When John Smith retired with a pension in 1836, Parker was appointed printer in his place, visiting Cambridge for two days every fortnight; the bible business continued to expand and in 1838 Parker could offer fifty-six different editions of the bible and prayer-book. One bible calls for special comment: on 10 January, 1835, King William IV wrote to the Marquess Camden from the Pavilion, Brighton, suggesting that there should be printed at Cambridge, as at Oxford, a certain number of bibles for presentation to sovereigns visiting the country. The Chancellor conveyed the suggestion to the Syndics who unanimously agreed "that in obedience to His Majesty's command a quarto Bible with marginal references be immediately put to press"; 250 copies, printed on Imperial paper, were to be reserved for purposes of presentation and one copy was to be struck off on vellum for the King himself; larger editions were to be printed on ordinary paper for general sale and Parker was instructed to order a special fount of English type. Reductions in the cost of bibles were also effected and the Royal Commission of 1850-52 remarked upon the great reduction of price between 1830 and 1850 "attributable to improved machinery and to better arrangements in the establishment." One of the most important of these improvements was the introduction of steam-power for printing, the Syndics resolving on 13 June, 1838, "that it appears expedient to introduce machinery into the Pitt Press." For many years, however, the Bible Society stoutly refused to purchase books printed by steam presses. Apart from the great advances made in the actual processes of printing during this period, Parker's work is also of great importance in the development of Cambridge publishing. As has been already noted, Parker established a publishing house in the Strand in 1832 and besides acting as agent for Cambridge bibles, he included in his catalogue the greater part of the educational books printed at the Press. The stock-books kept at Cambridge show that the bulk of the editions were delivered to Parker's warehouse in London or to Deighton's in Cambridge and the names of both firms frequently appear on title-pages. University publications, together with classical, mathematical, and theological text-books and treatises, predominate in the list and the names of such scholars as Blomfield, Babington, Colenso, Donaldson, Hare, Monk, Paley, Scholefield, Shilleto, Trench, and Whewell are to be found amongst the authors.