The publishing, bookselling and printing firm established by James Tegg, initially in conjunction with his brother Samuel Augustus Tegg. The brothers arrived in Sydney in January 1835, with a stock of books provided by their father, the London publisher Thomas Tegg. The business appears to have been prosperous from the beginning, and James Tegg was to become an important figure both in bookselling and publishing in early Sydney.
In May 1838, James Tegg placed an advertisement in the pages of the Sydney Monitor announcing the arrival of 'the largest and most splendid Printing Press ever imported' as well as 'fancy modern Type from the best Founders in London'. Tegg claimed his business was 'on a scale of neatness equal to the first-rate Printing Offices in England'. (Sydney Monitor, 13.1186 (4 May 1838): 4)
The firm occasionally acted as government printer until the establishment of an official government printer in 1840. For example, on 30 October 1838 the Sydney Gazette named James Tegg as the the publisher 'by authority' of a prayer to be used on the occasion of a day of prayer for the Colony 'on account of the present drought'. (2) In the next issue of the Gazette, 1 November 1838, James Tegg advertised the 'Sydney Police Act' as 'just published'. (1) Tegg also published the first index to the Government Gazette in November 1838.
Tegg also established a printing house, the Atlas Office, from which the Atlas newspaper was published (though this was not until after Tegg himself had ceased his involvement with the business). Tegg's assistant William A. Colman took over the business in late 1844.
