In September 1507 King James IV granted a patent to Androw Myllar and Walter Chepman authorising them to set up a printing press in Edinburgh. The earliest known dated output from their press ('The Complaint of the Black Knight') is dated 4th April 1508.

CELEBRATE 500 YEARS OF SCOTTISH PRINTING

Printing is one of Scotland's oldest surviving industries

Celebrations have been underway since late 2007 and continue into the early months of 2009. There are links to websites and web-based exhibitions, developed as part of the celebrations, on the page on Scotland's printing history. In addition:

• An Edinburgh Printing Trail leaflet is now available, published by the Scottish Printing Archival Trust
• A DVD of digitised facsimiles of The Chepman and Myllar Prints, edited by Sally Mapstone and published by the Scottish Text Society and the National Library of Scotland is available for sale through the Society's website. It is also available to personal callers at the National Library of Scotland's building on George IV Bridge for a special price of £14.99.
• A portfolio of prints made on 4 April 2008 is available from the Visual Research Centre at Dundee Contemporary Arts: see www.500years.co.uk or phone 01382 348065 (Monday-Friday 9am-5pm) for more details.
• You can download a poster here (2.43 MB PDF)course.
• A limited edition of 500 mugs celebrating the quincentenary has been produced by Robert Smail's Printing Works: it is available from the National Trust for Scotland's headquarters at 28 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh.
• The National Library of Scotland and Sandstone Press have published Antony Kamm's book, Scottish printed books 1508-2008.

The celebration of the quincentenary is promoted by the National Library of Scotland, the Scottish Printing Archival Trust and the Scottish Print Employers’ Federation and endorsed by the Scottish Government.

Please note: all images on this website are the copyright of contributors to the project. If you have any queries about the celebrations, please contact the Programme Manager

Last updated: 4 January 2009