Senior partner in a long-established and prestigious firm of London publishers. Southey began publishing with Longman and his partners in 1799 and their association continued until his final collection, Poetical Works (1837–1838). Southey often jokingly referred to the firm as ‘the Long Men’ or ‘Our Fathers’ (since their premises were in Paternoster Row). He also nicknamed Longman ‘Artaxerxes’ (465–424 BC) and ‘the King of Persia’ because the Persian emperor had been named Longimanus by the Romans.