John Reid (publisher)
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John Reid (1808–1841?) was a Scottish publisher, author and radical activist.
Born at Paisley on 2 April 1808, he was the second son of John Reid, M.D., by Jean McGavin, sister to William McGavin of Glasgow. After education mostly by his father, he was apprenticed to a firm of booksellers in Glasgow; at the end of the apprenticeship he went to London, and entered the service of Messrs. Black & Young, publishers.[1]
In a few years Reid returned to Glasgow, where he started as bookseller and publisher on his own account. He became involved in social reform and politics, supported Polish exiles, and was one of those who wanted the Earl of Durham to lead a reconstructed radical party in parliament. His political associates included Lord Dudley Stuart, Sir Daniel Macnee the painter, William Weir who became editor of the Daily News, and William Motherwell the poet.[1]
Reid was a traveller, and in 1838 he went to Turkey on an extended visit. In 1840 he gave up his publishing business in Glasgow and went to Hong Kong to edit an English journal and prepare a Chinese dictionary. He died there, in either 1841 or 1842.[1]
