When peppery Sir William Blackstone, author of the Commentaries, first got his appointment to the board of delegates of the Oxford University Press in 1755, he took one look at the record and flew into a rage. The learned press, said he, is "languishing in a lazy obscurity, and barely reminding us of its existence, by now and then slowly bringing forth a Program, a Sermon printed by request, or at best a Bodleian Catalogue." Sir William's blast had its effect. The world has rarely since had to be reminded of the existence of...
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