Scotland's Printing Heritage

Robert Smail’s Printing Works opening 2024

The National Trust for Scotland‘s Robert Smail’s Printing Works opens for the season on 29 March 2024. For full details of opening times and how to get there see the NTS website.

Did you know?

James Ballantyne founded his printing firm 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, north back of Canongate, at the foot of Calton Hill.
Ballantyne’s had a good reputation for high quality work and combined this with a very large output of books: Scott’s Waverley was a great success and brought the Paul’s Work plant to capacity production. The relationship between Ballantyne, Scott and Constable was too close, however, and when Constable’s collapsed in 1826 both James Ballantyne and Scott were also bankrupted.