Printing in Fife
Exhibition at the Gateway Galleries, 13 October to 18 December 2008
This year sees the celebration of 500 years of printing in Scotland. On 4 April 1508 Edinburgh merchant Walter Chepman and bookseller Andrew Myllar printed the earliest surviving dated book printed in Scotland: The Complaint of the Black Knight by John Lydgate. The only known copy of this work is held by the National Library of Scotland. There have been many different events, exhibitions, conferences and workshops held throughout the country during the year. These have been co-ordinated by the National Library of Scotland, the Scottish Printing Archival Trust and the Scottish Print Employers Federation. As part of the commemoration of this anniversary, the Special Collections Department has created a major exhibition on Printing in Fife.
We have tried to ensure that there is the widest possible interpretation of printing on show: we have rare and precious examples of early printing as well as modern examples produced using traditional methods. We are showing a specially commissioned short film of a local printer operating a small private press in Fife to document the printing process. This film will be on display alongside the tools of the trade which are used in the film, so you'll be able to see a chaise, quoins, key, composition stick, type and leading and proofs. In addition, the rules of imposition and the mysteries of the formation of a folio, quarto, octavo or even duodecimo book will be explained and illustrated. The more familiar fonts, spacing, proofing and colourprinting of the modern 'printing' process will also be highlighted.
St Andrews played a very significant role in the early history of printing since the town was the first place in Scotland to which printing spread outside the capital. The Catechisme of Archbishop John Hamilton (1511-1571) was the first book printed in St Andrews, produced by John Scot under the imprint `prentit at sanct Androus' in 1552. This volume, together with other early examples of St Andrews printing, and the first book printed in Kirkcaldy, will be on display in the exhibition.
There is a wider focus to the display than just St Andrews, however. We aim to tell the story of printing throughout Fife and we focus on two local printing companies: the Tullis Press of Cupar and the Pitsligo Press of Burntisland.
Robert Tullis (1775-1831) moved to Cupar in 1797 and founded the company of R. Tullis & Company, initially as a bookshop and bindery. In 1803 he acquired a printing press and established the Tullis Press which succeeded in capturing the commercial printing market in Fife and its surrounding area and, between 1803 and 1849, published more than two hundred books. He was appointed printer to the University of St Andrews in 1808. In 1809 he added to the company the Auchmuty paper mill in Markinch, becoming one of the earliest paper manufacturers in Scotland, and in 1822 began publishing the Fife Herald. We feature nice examples from the great range of Tullis Press books, from classical texts and novels to local poetry and newspapers.
The Pitsligo Press of Burntisland was a small private press which flourished between 1852 and 1875. It focused largely on theological works and was founded and run by George Hay Forbes, minister of the Scottish Episcopal Church in the town. The works produced by the press contain superb examples of the intricate techniques of printing, with extensive use of different and unusual founts of type. They also show the care and attention to detail required in the process of editing and proof-reading. The books are supported by manuscript items taken from the papers of George Hay Forbes which, along with his library, are held by the Special Collections Department.
We tell the story of the creation of a series of volumes of topographical views of Fife by Thomas Rodger, well known 19th century St Andrews photographer, which feature lithographic views. There is a rare opportunity to compare true photographs with lithographs, as we have found original photographs within the library's Photographic Archive which are placed alongside lithographs in the exhibition.
The case on newspaper printing includes a copy of the first Scottish newspaper, Mercurius Caledonius from 1661, alongside its forerunner, a news-sheet from 1640. There are copies of 18th century Edinburgh and London papers which provided the source of news for the early provincial press, as well as examples of the first Fife newspapers: the Fife Herald (1822) and Fifeshire Journal (1833). The Pittenweem Register (1847 and 1849), East of Fife Record (1857) and St Andrews Citizen (1870) also make an appearance, covering topics including the Tay Bridge disaster, the funeral of Queen Victoria and the Second World War.
Finally, there are lots of other printed items that have been gathered from the riches of the manuscript and pri
nted collections of the library. There are wonderful bill heads, posters, public notices, playbills and receipts which show the variety of uses to which printing has been put during the past centuries in Fife. We hope you will visit to see the exhibition for yourself.