Edinburgh Napier researchers build ‘City of Print’ collection

Researchers at Edinburgh Napier have helped build the ‘City of Print’ collection, an archive which charts the rise and fall of the printing and publishing industry in Edinburgh. 

The virtual museum celebrates 500 years of printing and publishing and thousands of documents, photographs, books, artworks, company records, and even old machinery have been brought together for the collection.

The archive charts the entire history of the trade, from its origins in 1507 when King James IV awarded Scotland's first printing patent to Walter Chepman and Androw Myllar for a press in the Cowgate, to the present-day success of publishers such as Mainstream and Canongate.

It also reveals how Scotland's capital led the way in the production of not just books but also newspapers, journals, diaries, calendars, greetings cards, wrapping paper and stationery.

The lead researcher on the project, Sarah Bromage, from the Scottish Centre for the Book, said: "Printing and publishing was one of the major employers in Edinburgh for a long, long time, but there's never been a proper archive of the industry until now.

"This project has brought together all the material that the council held as well as other records and equipment that we could find, or had donated, when we were working on the project.

"There isn't any kind of printing or publishing museum in the city so the website is really the only place you can go to find out about this important industry."

For more information, please visit http://www.edinburghcityofprint.org/