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 WHETHER in the creation of early manuscripts, in the formation of libraries, through fine printing, or the development of mass media, Scotland's contributions to the history of the book, both within the nation and beyond its boundaries, have been remarkable.
To be published in four volumes by Edinburgh University Press, A History of the Book in Scotland is a major scholarly project whose aim is to account for the history of the production, circulation, and reception of Scottish texts from earliest times to the present.
Under the general editorship of Bill Bell and Jonquil Bevan, the project is overseen by an Advisory Board of international experts, with seven volume editors having now been appointed. Volume 1, under the editorship of Jonquil Bevan and Sally Mapstone, will account for the book in Scotland from its origins to the Act of Union in 1707; Volume 2, edited by Stephen Brown and Warren McDougall, will cover the rest of the eighteenth century; Volume 3 is edited by Bill Bell and will account for the period 1800-1880; David Finkelstein and Alistair McCleery, with editorial responsibility for Volume 4, will bring the story up to the year 2000.
In the meantime, planning continues on individual volumes. A well-attended conference dedicated to Volume 3 was held at The University of Stirling last July, with arrangements for the publication of the same volume having recently been finalised with the University Press. Several contributors to Volume 2 will be presenting their work at July's Edinburgh conference of the Eighteenth Century Scottish Studies Society.
Further information is available from the project web site -
http://www.hss.ed.ac.uk/chb/hobs.htm
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