Scotland’s printing companies include many familiar names: Blackie & Co, W& R Chambers, Williams Collins, T & A Constables, Thomas Nelson and Valentines. Companies often produced printed brochures or company histories to mark important points in their history. Some of these have been scanned with the help of students in the School of Arts and Creative Industries at Edinburgh Napier University. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders: if you have any information about current copyright holders for any of these items, please email the secretary.
Aberdeen
- Aberdeen University Press: Iain Beavan’s article from the Journal of the Edinburgh Bibliographical Society; a list of the archival sources in Aberdeen University Library’s Special Collections; background to the relaunched AUP in 2014.
- Arthur King memoirs of an apprentice [PDF 9.4Mb]
Dundee
- Harley and Cox [PDF 4.3Mb]
- Valentine: information about the company archive for the postcard printers
Edinburgh
- Bartholomew family website, and company archive. You can also explore the Duncan Street premises in Edinburgh’s Newington district, occupied by the firm from 1911 to 1995
- feature on W & R Chambers, on the National Museums Scotland website including information on the printing methods used
- R & R Clark Ltd: short history. There is also an account of the social life of the firm on YouTube
- T & A Constable [PDF 5.9Mb]
- W & A K Johnston: 100 years of map making [PDF 7.1Mb]
- McLagan & Cumming [PDF 3.1Mb]
- Morrison & Gibb Ltd: short history
- Waddies [PDF 15.9Mb]
Glasgow
- Blackie: archive
- MacLehose: virtual exhibition and archive collection
Other
- Allen Lithographic Company Limited, Kirkcaldy Our Progress in Print [PDF 18.9Mb]
- Robert Cunningham and Sons, Alva, 40th Anniversary [PDF 3.5Mb] and 50th Anniversary booklets [PDF 5Mb]
- Neidpath Press, Peebles
- Robert Smail’s Printing Works Archive, Innerleithen
SPRAT is grateful for support from The Watson Foundation