|
THE art of printing began to
be practised in England by Caxton in the year 1474, and the first
printing-press in Scotland was set up in Edinburgh in 1507 by Walter Chepman
and Andrew Myllar, two' merchants in the city. They were encouraged to
embark in the new trade by James IV., who, on 15th September 1507, granted
them exclusive privileges for practising the art. The charter set forth that
Messrs Chepman & Myllar, "at His Majesty's request, for his pleasure, the
honour and profit of his realm and lieges, had taken on them to furnish and
bring hame ane prent, with all stuff belonging thareto, and expert men to
use the same for imprinting within the realm of the books of the laws, Acts
of Parliament, chronicles, mass-books, manuals, matin-books, and fortuus,
after the use of the realm, with additions and legends of Scottish saints
now gathered to be eked thereto, and all other books that shall be seen
necessary, and to sell the same for competent prices, by His Majesty's
advice and discretion, their labours and expenses being considered." Acting
under this privilege, Messrs Chepman & Myllar obtained materials from
France, and began to print tracts of a popular kind, consisting chiefly of
short romances, ballads, and other poems, for the most part of Scotch
composition. The more important work of publishing Acts of Parliament and
books of law was postponed by their royal patron; and for a time the press
was engaged upon such like minor publications. Until 1788 it was supposed
that all the earlier works of the first Scotch printers had become extinct;
but in the year mentioned a number of the tracts were discovered in a sadly
mutilated state somewhere in Ayrshire. These were carefully bound up, and
are now among the most valued treasures of the Advocates' Library. A
facsimile of them was published in 1827, but only a small number of copies
were issued, and the book is consequently rare. The collection, which is
entitled "The Knightly Tale of Golagrus and Gawane, and other Poems— printed
at Edinburgh by W. Chepman and A. Myllar in the year 1508"—consists of ten
poems and an essay; and among the authors are Dunbar, Chaucer, and Henryson.
There are two curious engravings in the collection. One may have been
intended to represent Adam and Eve. The figures, partly clothed in skins,
stand on either side of a tree on which hangs a shield bearing the monogram
of Chepman. The other engraving is designed to mark the connection of Myllar
with the books, and represents a windmill, up the stair of which a man
bearing a sack is toiling. It appears that Bishop Elphinstone, of Aberdeen,
took much interest in the work of the printers, and, having composed a
breviary for use in his cathedral, he got them to print it. Several copies
of this work are in existence. It is in two volumes, one of which was
printed in 1509, and the other in the following year. The imprint at the end
of the second volume is as follows:—"Edinburgensi impresso jussu et impensis
honorabilis viri Walteri Chepman ejusdem oppidi Merca¬toris quarto die Junii
millesimo cccc decimo." The first of the engravings referred to above
occupies one side of the last leaf. A few of the other works of note printed
at Edinburgh during the sixteenth century may be mentioned. In 1526 a
foreigner, who gives his name as Jodocus Badins Ascensius, produced an
edition of " Boetii Historia Scotorum." Fifteen years afterwards the Acts of
the Scottish. Parliament were ordered to be printed, and the work was
entrusted to Thomas Davidson, the King's printer. A copy of this book,
printed on vellum, is in the Advocate's Library, and is a fine specimen of
typography. Davidson also issued a translation of Boetius printed on paper.
A succeeding King's printer named Lekprivik printed the Acts of Parliament
from the reign of James I. down to his own time. Lekprivik had, in addition
to his Edinburgh estab¬lishment, printing offices at St Andrews and
Stirling, and he prifited a considerable number of books. Thomas Bassandyne
published a folio Bible in 1576; and Alexander Arbuthnot, King's printer, a
copy of "Buchanini Historia," in 1582.
The progress of printing in
those early days was slow, as, owing to its tendency to spread facts and
diffuse opinions, the art became an object of jealousy to both Church and
State. Those connected with the press felt they had a mighty power at their
command, and were disposed to exercise it freely. After the Reformed
religion had been established in Scotland, the General Assembly assumed the
censorship of the press, and no books of a religious kind were allowed to be
printed till they had obtained the approbation of the Church Court, and even
then the printer had to obtain a license from the magistrates before he
could proceed with the work. There is ground for admitting that some
restrictions were perhaps necessary, for it is recorded that one printer, in
the dedication of a book which he issued, designated the King "the Supreme
Head of the Church," and published an edition of the psalms with an obscene
song appended. For these offences the only punishment inflicted was an order
to call in all the objectionable books, and to remove the dedication from
the one and the last leaf from the other.
The seventeenth century was a
troublesome period for the Scotch printers. In 1637 Young, printer to
Charles I., printed a Book of Common Prayer in a style unequalled anywhere
at the time; but this achievement was an unfortunate one for the printer, as
the Covenanters compelled him to fly the kingdom. When the Civil War broke
out in the same reign, the prosperous career which appeared to be opening
for those engaged in the art of printing received a check. Young's partner,
Evan Tyler, became printer to Cromwell, and subsequently sold his patent to
a company of stationers in London. The company sent down a manager and some
workmen, and opened a printing office at Leith, in which, among other
things, they 'reprinted newspapers obtained from London. The concern did not
succeed, and the establishment was broken up, the types, &c., being
purchased by a number of stationers, who set up distinct offices, in which
they printed, in a poor style, treatises on divinity and school-books. A
costly attempt was made to revive and improve the art by Archibald Hyslop
and William Carron, who brought materials from Holland, and began to work in
a very neat style; but they met with only partial success. The printing
trade was thrown into confusion by a Glasgow printer, named Anderson, coming
to Edinburgh, and, in the name of the other members of the trade, securing
the rights of King's printer. Though Anderson assumed the title of royal
printer, the privileges of the office were to be shared equally among the
Edinburgh printers. A dispute put an end to the latter part of the
arrangement, but not to the patent granted to Anderson, whose widow (he
being then dead) assumed a monopoly of the printing business. In terms of
the patent, "no one in the kingdom durst print any book, from a Bible to a
ballad, without licence from Anderson." Mrs Anderson, determined to make the
most of the important privilege she possessed, and as competition was out of
the question, quantity and not quality was what she exerted herself to
produce. In a "History of Printing," written by a printer of that time, it
is stated that " nothing came from the royal press but the most illegible
and uncorrect Bibles and books that ever were printed in any one place of
the world. She (Mrs Anderson) regarded not the honour of the nation, and
never minded the duty that lay upon her as the sovereign's servant.
Prentices, instead of best workmen, were generally employed in printing the
sacred Word of God." Mrs Anderson made a most tyrannical use of her powers,
and prosecuted every printer who dared to exercise his trade. Messrs Reid of
Edinburgh, Saunders of Glasgow, and Forbes of Aberdeen, were among those who
suffered most; for, in addition to having their printing offices closed,
they were subjected to fines and imprisonment. The popular indignation was
at length excited by the restrictions to which the printers were subjected,
and the result was that Mrs Anderson's privileges were first curtailed, and
ultimately annulled. In the year 1700 some pamphlets reflecting on the
Government were printed in Edinburgh, and the result was that all the
printers in the city were summoned before the Privy Council, and two of them
were sent to prison. An engraving offensive to Government was executed about
the same time, and the artist and a person who assisted him were tried for
high treason. The engraving represented Caledonia in the figure of a woman
from whose mouth issued the words, " Take courage, and act as men that hold
their liberty as well as their glory dear." Caledonia was supported by the
minority in Parliament, numbering eighty-four members; and in the lower part
of the picture, an angel armed with thunderbolts was driving to perdition a
large number of men who were understood to represent the majority in
Parliament, The Lords found the libel not relevant to infer treason, but
relevant to infer an arbitrary punishment.
Though the art of printing
was introduced into Scotland three hundred and sixty years ago, it did not
assume importance as a branch of industry until about the middle of last
century. In Arnot's "History of Edinburgh," an interesting account is given
of the rise and progress of printing in Scotland; and from that source some
of the facts stated have been drawn. Referring to the state of the trade at
the time he wrote (1779), Arnot says:—"Till within these forty years, the
printing of newspapers and of school-books, of the fanatic effusions of
Presbyterian clergymen, and the law papers of the Court of Session, joined
to the patent bible printing, gave a scanty employment to four printing
houses. Such, however, has been the increase of this trade by the reprinting
of English books not protected by the statute concerning literary property,
by the additional number of authors, and many lesser causes, that there are
now no fewer than twenty-seven printing offices in Edinburgh. It must be
confessed, however, that printing at Edinburgh is not, in general, so well
executed as in London, and that it is far inferior to the workmanship of the
Messrs Foulis, of Glasgow, which, indeed, would do honour to the press of
any country." Printing had been introduced into Glasgow in 1630 by George
Anderson, who was succeeded by Robert Saunders in 1661. The whole printing
business of the west of Scotland (except a newspaper published in Glasgow)
was carried on by Mr Saunders and his son till about 1730, when the art was
improved, and the trade extended by Robert Urie. In 1740, Robert Foulis
began printing in Glasgow, and introduced a style of work which excelled in
beauty and correctness. In company with a brother, Mr Foulis printed a
series of classical works, which were much esteemed for the accuracy and
beauty of their typography. An edition of Horace, printed in 1744, is
especially famous for its correctness, which was brought about by Mr Foulis
sending proof-sheets to the College, and offering a reward for the discovery
of errors.
The first newspaper in
Scotland was printed—at Leith, it is supposed—on the 5th August 1651. This
was the "Mercurius Scoticus, or a true character of affairs in England,
Ireland, Scotland, and other forraign parts, collected for publique
satisfaction." It was published weekly, and contained eight small pages of
print. Apparently the "Mercury" did not pay, for next year it was superseded
by a reprint of a London newspaper, entitled, "A Diurnal of some passages
and affairs." One year marked the period of the existence of this second
publication; and then appeared the "Mercurius Politicus, comprising the sum
of intelligence with the affairs and designs now on foot in the three
nations of England, Ireland, and Scotland, in defence of the commonwealth,
and for information of the people. Ita vertere seria. Printed in London, and
reprinted in Leith." An edition of this paper began to be printed in
Edinburgh in 1655, and that was the first newspaper published in the city.
Five years afterwards the paper was declared to be "published by order of
Parliament," and was then printed by Christopher Higgins, in Hart's Close,
opposite the Tron Church. In 1661, Mr Thomas Sydserf, son of the Bishop of
Orkney, began the publication in Edinburgh of the Mercurius Caledonius,'
comprising the affairs now in agitation in Scotland, with a survey of
foreign intelligence." This also was a weekly journal, but it ceased to
appear at the end of three months. Notwithstanding the evil fortune that
seemed to wait on the projectors of newspapers thus far, the attempt to
establish a paper in Scotland was not abandoned. The "Mercurius Caledonius"
was succeeded by "The Kingdoms Intelligencer, of the affairs now in
agitation in Scotland, England, and Ireland; together with forraign
intelligence. To prevent false news. Published by authority." This journal
enjoyed a longer existence than all its predecessors united. The "Edinburgh
Gazette," an official paper, published by authority, was established in 1699
by James Watson; and a few years later the "Scots Postman," a thrice a-week
journal, was started.
In the west of Scotland the
first newspaper published was the "Glasgow Courant," which was started in
November 1715. It issued from the printing-office in the College. There was
no stamp- duty at the time the "Courant" began its career, and the price of
the paper was exceedingly low, being to subscribers one penny per copy, and
to non-subscribers three-halfpence. This pioneer journal of the west did not
survive beyond a few years. Prior to 1813, thirteen distinct newspapers had
been set going in Glasgow, but by that year eight had ceased to exist. Among
the extinct journals were two bearing the patriotic titles of the
"Caledonian" and the "Scotchman." The "Journal" was started in 1729. The
"Herald," which has been the most successful of the Glasgow newspapers, was
begun in 1783, and up till 1803 bore the title of "Advertiser." In 1815,
when the " Herald " was published twice a-week, the circulation was about
1100 copies. The price was 7d.-3d. for the paper and 4d. of duty. It was
thought a wonderful thing that the edition of the paper containing an
official announcement of the battle of Waterloo attained a sale of 2122
copies. The number of copies of newspapers of all kinds printed in Glasgow
in 1815 was 373,718.
The progress of the newspaper
press subsequent to the abolition of the stamp, paper, and advertisement
duties has been very great. In 1851 there were in existence in the United
Kingdom 563 journals, classified as follows:—Liberal, 231; Conservative,
174; neutral and class papers, 158. In 1868 the number of journals had
increased to 1324, of which 85 were published daily. The newspapers were
distributed thus:—In England and Wales, 1133; in Scotland, 132; in Ireland,
124; and in the British Isles, 15. Eleven daily papers were published in
Scotland. Of these Edinburgh had 3; Glasgow, 4; and Dundee and Greenock, 2
each. Of the 132 newspapers in Scotland, only 5 were in existence at the
beginning of this century, and 75 of them have been started since the year
1850. Of the extinct newspapers which were at one time prominent may be
mentioned the "Edinburgh Advertiser"—established in 1764 by Mr James
Donaldson, who accumulated a large fortune in the printing and publishing
business; and when he died, in 1830, left L.200,000 for the endowment of an
hospital, which is one of the chief ornaments of Edinburgh. The publication
of the paper ceased eight or nine years ago. The "Edinburgh Weekly Journal,"
which expired about twenty years ago, had a thriving existence for many
years. The oldest existing paper is the "Edinburgh Gazette," which was
started, as above stated, in 1699. Next comes the "Evening Courant," the
publication of which was sanctioned by the Town Council of Edinburgh in
1718. Two newspapers bearing the name "Courant" had previously been issued,
but they had but a brief existence. In 1720 the "Caledonian Mercury" (now
incorporated with the "Scotsman") was started. The "Aberdeen Journal" dates
from 1748; the "Kelso Mail" from 1797; and the "Greenock Advertiser " from
1799. The Scotch newspapers are well dispersed over the country, from
Kirkwall to Kirkcudbright, and there are only two or three counties in which
a journal of some kind is not published. A few of the old-established county
papers have enjoyed for many years a run of uninterrupted prosperity; but
some of the less important have had a somewhat chequered career. Of the
papers now published, five only were in existence fifty years ago, and the
first daily paper was issued so recently as 1847. The "Scotsman" was
established in 1817, and became a daily paper in 1855.
About the year 1730 the
"Gentleman's Magazine" and the "London Magazine" began to acquire
considerable circulation in Scotland, and an Edinburgh publishing firm
bethought them that some home-manufactured literature of that sort might be
acceptable. In 1739 they gave form to that idea, and issued the first number
of the "Scots Magazine," which had a favourable reception, and continued for
many years the sole representative of magazine literature in Scotland. A
collection of essays and extracts from newspapers was started by Mr Walter
Ruddiman of Edinburgh in 1768, under the title of "The Weekly Magazine."
This publication was the subject of an action raised to prove that it was a
newspaper, and therefore liable to stamp-duty; and as the verdict went
against it, the news part was separated from the miscellany, and Mr Ruddiman
continued for a number of years to issue them as distinct publications. In
Glasgow numerous attempts were made in the end of last century to establish
a magazine, but the people were too much engrossed with commercial and
manufacturing pursuits to have much taste or leisure for the perusal of
literary trifles, and the attempts failed. Several publishers devoted
themselves to issuing Bibles and other religious books in parts, at sixpence
or a shilling each; and an extensive trade was done, and is still being
done, in that way in the metropolis of the west. About fifty years ago
L.45,000 worth of books of this kind were disposed of annually by Scotch
firms. A new era dawned on the literature of the country in 1802, when the
"Edinburgh Review" made its appearance, and struck terror into the whole
body of poets, essayists, and book-makers. The subtle analysis, the profound
learning, and the scathing sarcasm of the Reviewers, set them far above all
the magazine writers of the time; and they were respected or feared
throughout the whole domain of literature. Who they were few persons knew
for a time, because, for obvious reasons, their names were kept profoundly
secret; and, in order to avoid suspicion, they reached their rendezvous at
Mr Constable's office in Craig's Close by various routes. Of their number
were Francis Jeffrey, Sidney Smith, Francis Homer, and Henry Brougham. These
names, apart from other associations, will live long in the annals of
Scottish literature as those of the founders of a most wholesome form of
press censorship. The "Review" was the first of the great critical
periodicals which form a distinguishing feature of the literature of the
nineteenth century, and has had many imitators, but few equals. The next
periodical publication of mark produced in Scotland was "Blackwood's
Magazine," which was begun in 1817 by William Blackwood, who found able
coadjutors in John Gibson Lockhart and John Wilson. The magazine has had a
most successful career, and has been the vehicle by which many men of note
in literature have risen to fame. Several high-class magazines were
established in England on the model of "Blackwood,"—indeed, it may he said
to be the parent of most of what is really worth among the monthlies.
Something was wanted, however, after the magazines to which we have referred
were set on foot, as the high price at which they were sold put them out of
the reach of the great body of the people, and a thirst for knowledge had
been awakened in the masses by the extension of education and a more general
diffusion of books. The want was liberally supplied by the appearance in
Scotland in 1832 of "Chambers's Edinburgh Journal," and in London of the
"Penny Magazine," the latter published by the Society for the Diffusion of
Useful Knowledge. It would be almost impossible to overestimate the effect
which these publications, issued at an unprecedentedly low price, and full
of pleasantly written papers of a miscellaneous kind, had in elevating the
tastes and extending the knowledge of the masses. Messrs W. & R. Chambers
have, besides the "Journal," made many contributions to the popular
literature of the country, their last great work being one of the fullest,
most accurate, and most handy of encyclopedias yet produced. The periodical
publications of the magazine order printed in Scotland are nearly forty in
number, and a large portion of these are produced in Edinburgh. This would
appear to indicate that the city is a sort of gold- mine for litterateurs;
and, for the benefit of persons at a distance, it may be well to state that
at least three-fourths of the magazines are trivial productions of the
ecclesiastical type, or of the kind supplied to Sunday-School children in
order to awaken their sympathies for the heathen in foreign lands. Much of
the contents are contributions of love; and, if we make one or two
exceptions, such as "Blackwood's Magazine" and the "North British Review,"
the amount paid for the literary work of the periodicals, other than
newspapers, published in Scotland is exceedingly small.
Printing and its allied
trades constitute the staple industry of Edinburgh; and in Glasgow and
elsewhere throughout Scotland they afford employment to a large number of
persons. Though Scotch printers enjoyed a degree of prosperity towards the
close of last century, it was not until Mr Ballantyne of Kelso published
Scott's "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border" that any decided attempt was
made to improve the style of book printing. The work referred to was printed
from a beautiful new type in the most careful manner, and when it appeared
those connected with the metropolitan press could not gainsay the fact that
a provincial publisher had produced work infinitely superior to anything
they had achieved. There was a general shaking of the dry bones, and a
search after better things was begun. Improvements in the form of type and
in the mechanism of the press were introduced, and the work now executed in
Edinburgh will bear comparison with that of any country in the world. Mr
Archibald Constable, the first publisher of the "Edinburgh Review," and of
the poems and novels of Sir Walter Scott, did much to improve the trade.
The greatest work issued from
the Scotch press is the "Encyclo'media Britannica," the eighth edition of
which was published a few years ago. The "Encyclopaedia" was first published
in 1771, by Mr William Smellie, a printer and man of letters. Messrs A. & C.
Black hold the copyright, and have issued the later editions. Another great
work was the "Edinburgh Encyclopedia," edited by the late Sir David
Brewster.
The following are the more
prominent publishing firms in the city, together with the kinds of work in
which they are chiefly engaged :—Messrs Bell & Bradfute, law books; Messrs
A. & C. Black, miscellaneous literature; Messrs W. Blackwood & Sons, the
same; Messrs W. & R. Chambers, periodicals and educational treatises; Messrs
T. & T. Clark, law books and translations of eminent theological treatises;
Messrs Edmonston & Douglas, miscellaneous literature and fiction; Messrs
Fullarton & Co., works issued in numbers; Messrs Gall & Inglis, religious
publications; Messrs Maclachlan & Stewart, medical treatises; Messrs Nelson
and Sons, cheap works of a popular and useful kind; Messrs Oliphant and Co.,
religious publications; Messrs Oliver and Boyd, juvenile and school books;
and Messrs W. P. Nimmo, J. Maclaren, Grant and Son, and J. Nichol,
miscellaneous literature.
There are a number of
extensive printing offices not directly connected with publishing houses,
but doing work for them. Of such offices the most extensive are those of
Messrs Ballantyne and Co., R. Clark, T. Constable, Murray & Gibb, and Neill
& Co. The last-named firm is the oldest in the city, having begun business
in 1749. They have printed many important works, chief among which is the
latest edition of the "Encyclopaadia Britannica." Messrs Neill & Co. have
printed the "Acts of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland" for
upwards of a century, and the "Transactions of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh" since the foundation of the Society in 1789.
There are engraving and
lithographic departments in connection with some of the more extensive
publishing houses. Of the engraving and lithographing establishments
conducted as separate undertakings, that of Messrs W. & A. K. Johnston
occupies the foremost place. Messrs Johnston enjoy a world-wide fame for
their geographical works, but in addition to these they produce every
species of commercial work, from the designing and engraving of bank-notes
to the printing of ordinary circular letters. Messrs Schenck & Macfarlane
are well known by their lithographic portraiture works, and Messrs Banks and
Co. for their pictorial and fancy-work and commercial engraving. Bookbinding
is in like manner conducted both in connection with and distinct from the
publishing houses. In this line, Messrs Seton and Mackenzie and Mr G.
Macdonald are the principal. Then there are typefounders, die-cutters, &c.,
without whose assistance the trades above enumerated could not be carried
on. Including all the branches of business directly connected with and
dependent upon the printing trade, no fewer than 10,000 persons are employed
in Scotland, and of these fully one half are in Edinburgh.
Taking printing, publishing,
and bookbinding together, the most extensive house in Scotland is that of
Messrs T. Nelson & Sons, Hope Park, Edinburgh. The firm began business in
the locality occupied by their present establishment nearly a quarter of a
century ago, and they have had a most prosperous career. About fifteen years
ago they built a range of new offices on a scale surpassing any similar
place of business in the city; and since that time they have found it
necessary to extend the buildings in various directions. The main part of
the premises consists of three conjoined blocks, of neat design, forming as
many sides of a square. A portion of the ground in the square is laid out as
an ornamental grass plot, and on the remainder a new machine-room was
recently erected. There are three floors in the main buildings, and these
are appropriated to various branches of the business. In all its
appointments the establishment is most complete. Machinery is used wherever
it can be made available; and by means of that and a well-organised system
of division of labour, the amount of work turned out is wonderful.
The letterpress department
embraces a spacious composing-room, a splendidly fitted-up machine-room, a
press-room, and a stereotype foundry. As large numbers of most of the works
are thrown off, it is usual to print from stereotype plates. The art of
stereotyping is one that has tended much to lessen the cost of producing
books; and, indeed, it would be almost impossible for a trade such as that
of Messrs Nelson to be carried on without it. After the types are finally
arranged by the compositors, the pages are removed to the foundry and a cast
is taken off them. The types may then be taken down and used in other work.
The casts thus made are printed from, and if there is a likelihood of
additional copies of the work being required, the plates are preserved, and
may be arranged and printed from on the briefest notice. But for this
process of casting from the types, printers would either have to keep the
types standing or re-set them when further supplies of a work were wanted.
Besides what has been stated, certain technical advantages are got by
stereotyping. The process, which was invented in the beginning of last
century by Mr William Ged, a goldsmith in Edinburgh, has been brought to
great perfection in the place of its birth, and is now universally
practised. In the machine and press-room of the letterpress department
Messrs Nelson have nineteen machines and seventeen presses at work. Immense
quantities of children's books are produced, and a number of machines are
kept constantly employed upon these. In many cases the pictures are printed
in colours, and the neatness and expedition with which that kind of work is
executed excite the admiration of all visitors. From the machine-room the
sheets are taken to the drying-room, where they are hung up in layers on
screens, which, when filled, are run into a hot-air chamber, where the ink
is thoroughly dried in the course of six or eight hours.
The bookbinding department
occupies several large rooms, and employs fully two-thirds of the whole
workpeople in the establishment. It is furnished in the most complete manner
with machines for performing a great variety of operations; and yet a large
amount of hand-labour is indispensable. When the sheets are brought from the
drying-room, they are taken charge of by young women, who fold them up with
great expedition. Several machines have been invented with the view of
superseding hand-labour in folding, and two varieties are here at work; but
they are only suited for the coarser kinds of work. A staff of girls take
the folded sheets and arrange them in order for binding The sheets of each
volume are then squeezed in a powerful press, which makes them quite
compact. The notches for the binding cords are cut at a machine, and the
work is then passed to the sewers. These are young women, who sit at
benches, and use their needles with surprising deftness. Before they are
ready for the cases the books are passed through several other hands.
Meanwhile, the case-makers are busy preparing the cases. In connection with
this department is a cloth dyeing and embossing branch, where the
beautifully coloured and embossed binding cloths are prepared. The coloured
and enamelled papers for the insides of the boards of books are also made on
the premises. The case-makers are divided into half-a-dozen sections, each
performing a certain part of the work. After the pasteboard and cloth are
cut to the required size, one girl spreads some glue on the cloth, a second
lays the boards on the proper place, a third tucks in the cloth all round,
and a fourth smooths off the work. When the cases have been dried they are
taken to the embossers, who put on the ornamental work. The stamping-presses
have the dies fixed to a plate of metal kept hot by a series of gas jets.
When gold is employed in decorating the cases, and in the titles, gold-leaf
is laid on the parts before the work is put into the stamping-presses. All
that now remains to be clone is to fix the books in the cases, and send them
into the warehouse, where they are packed up and despatched to all corners
of the world, but chiefly to London and New York, where the firm have branch
establishments.
The lithographic department
is on a scale commensurate with the other sections of the establishment. It
occupies a number of large rooms, in which sixteen machines and presses are
constantly employed. The principal productions of the lithographers are
maps, book illustrations, coloured cards, and those beautiful little views
of places of interest which Messrs Nelson have helped to make popular. Among
the artists who execute the preliminary parts of the work for the
lithographers, and the engravings for the other departments, are
photographers, draughtsmen, steel, copper, and wood engravers, and
electrotypers. By a process patented by Messrs Nelson jointly with Mr Ramage,
a drawing or print may be converted into an engraving suitable for printing
from by the action of light, and the engravings, either for copperplate or
letterpress printing, may be multiplied and made larger or smaller at will.
The artists are very prolific, and is proved by the fact that, in addition
to innumerable plates, the store-room contains no fewer than 50,000 woodcuts
and electrotypes, many of which are of high artistic merit. Much that would
be interesting might be written about this great establishment, and
especially about the artists and their operations; but it must suffice here
to say that the work produced is equal to any done in London or on the
Continent.
Messrs Nelson employ 440
workpeople, about one half of whom are young women. All the inks and
varnishes used are manufactured on the premises.
The newspaper department of
the printing and publishing trade has, as already indicated, undergone many
changes, and in recent years has been developed to a wonderful extent. The
"Scotsman" is the leading journal in Scotland; indeed, it may be truly said
that there is no newspaper out of London, and only one or two in it, which
has such a widely felt influence, or which is conducted with so much energy
and enterprise. It is becoming, then, that it should receive more than a
passing notice in a record of this kind.
During the early years of
this century the Scotch newspapers were conducted in the most servile and
truckling spirit, the chief care of the editors being apparently to avoid
giving offence in high quarters. Abuses of the most flagrant kind were
rampant, and no journalist was found valiant enough to denounce them. About
the year 1816 the late Mr William Ritchie, S.S.C.—a younger brother of Mr
John Ritchie, the venerable head of the present firm of Messrs John Ritchie
& Co.—at the request of some friends and clients, drew up a statement
regarding the mismanagement of the Royal Infirmary; but no newspaper would
undertake to publish the document. This and similar incidents suggested to
Mr Ritchie and others the great need for some free organ of public opinion
in Scotland. The idea of establishing a weekly newspaper of independent
principles first occurred to the late Messrs Charles Maclaren and John
Robertson. They consulted Mr Ritchie on the matter, and that gentleman
entered warmly into their proposals. He suggested that the title of the new
journal should be "The Scotsman," drew up the prospectus, and, in the words
of one of his partners, "by his exertions and personal influence contributed
more than any other individual to establish the paper." Mr Maclaren
undertook the editorship, in which he was soon afterwards joined by the late
Mr John Ramsay M`Culloch. The following extract from a memoir of Mr Maclaren,
which appeared in the " Scotsman" at his death, illustrates the spirit of
the time when the first independent newspaper in Scotland was founded:—"
Very few persons can now form any adequate idea of the magnitude of the work
which in 1817 Charles Maclaren set himself to do, and how much of it he
did—for very few persons are now alive who remember what Scotland and
Edinburgh were, politically and socially, half a century ago. Corruption and
arrogance were the characteristics of the party in power—in power in a sense
of which in these days we know nothing; a cowering fear covered all the
rest. The people of Scotland were absolutely without voice either in vote or
speech. Parliamentary elections, municipal government, the management of
public bodies—everything was in the hands of a few hundreds of persons. In
Edinburgh, for instance—and the capital was even too favourable an
instance—the member of Parliament was elected and the government of the city
carried on by thirty-two persons, and almost all these thirty-two took their
directions from the Government of the day, or its proconsul. Public meetings
were almost unknown, and a free press may be said to have never had an
existence."
The first number of the
"Scotsman" was published on 25th January 1817. It consisted of eight pages
of less than half the size of the present page, and the price was 10d.-6d.
for the paper and 4d. of stamp-duty. From the latest news columns of the
first number, some idea of the time occupied in the transmission of news in
those days may be gleaned. The latest from London was January 22; from
Paris, January 15; and from New York, December 15. The projectors for a long
time declined any advertisements of a miscellaneous kind, opening their
columns only to announcements of new books and other literary
advertisements. The hold which the new journal had obtained on popular
favour induced the proprietors to begin, in 1823, to publish it twice
a-week, at the price of 7d. In 1831, the broadsheet form was adopted, and in
1837, when the stamp-duty was reduced to 1d., the price of the paper was
lowered to 4d. The size of the sheet was enlarged from time to time, until
it reached the fullest dimensions that could be conveniently used for a
four-page newspaper. When the stamp-duty was abolished, daily newspapers
were established in all the great cities of the empire, and the proprietors
of the " Scotsman" began a daily issue on the first day of the new order of
things in the year 1855, continuing at the same time the bi-weekly
publication. The "Daily Scotsman" was at the outset a tiny sheet, but the
public took kindly to it, and the first of a succession of enlargements was
made in a month or two after starting. To the daily and bi-weekly editions,
a weekly publication, composed of selections from the others, was added in
1860. A few years ago the bi-weekly paper was merged into the daily edition,
which most of the subscribers had come to prefer. In its various forms the
"Scotsman" has enjoyed a most gratifying run of prosperity.
About eight years ago the
offices of the "Scotsman" were re-moved from the High Street, where they had
long been situated, to a range of new and specially constructed buildings
having a frontage towards Cockburn Street. No expense has been spared to
make the establishment complete in all its appointments. The front block
contains five floors. On the street floor is the publishing office, where
orders for papers are taken in, and the answers to numbered advertisements
received and distributed. This department is under the charge of a staff of
female clerks. The floor above is occupied by the counting-room and
manager's room. The paper contains from five hundred to fifteen hundred
advertisements daily; and in receiving and entering these, and performing
the other work of the department, about a dozen clerks are engaged. Over the
counting- room are the editorial apartments, a fine suite of eight rooms,
opening off a large corridor, and all are fitted with speaking-tubes and
bells, which enable the occupiers to communicate with any department of the
establishment. There is also in each room a copy-shoot or elevator of
ingenious construction, which dispenses with the tormenting visits of the
printer's imp. The "copy" is dropped into a small case, which, by pulling a
cord, is made to ascend to the composing-room. In the editorial and
reporting departments, about a dozen persons (exclusive of the London and
provincial reporting staff) are employed. One of the rooms is set apart as a
telegraph office, the establishment being in direct communication with
London by means of a special wire. Ascending to another floor, the
composing-room is entered. It is a well-lighted and well-ventilated
apartment, 150 feet in length, by 30 feet in breadth. Three rooms for the
"readers" are screened off at one end, and at the other there are a
lavatory, cloak-room, and smoking-room for the use of the workmen. About
ninety persons are employed in the typographical department. Adjoining the
composing-room is the stereotype foundry, in which casts of the types are
taken for printing from. A library, containing several thousand volumes, is
attached to the composing- room, and all persons employed on the premises
have free access thereto.
Behind the street and
counting-room floors of the front block are the machine-rooms, two spacious
apartments, measuring together 80 feet in length, by 40 feet in breadth, and
25 feet in height. In the principal room are two of Hoe's rotary
printing-machines, capable of throwing off about 20,000 sheets an hour;
while the other room is occupied by seven of Livesey's folding-machines,
each capable of disposing of 2000 sheets an hour. As a provision against
accidents, there are two sets of engines and boilers, each being of 15
horsepower. There is also a small printing-machine by Brown of Kirkcaldy,
which is used for printing the bill of contents. Adjoining the machine-room
is the paper wetting-room. Before being printed the paper is slightly
moistened with water. The wetting used to be done by hand, and was a tedious
and unpleasant job, especially in the winter season; but about eight years
ago Mr Scott, chief of the "Scotsman's" machine department, invented a
damping-machine, which effects a great saving of labour, and is now employed
in many of the principal newspaper offices throughout Great Britain. Over
the folding machine-room is the despatching-room, a large hall, the fittings
of which are a compound between a post-office and a railway ticket office.
Here the supplies to the country agents are made up and sent out, and the
demands of local news-vendors are attended to. Several rooms, in addition to
those mentioned, are associated with the machine department, and used for
various purposes; and on the east side of Anchor Close is an extensive paper
and ink store.
This brief description of the
"Scotsman" establishment may suffice to convey an idea of the extent and
organisation of the place; but in order that the reader may comprehend how a
daily paper is produced, it will be necessary to describe the operations
carried on in the various departments. Within an hour or two of the time
that the last batch of papers leaves the despatching-room, preparations are
in progress in other departments for the production of next day's issue.'
The counting-room is opened at nine o'clock, and from that time till it
closes at nine o'clock' there is a constant influx of persons leaving
advertisements or making inquiries respecting advertisements and other
matters. Representatives of the editorial and reporting corps drop in about
ten, while the day brigade of the composing staff are at their posts before
that time. A good deal of duty is done in the course of the day; but it is
at eight o'clock, when a fresh set of officials go into harness, that the
hardest work for next day's paper begins; though an hour before that time
the telegraph clerk has been at his post, and has already "taken off" a
quantity of " special " news. The evening delivery of letters brings scores
of epistles from correspondents, and all the late railway trains fetch fresh
bundles of news. The force of country correspondents numbers fully two
hundred, and embraces men engaged in nearly as many different occupations.
Many public meetings and gatherings of a social kind are held in the
evening, and these have to be looked after by reporters. Extraordinary
efforts are made to undertake important evening meetings held in distant
towns; and it is no unusual thing to engage a special train or steamer to
bring home the reporters. Telegraphing is also resorted to freely, and it is
very rarely that events of interest occurring in any part of Scotland are
not to be found recorded in the paper of the day following that on which
they occurred. In all the great towns of England correspondents are engaged;
and in London there are a staff of reporters and a sub-editor. Even in New
York the paper is represented, and special telegrams from that city have
appeared on several occasions. The arrangements with the telegraph companies
for the supply of foreign news are most complete. With this vast
organisation for collecting news at command, the "Scotsman" daily presents
not only a complete record of current events in Scotland, but each copy may
be said to be an epitome of the world's history for a day.
The work of preparing the
chief part of the copy begins, as stated, about eight o'clock in the
evening; and from the shoots communicating with the composing-room a
constant stream of copy flows to the desk of the foreman printer, who
divides it into portions of about twenty lines each. One of these portions
constitutes "a copy," or the supply given to one compositor at a time. The
compositors usually "set up" about two "takes," or copies, in an hour. As
the " matter " is set, proofs are printed, which the readers go over
carefully in comparison with the copy, and mark mistakes on the margins.
After the types have been altered according to the first proof; a second
impression, or "revise," is taken, and again gone over. Towards midnight,
the "up-making" begins. The types are arranged into columns, and the columns
into pages; and as each page is ready it is removed to the stereotyping
foundry, where a metal cast of it is taken. As it is desirable that the
pages should be kept open as long as possible, little time is allowed for
stereotyping. By a set of peculiar contrivances, the work is accomplished at
the rate of one page in twenty minutes. The stereotypers begin by laying the
page of type on a metal slab, and spreading a sheet of pulpy paper about
one-tenth of an inch thick upon the face of it. The types and paper are then
placed under a press on an iron table, heated by a flue, and subjected to
pressure for a few minutes. In that way a matrix or mould of the face of the
types is obtained. The mould is laid on a slab of iron curved to represent
an arc of the circumference of the main cylinders of the printing-machines.
A convex piece of metal folds down over the concave plate, leaving a quarter
of an inch of space between. Into that space molten type metal is poured,
and in a few seconds the mould is opened and the plate withdrawn. The latter
is of course equal in thickness to the space between the two parts of the
mould, and bears on its convex side an exact copy of the face of the types.
Each plate as it is cast is planed round the edges, and has the larger black
spaces pared down to prevent "blurrs."
In the case of an eight-page
paper like the "Scotsman," each sheet has to go through the Hoe machine
twice, four pages being printed at a time. Things are so arranged that the
pages first printed are the first, fourth, fifth, and eighth, which occupy
what is called the outside of the sheet, and usually contain advertisements
and other matter that can be got ready early. Between one and two o'clock
the printing of the first side of the sheets is begun; and at half-past four
the plates for the second side must be on the machines and all ready to
start. Nice calculation is required to have everything finished at the time
stated, and during the last hour or so the minutes become more valuable, and
are apportioned with great exactness to the work in hand. At five minutes to
four o'clock thirty or forty compositors may be engaged with as many pages
of a late report, and in twenty minutes after a cast from the types is on
its way to the machine-room. A minute or two suffices for fixing the plates.
The driving-belt is then turned on, and with a thundering noise the
cylinders spin round, and the papers come forth from one machine alone at
the rate of 200 a-minute. The folding machines are now got into action, and
a scene of bustle and activity prevails. As the papers are folded they are
raised by a steam-elevator to the despatching-room, where those which are to
go by post are put into wrappers with the addresses ready printed upon them,
while those for the country agents are made up in bundles and labelled.
Shortly before five o'clock, newsboys and messengers of news-agents crowd to
the despatching-room, to take part in the ballot which determines the order
in which they are to be supplied. At five o'clock, the copies sent by post
are despatched in large bags to the Post Office. The chief despatcher and
his twelve assistants then apply themselves with such surprising vigour to
the making up and forwarding of the country parcels for the six o'clock
trains, that the papers are always cleared off within a few minutes of the
time they leave the folding machines. The supply of the town agents—several
hundreds in number—is generally completed about six o'clock, and fully 500
parcels for country agents have been counted, checked, made up, and
despatched by half-past six, when the publication is generally completed.
The whole work, therefore, of printing, folding, and despatching the
ordinary daily impression of the " Scotsman," about 30,000 copies, is
completed in about two hours; and so carefully do the arrangements fit into
each other, that no parcel ever fails to get off by the proper train. As an
instance of the minute arrangements necessary to guard against the
possibility of error, it may be mentioned that the labels on which the
addresses of the country news-agents are printed are divided into groups
differently coloured, each colour representing the branch line of railway by
which the parcel is to be carried—a distinction necessary to prevent the
occasional despatch of a parcel by a wrong train, and facilitating the work
of the porters, who do not require even to read the address to ascertain how
the parcel is to be sent.
To the above brief outline of
the organisation and working of the "Scotsman" establishment may be added a
few statistics. Including all departments, nearly 200 persons are employed
on the premises; and if to these be added paid contributors and others, the
number of persons receiving remuneration for their services will be swelled
to fully 500, who obtain among them L.17,000 a-year. Of the daily issue of
the paper 180,000 copies are printed every week, and of the weekly issue
60,000 copies, which give a circulation of 240,000 a-week, or 12,480,000
a-year. The annual production would, if spread out, cover seven square miles
of ground; or, if the sheets were placed end to end, they would form a
ribbon 10,625 miles long and 4 feet broad. The quantity of paper used
considerably exceeds the entire produce of an ordinary paper-mill. Another
fact also worthy of mention is, that one copy of the paper contains nearly
as much print as a three-volume novel, got up in the usual style, and sold
at the fashionable price of 31s. 6d. |
