The Press and the People

Cheap Print and Society in Scotland, 1500-1785

Adam Fox

Provides the first full-length study of the popular literature that circulated in Scotland before the Industrial Revolution
Discovers for the first time just how much cheap print was produced in early modern Scotland, despite the fact that most of it has been lost
Transforms our understanding of the extent and nature of popular print in early modern Scotland
Enables the reader to consider both the similarities and differences between English and Scottish culture across the early modern period
Surveys the whole 'early modern' period from the early sixteenth to the late eighteenth centuries

The Press and the People

Cheap Print and Society in Scotland, 1500-1785

Adam Fox

Description

The Press and the People is the first full-length study of cheap print in early modern Scotland. It traces the production and distribution of ephemeral publications from the nation's first presses in the early sixteenth century through to the age of Burns in the late eighteenth. It explores the development of the Scottish book trade in general and the production of slight and popular texts in particular. Focusing on the means by which these works reached a wide audience, it illuminates the nature of their circulation in both urban and rural contexts. Specific chapters examine single-sheet imprints such as ballads and gallows speeches, newssheets and advertisements, as well as the little pamphlets that contained almanacs and devotional works, stories and songs. The book demonstrates just how much more of this literature was once printed than now survives and argues that Scotland had a much larger market for such material than has been appreciated. By illustrating the ways in which Scottish printers combined well-known titles from England with a distinctive repertoire of their own, The Press and the People transforms our understanding of popular literature in early modern Scotland and its contribution to British culture more widely.

The Press and the People

Cheap Print and Society in Scotland, 1500-1785

Adam Fox

Introduction
Part I: Establishing the Market
1. Creating a Reading Public
2. The Edinburgh Book Trade and Vernacular Literature, 1500-1660
3. The Edinburgh Book Trade and Popular Wares, 1660-1785
4. The Book Trade in Aberdeen, Glasgow, and the Smaller Burghs to 1785
5. Street Literature
Part II: Varieties of Cheap Print
6. Handbills and Placards
7. Last Words and Dying Speeches
8. Ballads and Songs
9. Almanacs and Prognostications
10. Little Pamphlets and Story Books
Conclusion

The Press and the People

Cheap Print and Society in Scotland, 1500-1785

Adam Fox

Author Information

Adam Fox, Professor of Social History, University of Edinburgh

Adam Fox is Professor of Social History at the University of Edinburgh, where he has taught since 1994. His works include the prize-winning Oral and Literate Culture in England 1500-1700 (Oxford University Press, 2000).

The Press and the People

Cheap Print and Society in Scotland, 1500-1785

Adam Fox

Reviews and Awards

Shortlisted for the 2020 DeLong Book History Prize

"Whatever conclusions readers draw from this carefully researched study, they will be indebted to Adam Fox for opening up rich new seams of material and proposing new possibilities for a fuller understanding of Scottish society and culture in the pre-modern age." -- Professor Laura A.M. Stewart, University of York, Reviews in History

"Every now and then, a work on book history comes along and it gently, insistently and with wonderful erudition resets our thinking on a fascinating subject...What the reader gets from this really enjoyable and scholarly work is not only an excellent history of cheap print in Scotland, but a source book for further detailed research." -- John Scally, Journal of the Edinburgh Bibliographical Society

"This is an excellent book, and it has set the benchmark for all future investigations of early modern Scottish print culture." -- Ben Rogers, University College, Dublin, Scottish Church History

"Adam Fox's The Press & the People -- that is, the printing press and the people of Scotland -- is certain to remain the standard work on the subject for the foreseeable future ... one can only admire the comprehensiveness of the author's achievement. It will remain an essential work for students of street literature and cheap print." -- David Atkinson, Folk Music Journal

"The Press and the People is a robust exploration of cheap print's creation and function in early modern Scotland, and the abundance of new evidence and insight Fox provides makes it a must-read for anyone interested in the period." -- Laura Doak, History Scotland

"... a significant contribution to the history of the press in Scotland." -- Alastair Mann, Scottish Historical Review

"The book's overall contribution is immense, presenting a radically original picture of print material that Scots had access to and were reading in this period, and showing how widespread print was in Scottish life. The sheer quantity of examples discussed is astonishing. This book deserves to be read by anyone interested in Scottish print, reading, or cultural history in the sixteenth, seventeenth, or eighteenth centuries." -- Vivienne Dunstan, University of Dundee, Eighteenth-Century Scotland