Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T01:07:58.501Z Has data issue: true hasContentIssue false

16 - The Scottish book trade

from I - LONDON AND THE ‘COUNTRY’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2010

Michael F. Suarez, SJ
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
Michael L. Turner
Affiliation:
Bodleian Library, Oxford
Get access

Summary

Scotland had not been subject to the same form of official control of its printing as England, yet in 1700 its book trade was small – a press at Aberdeen, another at Glasgow, a half-dozen printing establishments in Edinburgh, and some booksellers in the major centres and a few country places – comprising perhaps fewer than ninety workers for a population of a million. There were probably six paper mills. By the early nineteenth century, booksellers and printers had set up business in many of the smaller towns, and Scotland had printing, publishing and paper industries operating on a British scale. This enlarged trade can be viewed against a broader social and economic context. Scotland manifested many of the features of a ‘traditional underdeveloped economy’ at the end of the seventeenth century, but the following eighty years or so witnessed, particularly after mid-century, a more stabilized political and economic climate and significant commercial and trading developments, such as the tobacco trade and the banking system. Employment opportunities became more varied; personal incomes increased, contributing to a heightened demand for commodities, and many Scots had more comfortable lifestyles. In consequence, readers, including tradesmen and artisans, acquired books printed domestically and imported from London and elsewhere. The Union of 1707 gave Scotland access to English markets at home and in the colonies without payment of customs duties, and classed Scottish vessels as British, bringing privileges and protection. In 1710 came the Copyright Act of 8 Anne; by mid-century, these opportunities enabled the Scots to have a sizeable book export trade and a growing reprint industry.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×