The Foulis Press

Turnbull Library Record, Volume 22, Issue 2, 1 October 1989, Page 113

The Foulis Press

MOIRA LONG

The first printing press in Scotland had been set up in Edinburgh in 1508, but it was not until 1638 that printing was introduced to Glasgow. George Anderson, an Edinburgh printer, opened a printing establishment there at the invitation of the Town Council and the University of Glasgow. The introduction of printing to Glasgow thus also marked the beginning of the Glasgow University Press. The quality of early Scottish printing was poor in all respects, with low standards of design and typography, paper stock and proof-reading. Until the mid eighteenth century Scottish printers were no match for their European counterparts. This was a reflection of the generally impoverished state of Scotland in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when resources were too scarce to permit the widespread printing and purchase of books. The turning point in Scotland s economic and social conditions came with the Act of Union in 1707.

From the early eighteenth century Glasgow was home to several printers, although only one, Robert Urie, produced work of any quality before Robert Foulis set up his own press and became Printer to the University. Glasgow was not yet a large city its population in the 1740 s has been estimated at around fifteen thousand. But in the mid eighteenth century it fostered a flowering of Scottish intellectual and cultural life that was to have a profound impact abroad, through the work of such figures as Adam Smith, David Hume, Allan Ramsay and William Adam. Glasgow University was a fertile and stimulating environment thanks to a gifted body of teachers, notable among whom was Francis Hutcheson, Professor of Moral Philosophy from 1729 to 1746. He was the teacher and friend of Robert and Andrew Foulis and was instrumental in securing for the Foulis Press the appointment as Printer to the University. Andrew Faulls (also spelled Faulds) was a Glasgow brewer whose two eldest sons, Robert and Andrew, were born in 1707 and 1712. The brothers became partners in the Foulis Press, which produced some of the finest printing in eighteenth-century Europe and was highly influential in title-page design and matters of typography. At some point

prior to the establishment of the press, the brothers changed the spelling of their name to the more aristocratic looking Foulis. Robert Foulis had served an apprenticeship as a barber and followed this trade for several years. Fiowever, enrolling in Francis Fiutcheson’s classes at the University in 1730, he soon earned a reputation as a scholar. Andrew Foulis, unlike his elder brother, had an academic education from the start. On graduating from the University of Glasgow, he became a teacher of Greek, Latin and French. It was this scholarly interest, maintained by both men throughout their lives, that ensured the accuracy of the Press’s classical texts, for which it was renowned throughout Europe.

Robert and Andrew began selling books after two book buying trips to the continent in 1738 and 1739. In 1741 Robert was appointed University Bookseller, and was joined later by Andrew as his partner. They never abandoned the retail side of their business, and their shop was a popular meeting place for students, teachers and book lovers. From 1740 to 1742 Robert published several titles that were printed by Robert Urie, among others. Frustrated by the inadequate supply of books to meet the needs of the University, he set up his own printing press in 1742. Fie was appointed University Printer in the following year.

Even the early products of the Foulis Press indicate the advances in typography that it was to continue to develop. The standard of the books was due in part to the high quality of type that had recently become available from the Glasgow type foundry of Alexander Wilson. Apart from two early titles, Robert Foulis used Wilson’s type exclusively and the Foulis Press books were a good advertisement for these outstanding founts. Wilson was a Scot who had learned his trade in London, but had chosen Glasgow for his business in order to take advantage of the market it offered in trade with Ireland and America. Fie was a scholar in his own right, and in 1760 was appointed Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow.

The output of the Foulis Press falls into three main categories: philosophy; classical literature, especially Greek, on which the reputation of the Press was built; and miscellaneous books in English, mainly reprints. There were also a number of religious tracts published between 1741 and 1743. The second edition of Philip Gaskell’s Bibliography of the Foulis Press (London, 1986) lists seven hundred and six editions, of which thirteen were printed by Robert Foulis between 1740 and 1742, five hundred and eighty-nine printed by Robert and by Robert and Andrew Foulis between 1742 and 1776, and one hundred and three printed by Andrew Foulis the younger from 1776 to 1800. Apart from a marked peak in the early 1750 s the Press averaged fifteen editions a year, but showed a noticeable drop when Andrew the younger took over.

The Foulis Press was not a large establishment and its printing methods were typical of the time. It is probable that two presses and a proofing press were used by two press teams. From 1768 Foulis Press books regularly used press figures, and these indicate that two journeymen were normally involved. Special paper copies, which were reasonably common in the eighteenth century, were a standard feature at the Foulis Press. Variant issues on paper of different sizes were regularly printed, as well as issues on vellum, silk or satin, so catering for all sectors of the book buying public. The paper used was generally of a higher quality than average in the eighteenth century, and finepaper issues tended to be produced in larger numbers than commonpaper. Blue-tinted paper was used from 1771, and even more frequently from 1778, while wove paper was first used in 1795. Foolscap was the average size, though paper up to Demy Royal was used.

Until Andrew Foulis the younger took over, Foulis Press books were distinguished by their high standards of typography. This extended even to the avoidance of cancels, in preference to which the whole sheet was reprinted. The books have distinctively different type-faces and layouts from other contemporary books. Type was supplied consistendy by the Wilson Foundry, which gradually altered its various founts over the years, some more dramatically than others. The Greek type-faces developed by Wilson were particularly innovative. A new fount was commissioned especially for the folio issues of the Iliad in 1756 and Odyssey in 1758, deliberately doing away with the excessively complicated ligatures and contractions that had made traditional Greek type so difficult to set and to read. The result was a type-face of great legibility and handsome proportions.

Plainness and lack of ornamentation were hallmarks of the Press’s publication. The only exceptions were in the period 1742 to 1747, when two varieties of printer’s flowers and a few blocks were used in a small number of publications. After 1747 an increasing number of the Foulis Press books were printed without catchwords (a word inserted at the right-hand lower corner of each page which repeats the first word of the following page), until this became a standard feature of the Press. Another typographical innovation was the replacement of the long ‘s’ with a regular ‘s’. Editions in the early years were characterised by small type-faces, but few other criticisms can be levelled against the designs, which became models for other eighteenth-century printers. Founts were cast long-bodied and leading between the lines was avoided. In title-page layout the Press set new standards and was widely imitated. Avoiding the clutter of mixtures of type styles and sizes, the Foulis Press titie-pages are characteristically plain and legible, conveying a sense of lightness and delicacy that marks the setting of the text also. The extreme accuracy of the texts themselves won the Press a high reputation among scholars, and was the result of painstaking care in

the proof-reading process. This involved up to five separate checks being made: by the author where appropriate, by Robert or Andrew, or by another highly skilled corrector. In 1751 Robert Foulis undertook to found a Scottish Academy of Fine Arts under the auspices of the University. Financial responsibility, however, was vested in Robert Foulis himself, and this was to prove a serious drain on the funds of the business. Glasgow was not wealthy enough to support such an ambitious and expensive venture and the debts continued to mount for twenty years. The death of Andrew in 1775 was a serious blow to Robert, who decided to auction the Academy’s stock of paintings in London. The sale was a financial disaster and Robert himself died in Edinburgh in 1776 on his return journey to Glasgow. Robert’s son, Andrew, inherited the business together with all its financial problems, from which he never succeeded in extricating himself. From this time there was a decline in the number and quality of books printed at the Foulis Press. In 1795 the University terminated Andrew’s appointment and took legal action against him for recovery of the premises he occupied. Andrew continued to print in Glasgow for a few years, then moved to Edinburgh, where he died in the poor-house in 1829.

However, the decline of the Press under Andrew the younger does not diminish the achievement of Robert Foulis. His reputation as one of the most skilled and accurate printers of the century was well founded on the correctness of the texts, the beauty of the layouts, the quality of the founts he employed, and the convenience of the range of issues he produced. He avoided ornamentation or illustration to enhance his work, preferring to rely on the proportions of type and page, the beauty of the fount itself, and the employment of impeccable workmanship. The Foulis Press was the product of, and a vehicle for, the tremendous renewal of Scottish creative and intellectual activity that marked the mid eighteenth century. Its output embodies the achievements of that movement.

FOULIS PRESS CHECKLIST The Turnbull Library has sixteen Foulis Press books, listed below in order of the date of publication. Three were part of Alexander Turnbull’s own collection: the quarto and folio editions of Paradise Lost (1750 and 1770) and Pope’s The Poetical Works (1785). The bequest of A. R. Atkinson in 1935 included the 1750 edition of the works of Horace, and the bequest of Robert and Mary Hogg in 1941 included the 1749 edition of William Hamilton’s Poems on Several Occasions.

Terence, Publii Terentii Afri Comoediae Sex . . . Glasguae: Cura & impensis Robert! Foulis, typis Robert Urie & Soc . . 1742. Gaskell 13 Cicero. M. Tullii Ciceronis Tusculanarum Disputationum Libri Quinque . . . Glasguae: in aedibus academicis excudebat Robertus Foulis . . ~ 1744. Gaskell 45.

Hamilton, William. Poems on Several Occasions. Glasgow: printed and sold by Robert and Andrew Foulis, 1748. Gaskell 110. Hamilton, William. Poems on Several Occasions. Glasgow: printed by Robert and Andrew Foulis, 1749. Gaskell 131. Horace. Quintus Horatius Flaccus ad Lectiones Probatiores Diligenter Emendatus . . . Editio Altera. Glasguae: In aedibus academicis excudebant Robertus et Andreas Foulis . . ~ 1750. Gaskell 155.

Milton, John, Milton’s Paradise Lost, Book I. Glasgow: printed and sold by Robert and Andrew Foulis, printers to the University, 1750. Gaskell 161. Tacitus. C. Comelii Taciti Opera Quae Super sunt. Ex Editione Jacobi Gronovii Fideliter Expressa . . . Glasguae: in aedibus academicis excudebant Rob. et And. Foulis, 1753. 4 vols. Gaskell 265. Euclid. Euclidis Elementorum Libri Priores Sex. item Undecimus et Duodecimus, ex Versione Latina Federici Commandini . . . Glasguae: in aedibus academicis excudebant Robertus et Andreas Foulis . . ~ 1756. Gaskell 315.

Twv ToD 'O /ifiQOV aeaua/xevuv octtocvtuv To/tot Teoaocges. Glasguae: in aedibus academicis, excudebant Robertus et Andreas Foulis . . ~ 1758. 4 vols in 2. The individual title-pages for the Iliad and the Odyssey are dated respectively 1756 and 1758. Gaskell 319. Plato. The Republic of Plato. In Ten Books. Translated from the Greek by H. Spens. D.D. . . . Glasgow: printed by Robert and Andrew Foulis printers to the University, 1763. Gaskell 423.

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth . . . According to Mr Pope’s Second Edition. Glasgow: Printed and sold by R. and A. Foulis, 1768. Gaskell 460. Boswell, James. An Account of Corsica, the Journal of a Tour to That Island: and Memoirs of Pascal Paoli . . . Glasgow: printed by Robert and Andrew Foulis for Edward and Charles Dilly in the Poultry, London, 1768. Gaskell 473. Milton, John. Paradise Lost, a Poem. The Author John Milton. Glasgow: printed by Robert and Andrew Foulis, printers to the University, 1770. Gaskell 510. Mason, William. Poems by William Mason, M.A. Glasgow: Printed by Andrew Foulis, 1777. 2 vols. Gaskell 622. Shenstone, William. The Select Works, in Verse and Prose, of William Shenstone, Esquire, The Fourth Edition. Glasgow: Printed by Andrew Foulis, 1777. Gaskell 628 A. Pope, Alexander, The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Esq. In Three Volumes. Glasgow, Printed by Andrew Foulis, printer to the University, 1785. 3 vols. Gaskell 678.

From July to September 1989 the Turnbull Room featured an exhibition of eighteenth century books from the Foulis Press, Glasgow. Robert Foulis began publishing in 1740, and the Press continued to operate until 1799. The books on display, all from the Turnbull Library’s collections, spanned the years 1742 to 1785.