"Designed, engraved & pubd. July 4 1791 ..." Based on an oil painting by Philip Reinagle. Nicholson is depicted carrying a pile of books knocking at the door of a regular customer. John Nicholson began as a bookseller in Cambridge with a street stall. He married the daughter of Robert Watts who operated the first circulating library in Cambridge. Nicholson succeeded to Watts's business & developed, specializing in lending out undergraduate textbooks as well as lighter reading. He inherited from Watts the nickname 'Maps', after his familiar call.