CALENDAR

The Local Word and Image: 500 Years of Printing in Scotland at Provost Skene's House, Aberdeen, AB10 1AS 17 November 2007 – 16 November 2008.
This free exhibition will trace the development of printing in the city from 1622 (when Edward Raban was appointed Aberdeen’s first printer), through the publication of the first newspaper in Scotland and into the 19th century when Aberdeen was a major printing centre.
A second display, featuring prints gifted by Peacock Printmakers (now Peacock Visual Arts) to Aberdeen Art Gallery, will examine printmaking as an artistic process. During the year the room will be re-hung displaying a range of works from the establishment of Peacock Printmakers up to the present day.
Open: Monday - Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 1-4pm
Further details: info@aagm.gov.uk
www.aberdeencity.gov.uk
Contact: Christopher Croly CCROLY@aberdeencity.gov.uk

Book of the Month from the Dunimarle Library. Duff House, Banff, AB45 3SX. All year.
Duff House is celebrating 500 Years of Printing in Scotland 1508-2008 by hosting a changing display of twelve books from an eighteenth century family library. 
The Dunimarle Library forms part of a collection of paintings, furniture, glass, metalwork and china once owned by the wealthy Erskines of Torrie, who owned an estate near Dunfermline in Fife and now on long-term loan to Duff House from the National Galleries of Scotland. Here, in over 4000 volumes, is a snapshot of the interests of various members of the Erskine family and a fascinating glimpse of the times in which they lived.
The aim of this project is to highlight items from the collection and to celebrate 500 years of Scottish printing by exploring the wealth of information to be discovered by looking at books. The display will explore the texts, the illustrations, the book plates and bindings, as well as the evidence of past owners and their interests.
The display starts in January with a rare edition of Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” printed in Edinburgh in 1695. The display starts in January with a rare edition of Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” printed in Edinburgh in 1695. John Erskine, the youngest son of the family, studied this work in Latin when he was just eleven years old!
www.duffhouse.org.uk
Contact: Rachel Kennedy Rachel.Kennedy@aberdeenshire.gov.uk

Printing, North Museum Gallery, The Dick Institute, 1 Elmbank Avenue, Kilmarnock, KA1 3BU. An exhibition of East Ayrshire Council Arts and Museum collections relating to the history of printing – from some of the earliest printed books, through local newspapers and even calico printing. 26 Feb – 26 May 2008, free.
Contact: jason.sutcliffe@east-ayrshire.gov.uk
www.visiteastayrshire.com; www.futuremuseum.co.uk: www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk

The Faculty of Advocates, owners of Sir Walter Scott’s books at Abbotsford, will be mounting a series of small exhibitions at Abbotsford during 2008.  The exhibitions of Scottish imprints from Sir Walter Scott’s library will run throughout the period while the house is open to the public from 17 March until 31 October.  Scott’s library contains some early and rare Scottish imprints and covers the period to 1832.  The exhibition case is in the ticket office, and books will be changed approximately every 6 weeks. Abbotsford House, Melrose, Roxburghshire, TD6 9BQ. Tel: 01896 752043. For details of opening hours and how to get to Abbotsford please visit the Abbotsford website at www.scottsabbotsford.co.uk/
Contact: Andrea Longson andrea.longson@Advocates.org.uk

Robert Smail's Printing Works (National Trust for Scotland), 7-9 High Street, Innerleithen, EH44 6HA. Tel: 0844 493 2259.
Come and visit the National Trust for Scotland's fully operational Victorian printing works during the year of the printed word and try setting type the Chepman and Myllar way! Robert Smail’s is a working Victorian Print Works in the Borders town of Innerleithen, originally set up by Robert Smail in 1866 as a jobbing printer.
Living History Tours on the last Saturday of the month until the end of October. http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/52/

The Power of the Press: 500 years of printing in Scotland. This touring exhibition and learning project for schools investigates how the printed word has developed in Scotland since the sixteenth century.  It presents a history of printing methods and printed material from the Borders and Scotland, through reconstructions of different aspects of printing and displays of printing equipment and printed matter.  There will also be a series of formal education activities and associated talks.  For further details contact the Scottish Borders Council’s Museum and Gallery Service, tel: 01750-20096; email museums@scotborders.gov.uk
Old Gala House, Scott House, Galashiels, TD1 3JS. 22 March-24 May.
www.scotborders.gov.uk/outabout/museums/
Contact Jeremy Weston jweston2@scotborders.gov.uk

Clò Trom  - Gaelic Printing in the Highlands, 1778-1901 or Clò Trom - Clò-bhualadh sa Ghàidhlig air a’ Ghàidhealtachd, 1778-1901. Exhibition at Inverness Library on books printed in Inverness and other Highland towns in Gaelic (and English), also covering the output of Charles Fraser Mackintosh, who died in 1901 and was a prolific local historian and Gaelic speaker.  April-June 2008 in Inverness Library, Farraline Park, Inverness, IV1 1NH.  The exhibition will also be available as a ‘Virtual Exhibition’ on the Am Baile website: www.ambaile.org.uk
Contact Norman Newton Norman.Newton@highland.gov.uk

Mitchell Treasure of the Month for April 2008: Blind Harry’s Wallace. The earliest Scottish printing to be found in the Mitchell library, which consists of 12 fragmentary pages of Henry the Minstrel’s poem on William Wallace printed by Chepman and Myllar in 1508.The Mitchell Library plans an exhibition of its valuable historic printing items.   www.csglasgow.org
Contact Marion Beaton Marion.beaton@csglasgow.org

Ink, Main Gallery, The Dick Institute, 1 Elmbank Avenue, Kilmarnock, KA1 3BU. Highlighting the 500th anniversary of printing, Ink makes reference to the way in which we make marks, and the use of repetition and reproduction of those marks by hand or by machine.  ‘In~The~Fields’ new interactive work makes reference to 1508, and the loss of the hand-written in favour of machine-made marks. Using solar power to generate energy which is activated by movement, visitors to the gallery will create their own ink marks within glass spheres as if by magic.
Taryn Takahashi’s work is based around the idea of repetition in print making, and the loss and fragmentation of marks through this process. Takahashi’s fake chandeliers refer to cheap machine made reproductions of what was once a fine art object, similar to that of the hand written to print and finally to photocopying. 5 April – 24 May 2008, free.
Contact: Phillipa.aitken@east-ayrshire.gov.uk
www.visiteastayrshire.com; www.futuremuseum.co.uk: www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk

In a Different Light. Glimpses of the fleeting; language distilled to its essence; perception given breath on paper. Julie Johnstone creates minimal yet resonant works exploring the visual and linguistic nuances contained in short phrases. Her hand-bound books, cards and screen-prints pursue the beauty of the ephemeral, with a gentle and contemplative simplicity. An exhibition of new works from her Essence Press imprint. www.essencepress.co.uk  Saturday 19 April – Saturday 19 July 2008. Mon-Fri 11-6 pm, Sat 1-5 pm. Free.  Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton’s Close, Canongate, Edinburgh EH8 8DT. Free access to the Library premises.  www.spl.org.uk

Display of engraving tools from the Bartholomew collections (until mid-June). www.nls.uk/digitallibrary/maps
Contact: maps@nls.uk

Small exhibition. The earliest will be Hortus Medicus Edinburgensis (1683) which is believed to be the earliest ‘horticultural’ book printed in Scotland. Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH3 5LR. May and June 2008. www.rbge.org.uk
Contact: Jane Hutcheon j.hutcheon@rgbe.ac.uk

Medical, botanical and local history books will be on display in the College Library.  Free admission.  12 May - 23 May 2008. Launch evening 9 May 2008 7-9pm with a demonstration of book restoration by Jim Vallance at 7.30pm. College Library, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, 232-242 St Vincent Street, Glasgow, G2 5RJ. www.rcpsg.ac.uk
Contact Carol Parry carol.parry@rcpsg.ac.uk

The National Library of Scotland's newspaper exhibition. 17 May – 6 June 2008. Elgin Library, Cooper Park, Elgin, Moray, IV30 1HS www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_1435.html

Glasgow University Library, Hillhead Street, Glasgow, G12 8QE, Level 12. A small display highlighting the contribution that Glasgow University has made to Scottish print culture. From the end of May, this will be supplemented by a web exhibition (with the same title) exploring in more depth the work of printers associated and appointed by the University of Glasgow, from the first book printed in Glasgow by George Anderson in 1638 through to the last Glasgow University Press, the Maclehose Company. special@gla.ac.uk For opening hours see: http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/general/hours.html

As part of the Artistic Impressions exhibition in the main University Library, the Centre for Artists Books at the Visual Research Centre will be having a free open afternoon on Friday 23 May 2-4pm. Although artists have been involved in illustrating and publishing books for centuries, it is only since the 1970s that the term Artist’s Book has been widely recognised as a distinct form of art. The Centre for Artists Books at the University’s Visual Research Centre has a collection of over 500 artworks that reveal the extraordinary variety of forms that Artists’ Books can take. Why not come along to find out more about this unique art-form and the fascinating collections held in the Centre?
Contact: museum@dundee.ac.uk or 01382 384310.

Edinburgh Printmakers, Workshop and Gallery, 23 Union Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3LR. Tel: 0131 557 2479
Group exhibition in Gallery 1 of prints by artists using mezzotint. Stuart Duffin, Nan Mulder, Judith Rothchild and Kouki Tsuritani. www.edinburgh-printmakers.co.uk

Edinburgh Printmakers, Workshop and Gallery, 23 Union Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3LR. Tel: 0131 557 2479
Judith Rothchild will demonstrate the process of mezzotint in relation to her practice on Saturday 24 May at 11am. Space limited: email office@edinburgh-printmakers.co.uk or tel: 0131 557 2479 to book a free place. www.edinburgh-printmakers.co.uk

Edinburgh Printmakers, Workshop and Gallery, 23 Union Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3LR. Tel: 0131 557 2479
Akram Rahmanzadeh, imprint. Exhibition of woodcuts, drypoints and monoprints in Galleries 2 and 3. 24 May – 5 July.
Artist's Talk: Akram Rahmanzadeh will talk about her ideas and the role of printmaking in her practice on Saturday 31 May at 2pm. Free. www.edinburgh-printmakers.co.uk

Glasgow Metropolitan College, the only college in Scotland providing printing education, is planning a series of exhibitions celebrating 500 Years of Printing in Scotland.  The exhibition will be shown in the foyer of the college located at North Hanover Street, Glasgow during their student’s exhibition week commencing 2 June.
The exhibition will comprise of a number of exhibits of students work with a Printing theme.
HND Photography will show a series of images produced from their visits to 3 Glasgow based Printing companies:  John McCormick & Co, John Watson & Co Ltd, Bell & Bain.
HND Journalism students will contribute a narrative upon the print media.
HND Digital Media for Design & Print students will show corporate imaging and promotional material for the event.
HND Television students intend to produce a short film with a central theme of the modern printing industry.
HND Multimedia students will produce a website on Print.
www.glasgowmet.ac.uk

National Library Newspaper exhibition at the A K Bell Library. 12 June to 31 July 2008. Entry is free of charge, open 9.30- 5 Monday Wednesday and Friday, 9.30 – 8pm Tuesdays and Thursdays and 9.30 – 4pm Saturdays.A K Bell Library, York Place, Perth, PH2 8EP. www.pkc.gov.uk/libraries
Contact Sara Ann Kelly SAKelly@pkc.gov.uk

A practical workshop with Julie Johnstone, editor of Essence Press. Exploring concepts of beauty, lightness and the ephemeral, this workshop will look at alternatives to the traditional book as a means to give physical context to individual poems and text pieces. Participants will be asked to submit several short text pieces in advance. Small book forms and cards will be created during the workshop, illustrating the use of desktop publishing software, inkjet printing, and hand-binding techniques. Numbers limited, booking essential. £15/£10. Saturday 14 June 2008, 10-1 pm (3 hours). Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton’s Close, Canongate, Edinburgh EH8 8DT. Free access to the Library premises.  www.spl.org.uk Contact: Lilias Fraser lfraser@spl.org.uk

Edinburgh Printmakers, Workshop and Gallery, 23 Union Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3LR. Tel: 0131 557 2479
Open Day: Saturday 14 June 2008 11-5pm. Packed with Free events: free printmaking workshops and demonstrations, exhibition tours and gallery talks, frame sale, raffle.
www.edinburgh-printmakers.co.uk

One-day symposium organised by the  Scottish Centre for the Book in partnership with the Scottish Arts Council and Edinburgh City of Literature on Friday, 20 June 2008, Craiglockhart Campus, Napier University Edinburgh.
Contact Alistair McCleery a.mccleery@napier.ac.uk

The conference is hosted by the department of Celtic and Scottish Studies, and the department of English Literature in the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures at the University of Edinburgh.  The conference will commemorate the 500th anniversary of the nation's first printing press, which was established in the city in 1508 by Chepman and Myllar, by making the subject of Early Scottish Printing one of the principle themes. Interdisciplinary in breadth and focus, the conference will include a range of distinguished plenary speakers, themed academic sessions, and a variety of workshops and community activities. In addition, a series of exhibitions, theatrical and musical events is planned which will highlight aspects of Scotland's early artistic heritage, and which will take place against the backdrop of the city's architectural and civic beauty. www.medren2008.info/
Organiser: Margaret Mackay margaret.a.mackay@ed.ac.uk

An exhibition displaying the many fine examples of Scottish printing, publishing, binding and illustration from the Mitchell Library’s collections. July and August: dates to be confirmed. Mitchell Library, North Street, Glasgow, G3 7DN. www.csglasgow.org
Contact Marion Beaton Marion.beaton@csglasgow.org

An exhibition at the Suregon's Hall Museum, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Nicolson Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9DW.  www.edinburgh.surgeonshall.museum July-December 2008.  Admission: £5/£3 (conc)  0131 527 1649
Contact: Dawn Kemp dawn.kemp@rcsed.ac.uk

An exhibition centred on Sir Walter Scott and the Waverley Press is planned in the Writers Museum. Lady Stair’s Close, Edinburgh, EH1 2PA. July – December 2008.
Contact: Elaine Greig elaine.greig@edinburgh.gov.uk

Edinburgh Printmakers, Workshop and Gallery, 23 Union Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3LR. Tel: 0131 557 2479
Exhibition of new prints by Chad McCail commissioned by Edinburgh Printmakers. 19 July – 6 September.
Artist's Talk: Chad McCail will discuss his recent works created in the studio at Edinburgh Printmakers. 23 August, 2pm. Free.
www.edinburgh-printmakers.co.uk

A display of items of local printing and some printing artefacts. 25 July - 23 October. Shetland Museum and Archives, Hay's Dock, Hay's Dock, Lerwick, Shetland, ZE1 0WP www.shetland-museum.org.uk/

To mark the quincentenary of Scotland's first printed book, printing will be one of the themes for Doors Open Days in September 2008. www.doorsopendays.org.uk/
Contact: Abigail Daly AbigailDaly@scottishcivictrust.org.uk

Edinburgh Central Library, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EG.  Tel: 0131 242 8070.
A display on the development of printing in Scotland illustrated by examples from the popular press through the ages including the Bassandyne Bible which will itself be on show from 13-18 October.
Central Library and Community Libraries will also be hosting a series of themed events, workshops and competitions for young people and adults.  For more information visit the library's website from Monday 25 August. www.edinburgh.gov.uk/libraries

A beginner’s course to create personalised designs for our own book collections.  This course will look at the ways readers have, throughout history, put their personal stamp on their favourite books.  Printed ‘ex libris’ or book plates are often small, beautiful decorative inserts that mark books as belonging to us. They can include mottos, symbols or illustrations that hold a significance for the owner. Working with an experienced printmaker, participants will be shown how to design and print their own individual ex-libris. Course duration: 6 weeks. Start date: September 2008. For further details, contact:  Glasgow Women's Library, 81 Parnie Street, Glasgow, G1 5RH.  Tel: 0141 552 8345  Email: info@womenslibrary.org.uk
www.womenslibrary.org.uk
Contact: Sue John sue.john@womenslibrary.org.uk

An exhibition at Kelso Town Hall, Kelso, during St James Fair, 6 - 7 September 2008, to celebrate Kelso’s contribution to 500 years of printing in Scotland.  We are currently asking for help from the public to locate artefacts relating to printing in Kelso.  Further details can be found at www.kelso.bordernet.co.uk/town/69.html
We will also be hosting a small scale exhibition – entitled Work in Print in Kelso Library for Local History Week, 21 – 26 April 2008. This will focus on the Kelso Archive, a unique collection of papers providing an insight into life in Kelso during the eighteenth century.

Free exhibition in the Museum of Edinburgh, 142 Canongate, Royal Mile, Edinburgh, EH8 8DD. 13 September  2008 - 17 January 2009.  Monday - Saturday 10am - 5pm.  This exhibition charts the history of the people who worked in the various industries involved in the creation of books and other printed material in Scotland.  It documents the working lives of individuals involved in book production; from authors, editors, papermakers and printers right through to booksellers, librarians and finally the Scottish readers who bought and borrowed the books that were produced.  The exhibition utilises material gathered over the last ten years by the Scottish Archive of Print and Publishing History Records (SAPPHIRE) and allows a unique glimpse into the lives of the 'People Behind the Books'.  The exhibition contains a number of exhibits, exhibition panels, film footage of the various stages of book production as well as a unique opportunity to hear the voices of individuals from all stages of production talking about their working lives.
Organised tours are welcome- please contact the Museum of Edinburgh.  Tel: 0131 529 4143  www.sapphire.ac.uk

Is the page a mere support for the poem, or can it be a space in itself, charged with possibility and implication? Taking Stéphane Mallarmé's Un Coup de Dés as a starting point, and looking at different approaches in the work of Charles Olson, Eugen Gomringer, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Edwin Morgan and others, this exhibition will draw on the Scottish Poetry Library's extensive twentieth century collections to explore how words can resonate within the space of the page. Curated by Thomas A Clark and Julie Johnstone. Friday 26 September – Saturday 20 December 2008. Mon-Fri 11-6 pm, Sat 1-5 pm. Free. Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton’s Close, Canongate, Edinburgh EH8 8DT. Free access to the Library premises.  www.spl.org.uk Contact: Lilias Fraser lfraser@spl.org.uk

Advocates Library, Parliament Square, Edinburgh, EH1 1RF. The Advocates Library is planning an exhibition featuring its own and other materials highlighting the link between the Scottish printing trade and the practice of law in Scotland.  Examples from the library’s unique 18th century collections of printed Session Papers will be displayed.  The exhibition will be open to the public as part of the Scottish Courts programme of events in Parliament House for Doors Open Day, 27 September 2008.  Further details will be posted on the Faculty of Advocates website at www.advocates.org.uk
Contact Andrea Longson andrea.longson@advocates.org.uk

The Scottish Poetry Library’s annual one-day poetry and art book fair is now in its fourth year celebrating the work of small publishers and artists. A lively mix of stalls, displays and talks run throughout the day – all are welcome to drop in to browse or buy, and meet publishers, artists and poets from Scotland and Ireland. A major event in the poetry publishing year. Saturday 27 September 2008. 11-6 pm. Free. Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton’s Close, Canongate, Edinburgh EH8 8DT. Free access to the Library premises.  www.spl.org.uk 
Contact: Lilias Fraser lfraser@spl.org.uk

eca Main Building Foyer and printworkshop, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh, EH3 9DF. eca Main Building Foyer and print workshop, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh, EH3 9DF. 4 - 11 October 2008
To celebrate 500 Years of Print in Scotland and also the opening of the new print workshop at Edinburgh College of Art (eca) we are hosting a series of events in October 2008. The print facility is home to our 140 year old Columbian Press, there will be demonstrations on its use in conjunction with displays of evolving print techniques, up to the modern digital method. Alongside these presentations there will be a small exhibition of student work created within the print facility in the foyer of the college’s Main Building, with guided interactive tours of the newly integrated print workshop and a further display of printed work; the academic involvement from students of Graphic Design is also planned. It is also anticipated there will be joint projects between departments and Robert Smail's Printing Works.  The event will be open to schools' visits arranged by eca's Wider Access Officer with the potential to extend to weekend openings for the general public.
Contact: Petra Pennington (Exhibs Co-ordinator) p.pennington@eca.ac.uk
Contact: Zoe Patterson z.patterson@eca.ac.uk

The Special Collections Department of St Andrews University Library will mark the 500th anniversary of printing by mounting an exhibition exploring the history of printing in Fife. Exhibits will range from the first book printed in St Andrews in 1552 to the products of a contemporary private press. A programme of events and activities will accompany the exhibition. 10 October - 18 December 2008, Gateway Galleries, North Haugh, St Andrews, KY16 9SS. Monday-Friday 9.00-17.30, Saturday and Sunday 10.00-17.00. Entrance free. For more information email speccoll@st-andrews.ac.uk  www.st-andrews.ac.uk/specialcollections/

Edinburgh Central Library, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EG.  Tel: 0131 242 8070.
The Bassandyne Bible which will be on show from 13-18 October.
For more information visit the library's website from Monday 25 August. www.edinburgh.gov.uk/libraries

With contemporary work by artists and makers from across Scotland, 500 years of printing will be showcased at Callendar House and the Park Gallery, in the annual Christmas selling exhibition 'Winter Warmth'. It will highlight the diverse aspects of contemporary print making. ’ 8 November 2008 – 6 January 2009.
At the same time Callendar House has a series of specially-constructed areas which take visitors back in time to the early 19th century, to see a printmakers, grocers, clock makers and working Georgian kitchen. Our printmaker can be seen in the workshop on a working printing press. Please contact Callendar House, Falkirk, FK1 1YR, in advance of your visit for demonstration times.
 www.falkirk.gov.uk Callendar.house@falkirk.gov.uk
Contact Emma. Roodhouse emma.roodhouse@falkirk.gov.uk

Scottish Records Association conference, Friday 21 November 2008. Perth Conference Hall. Further details:  www.scottishrecordsassociation.org/