"It is the public, not the private world of book dissemination that is examined. Emphasis is placed more on supply than on demand. It is shown that the unique qualities of the printed book, with its blend of commerce and technology on the one hand, and intellect and ideology on the other, ensured that authority - burghs, church, government (crown and executive) and law courts - reacted with a complex response of liberty and prohibition. So it was for all nations experiencing the arrival of printing, but Scotland had its own particular range of dynamics, a distinct Scottish tradition."--BOOK JACKET.

This volume examines the Scottish book trade from c.1500 to c.1720, looking at booksellers, bookbinders, stationers and printers and their relationship to the forces of authority. The scale of the Scottish book trade in this period was surprisingly large, consisting of over 150 printers and over 400 booksellers, but its rate of growth was not constant as it was buffeted by the winds of economic and political circumstances. It is the public, not private world of book dissemination that is examined. Emphsis is placed more on supply than on demand. It is shown that the unique qualities of the printed book, with its blend of commerce and technology on the one hand, and intellect and ideology on the other, ensured that authority - burghs, church, governemt (crown and executive) and law courts - reacted with a complex response of liberty and prohibition. So it was for all nations experiencing the arrival of printing, but Scotland had its own particular range of dynamics, a distinct Scottish tradition.

This study presents a history of the literary culture of early-modern Scotland (1560-1625), based on extensive study of the literary manuscript. It argues for the importance of three key places of production of such manuscripts: the royal court, burghs and towns, and regional houses (stately homes, but also minor lairdly and non-aristocratic households). This attention to place facilitates a discussion of, respectively, courtly, urban or civic, and regional literary cultures. Sebastiaan Verweij's methodology stems from bibliographical scholarship and the study of the 'History of the Book', and more specifically, from a school of manuscript research that has invigorated early-modern English literary criticism over the last few decades. The Literary Culture of Early Modern Scotland will also intersect with a programme of reassessment of early-modern Scottish culture that is currently underway in Scottish studies. Traditional narratives of literary history have often regarded the Reformation of 1560 as heralding a terminal cultural decline, and the Union of Crowns of 1603, with the departure of king and court, was thought to have brought the briefest of renaissances (in the 1580s and 1590s) to an early end. This book purposefully straddles the Union, in order to make possible the rediscovery of Scotland's refined and sophisticated renaissance culture.

This book examines the lead up to the passage of the Statute of Anne 1709 and charts the movement of copyright law throughout the eighteenth century.

The wide scholarly interests of Scots in the Restoration period are analysed by Murray Simpson through this in-depth study of the library of James Nairn (1629–1678), a Scottish parish minister. Nairn's collection demonstrates a remarkable receptivity to new intellectual ideas. At some two thousand titles Nairn’s is the biggest library formed in this period for which we have detailed and accurate records. The collection is analysed by subject. In addition, there is a biographical study and chapters investigating aspects of the Scottish book market and comparing other contemporary Scottish clerical libraries. A short-title catalogue of the collection, giving references to relevant online bibliographies and catalogues, a select provenance index and a subject index complete the work.

This book explores the ordinary daily routines, behaviours, experiences and beliefs of the Scottish people during a period of immense political, social and economic change. It underlines the importance of the church in post-Reformation Scottish society, but also highlights aspects of everyday life that remained the same, or similar, notwithstanding the efforts of the kirk, employers and the state to alter behaviours and attitudes.Drawing upon and interrogating a range of primary sources, the authors create a richly coloured, highly-nuanced picture of the lives of ordinary Scots from birth through marriage to death. Analytical in approach, the coverage of topics is wide, ranging from the ways people made a living, through their non-work activities including reading, playing and relationships, to the ways they experienced illness and approached death.This volume:*Provides a rich and finely nuanced social history of the period 1600-1800 *Gets behind the politics of Union and Jacobitism, and the experience of agricultural and industrial 'revolution'*Presents the scholarly expertise of its contributing authors in a accessible way*Includes a guide to further reading indicating sources for further study

For the first time, all five of John Napier’s works have been brought together in English in a single volume, making them more accessible than ever before. His four mathematical works were originally published in Latin: two in his lifetime (1550–1617), one shortly after he died, and one over 200 years later. The authors have prepared three introductory chapters, one covering Napier himself, one his mathematical works, and one his religious work. The former has been prepared by one of Napier’s descendants and contains many new findings about Napier’s life to provide the most complete biography of this enigmatic character, whose reputation has previously been overshadowed by rumour and speculation. The latter has been written by an academic who was awarded a PhD for his thesis on Napier at the University of Edinburgh, and it provides the most lucid and coherent coverage available of this abstruse and little understood work. The chapter on Napier’s mathematical texts has been authored by an experienced and respected academic, whose recent works have specialised in the history of mathematics and whose Journey through Mathematics was selected in March of 2012 as an Outstanding Title in Mathematics by Choice magazine, a publication of the American Library Association. All three authors have revisited the primary sources extensively and deliver new insights about Napier and his works, whilst revising the many myths and assumptions that surround his life and character.

Intellectual property law is a subject of increasing economic importance and the focus of a great deal of legislative activity at an international and regional level. This collection brings together contributions from some of the most distinquished scholars in this exciting and controversial field, covering the full extent of intellectual property laws, that is, patents, copyright, trade marks and related rights. the contributions examine some of the most pressing practical and theoretical concerns which intellectual property lawyers face.

Fresh approaches to one of the most important poems from medieval Scotland. John Barbour's Bruce, an account of the deeds of Robert I of Scotland (1306-29) and his companions during the so-called wars of independence between England and Scotland, is an important and complicated text. Composed c.1375 during the reign of Robert's grandson, Robert II, the first Stewart king of Scotland (1371-90), the poem represents the earliest surviving complete literary work of any length produced in "Inglis" in late medieval Scotland, andis usually regarded as the starting point for any worthwhile discussion of the language and literature of Early Scots. It has also been used as an essential "historical" source for the career and character of that iconic monarch Robert I. But its narrative defies easy categorisation, and has been variously interpreted as a romance, a verse history, an epic or a chivalric biography. This collection re-assesses the form and purpose of Barbour's great poem. It considers the poem from a variety of perspectives, re-examining the literary, historical, cultural and intellectual contexts in which it was produced, and offering important new insights. Steve Boardman is a Reader in History at the University of Edinburgh. Susan Foran, currently an independent scholar, researches chivalry, war and the idea of nation in late medieval historical writing. Contributors: Steve Boardman, Dauvit Broun, Michael Brown, Susan Foran, Chris Given-Wilson, Theo van Heijnsbergen, Rhiannon Purdie, Biörn Tjällén, Diana B. Tyson, Emily Wingfield.

Amidst current interest in Scottish political and parliamentary history before 1707, this book emphasises the dynamic and characteristic cosmopolitanism of Restoration intellectual culture as revealed from a range of national, British and Continental perspectives."--BOOK JACKET.