Well-known and highly respected Edinburgh printers used by many prominent London publishers. Founded by Robert Clark, son of a Montrose solicitor, who at the age of 13 was apprenticed as a compositor to William Burness in Edinburgh. Robert then worked for two years in London with Clowes & Vizetelley. He returned to Edinburgh and started as a small-scale printer for the law trade in George Street before moving to larger premises in Hanover Street. In the 1850s he travelled to London to solicit work from book publishers and began a connection with Macmillans. The abolition of the paper duty in 1861 helped the business, as did gaining the contract from his uncle, Adam Black, to publish Walter Scott's 'Waverley' novels. The business moved premises again in 1882 to Brandon Street. Robert Clark died in 1894; the business was carried on by remaining partners James Kirkwood and Edward Clark, Robert's only son. Edward Clark became Chairman and Managing Diector in 1895 and continued to invest and expand the business.
Robert Clark Obituary, Publishers' Circular, no. 1447, March 24, 1894, p. 313.
Edward Clark and his legacy. The Edward Clark collection at Edinburgh Napier University.
http://staff.napier.ac.uk/services/library/Documents/EdwardClark/EdClarkLegacy.pdf