On 15th September 1507, Androw Myllar and Walter Chepman were granted a licence by King James IV to set up Scotland’s first printing press in Edinburgh. Nearly seven months later, on 4 April 1508, a small leather-bound book emerged from their newly established press - The Complaint of the Black Knight was the first book known to have been printed in Scotland.
This year marks the 500th anniversary of the printed word in Scotland and the National Trust for Scotland will be marking this important anniversary with an exhibition at N° 28 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, from 1 August to 31 October.
The Trust owns Robert Smail’s Printing Works, in the Borders town of Innerleithen, which is a fully operational letterpress printers, restored to full operation just as it was a century ago.
The Trust will bring some of the fascinating contents from Robert Smail’s Printing Works to their Edinburgh gallery, telling the unique story of the Smail family who owned and ran the printing works for generations, and explaining the process of traditional letterpress printing. To complement the items, a selection of literary treasures and printed material from the Trust’s extensive collections, will also be on display. The exhibition is supported by Capital Solutions and Aurum Press.
A range of demonstrations will be available for visitors and a series of talks on printing, paper conservation and the Trust’s libraries and archives will be held during the exhibition.
Robert Smail’s Printing Works has been in the Trust’s care since 1986, when the property was purchased from Cowan Smail. Today, visitors to the site can see the presses turning, visit the paper store and tour the composing room, even trying typesetting by hand.
Click here to find out about visits to Robert Smail’s Printing Works.
The exhibition will be open from 1 August to 31 October, Monday to Saturday 11am – 3pm. Admission is free to the exhibition.
The National Trust for Scotland. The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty is a charity registered in Scotland, Charity Number SC 007410 and depends for its support on the subscriptions of its members, donations and legacies.