The Society of Bookbinders in Edinburgh was formed in 1814, as a relief society for sick and unemployed members. On 5 March 1822 the name changed to the Union Society of Edinburgh Journeyman Bookbinders. The Society continued for 50 years, remaining independent of the Bookbinders’ Consolidated Union until September 1872 when the two organisations amalgamated […]
OTD 28 February 1803
28 February 2025 by
Memorial of the Edinburgh Compositors to the Court of Session. This was a request from the compositors of Edinburgh that they be allowed to convene a meeting: the Combination Acts were in force at the time, preventing workmen from acting together to improve their conditions. Permission was granted and a request for an increase in […]
OTD 25 January 1817
25 January 2025 by
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
19 January 2025 by
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
15 January 2025 by
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 […]
OTD 11 December 1862
11 December 2024 by
Edward Clark, son of Robert Clark of the Edinburgh printing firm R & R Clark, was born on 11 December 1862. On his death in 1926, he left funds to support the teaching of printing in Edinburgh, including funding a collection of books for the use of the students. The Edward Clark Collection is in […]
OTD 23 November 1712
23 November 2024 by
Andrew Foulis was born on 23 November 1712. With his brother Robert, he founded the Foulis Press, printer to the University of Glasgow. The Foulis Press was known for the high quality of the books it produced.
OTD 20 November 1809
20 November 2024 by
On 20 November 1809 John Blackie established the printing firm in Glasgow which was known later as Blackie & Son.
OTD 9 November 1868
9 November 2024 by
On 9 November 1868, the Glasgow Herald moved into new premises on Buchanan Street, on a site that extends back to Mitchell Street. The frontage is decorated with figures of Gutenburg and Caxton. The Mitchell Street frontage was redesigned by Charles Rennie Mackintosh at the end of the 19th century.
OTD 8 November 1910
8 November 2024 by
The Scottish Alliance of Masters in the Printing and Kindred Trades, now known as Print Scotland, was formed at a meeting held in the North British Hotel (now the Balmoral Hotel) in Edinburgh on 8 November 1910.
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