In 1829 Simpkin retired from the business, and the financial management of the firm was taken over by Mr. John Miles, senior, under whose supervision very satisfactory results were obtained. Mr. Miles was also associated with the publishing business of Joseph Johnson of St. Paul's Churchyard, who issued the works of the poet Cowper, the critical writings of Priestley, and other important works. Being thus connected with bookselling, Mr. Miles placed his two elder sons in important positions in the trade. The one, named after his father, entered the firm of Simpkin, Marshall & Co., and Mr. Joseph Johnson Miles, evidently named after his publisher friend, entered the firm of Hamilton, Adams & Co. Later on, two other sons of Mr. John Miles, senior, entered the firm of Simpkin, Marshall & Co., and still later several grandsons became partners in the two separate firms before mentioned. The same traditions of business were continued and carried on for nearly eighty years. It is rather remarkable that, in the period which followed, an amalgamation should take place in 1889 between these two firms and Messrs. W. Kent & Co., and that, after so many years of competition, they should be brought together into one trading company. In the busy whirl of Stationers' Hall Court, though there was little opportunity for humour, something occasionally happened that permeated the whole house with amusement, such as when a mistake had been made and one of the partners tried to find out who had made it. However, not being able to discover the offender, he came at last to the most humorous man in the house and tried to fasten it upon him but failed. "Well," he said, with energy, "I must hang somebody." After a pause, the answer came: "Hang me, sir; I want a rise." With a smile the principal left the room and nothing more was heard of the mistake. Many such incidents have occurred, but they have been lost by the hurrying on of time. This subject, however, has been dealt with in an article entitled "Bookselling and some of its Humours," in my volume on "The Fascination of Books," published in 1912. Among my later duties at Stationers' Hall Court was that of superintending the purchase, or, as it is termed, the subscription of new books. Every new book issued from the various publishers was first submitted to Simpkin, Marshall & Co., and the number they bought often governed the numbers purchased by the various members of the trade. These varied according to the author's reputation and the sales of their previous issues, and in many cases from a small number to many hundreds were usually ordered. I remember on one occasion a 6_s._ book by a popular novelist was submitted to us and an order given for 12,000 copies. October is undoubtedly the most important publishing month of the year, and upon many days during that period, between 150 to 200 different books have frequently been offered for subscription.