Constable & Co and became a partner in 1811. After the failure of the firm in 1825 and 1826, Cadell put up a scheme for the publication of a complete annotated edition of Scott's novels. At the sale of copyrights that followed, he bought half, the remaining half being bought for Sir Walter by friends. The author's edition, as it was called, began to appear in 1827, and was such a success, that after Scott's death, Cadell was able to offer to settle the balance of his debts in return for the remainder of the copyrights. He married, firstly, 14 August 1817, Elizabeth, daughter of Archibald Constable of Balneil. She died on 16 July 1818, and he remarried, 25 January 1821, Anne Fletcher, daughter of George Mylne, accountant of Edinburgh. They had eight daughters. His library seems to have consisted wholly or partly of Scott manuscripts, all uniformly bound in russia with his stamp in gold on the sides. It was sold in three sales, the first by Mr Hodgson, of the copyrights, steel plates, woodcuts etc. of the works of Sir Walter Scott, Baronet on 26 March 1851, the second and third by Christie, Manson & Woods, of autograph manuscripts of several of Sir Walter Scott's celebrated novels and poems, and of autograph manuscripts of Sir Walter Scott's notable poems, and of several of his novels and prose works, 9 July 1866 and 6 July 1867.