The Edinburgh History of the Book in Scotland

Part I: Foundations, Production and Expansion establishes the overall boundaries of manuscript and printed book history in Scotland across this millennium and sets the making of books within the wider cultural contexts at play, both at home and abroad. Scots were highly mobile across this one-thousand year period, moving for education and religious reasons, establishing businesses abroad and bringing home new styles and technology. This focused study adds to the narrative of an outward-facing emergent nation, rich in the written word and in a culture of reading, authorship and art.

Part II: Networks, Collections and Genre focuses on the types of books and printed material that were being made, produced, collected and used in Scotland in the medieval and early modern periods. On a scale not before attempted, Part II includes a survey of the genres of books and written material produced and consumed in Scotland over a millennium of the country’s history. Profiles of individual collectors help to illustrate the wider narratives of individuals, institutions and networks of the owners, collectors and patrons who helped shaped the bookish landscape of Scotland before the Union.