Chapter 3 Summary

We learn how Frank's father, Bert Reid, started his business selling printing machinery in Moscow in 1870. Frank was sent back to England to study printing and mechanical engineering. After completing his courses he took on an apprenticeship at Croppers of Nottingham. While Frank was at Croppers, his father wrote that he had started a small printing press as a subsidiary. He also wrote to say he had hired a man named Selwyn Crane as chief accountant. Selwyn Crane was said to be a poet and very spiritual. He was a disciple of Tolstoy (Lev Nikolaevich) and visited him often at his Moscow estate. Bert also told Frank of hiring Yacob Tvyordov to be his chief compositor.

Frank transferred from Croppers to Hoes of Norbury because of their more up-to-date machines. In Norbury he met Nellie Cooper, who lived with her brother Charles and...