Archives for January 2024

Printing Historical Society grants 2024

The Printing Historical Society is currently inviting applications for research grants under their annual grant scheme. The total amount available this year is £3,000, and the deadline for submissions is Friday 22 March 2024. Eligibility and application details are on the Society’s Grants page.

OTD 25 January 1817

The first ever edition of The Scotsman, or Edinburgh Political and Literary Journal was produced on Saturday, January 25 1817, from premises in Edinburgh’s High Street. It was originally published weekly, and became a daily newspaper in 1850. The proprietors announced that their first desire is to be honest, the second is to be useful.

OTD 19 January 1757

Thomas Ruddiman was born near Banff in 1674, son of a farmer, and was educated at the local grammar school and at Aberdeen University. After a period as a private tutor, and as the schoolmaster at Laurencekirk, he moved to Edinburgh in 1700 to become the assistant librarian at the Faculty of Advocates. He was […]

OTD 15 January 1826

Founded in Kelso in 1796, James Ballantyne was founded in Kelso in 1796. Archibald Constable, Scott’s publisher, commissioned Ballantyne to print his Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, which led to the firm’s move to Edinburgh in 1802. After setting up near Holyrood, they moved to Foulis Close in the Canongate before settling in Paul’s Work, […]