16 - The Scottish book trade

Summary

Scotland had not been subject to the same form of official control of its printing as England, yet in 1700 its book trade was small – a press at Aberdeen, another at Glasgow, a half-dozen printing establishments in Edinburgh, and some booksellers in the major centres and a few country places – comprising perhaps fewer than ninety workers for a population of a million. There were probably six paper mills. By the early nineteenth century, booksellers and printers had set up business in many of the smaller towns, and Scotland had printing, publishing and paper industries operating on a British scale. This enlarged trade can be viewed against a broader social and economic context. Scotland manifested many of the features of a ‘traditional underdeveloped economy’ at the end of the seventeenth century, but the following eighty years or so witnessed, particularly after mid-century, a more stabilized political and economic climate and significant commercial and trading developments, such as the tobacco trade and the banking system. Employment opportunities became more varied; personal incomes increased, contributing to a heightened demand for commodities, and many Scots had more comfortable lifestyles. In consequence, readers, including tradesmen and artisans, acquired books printed domestically and imported from London and elsewhere. The Union of 1707 gave Scotland access to English markets at home and in the colonies without payment of customs duties, and classed Scottish vessels as British, bringing privileges and protection. In 1710 came the Copyright Act of 8 Anne; by mid-century, these opportunities enabled the Scots to have a sizeable book export trade and a growing reprint industry.