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[[File:Aberdeen Breviary. Psalter.jpg|300px|thumb| A page from the psalter of the [[Aberdeen Breviary]].([[National Library of Scotland]]).]]
The '''Chepman and Myllar Press''' was the first printing press to be established in Scotland.<ref name="Macdougall1">Norman Macdougall, The Stewart Dynasty in Scotland, James IV, Tuckwell press, 1997, pp. 218.</ref>

The press was founded in 1508 in [[Edinburgh]] by [[Walter Chepman]] and [[Androw Myllar]], both [[Burgess (title)|burgess]]es of the Scottish capital. The two partners operated under a charter of [[James IV of Scotland|King James IV]] issued in 1507 which gave them a monopoly in printed books within Scotland.<ref name="Privy Seal">''Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland'', vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1908), p. 223 no. 1546.</ref>

Very few products of the press are preserved today. Those that have survived largely intact are nine [[chapbook]]s of [[vernacular literature]] known collectively as '''The Chepman and Myllar Prints'''<ref name="C and M prints">[http://digital.nls.uk/firstscottishbooks/index.html The Chepman and Myllar Prints at the National Library of Scotland]</ref> and a Latin religious text known as [[Aberdeen Breviary|The Aberdeen Breviary]].<ref name="NLS Breviary">[http://digital.nls.uk/74487406  The Aberdeen Breviary at the National Library of Scotland]</ref> Fragments of two other publications also exist. These were editions of [[The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace|The Wallace]] and [[Buke of the Howlat|The Buke of the Howlat]].

The press seems to have had a brief existence. The earliest surviving example of its work dates to 1508<ref name="C and M prints"/> and the latest to 1510.<ref name="NLS Breviary"/>

Chepman and Myllar's press is also referred to as '''The Southgait Press'''.

==Historical context==

[[Johannes Gutenberg]] developed [[Printing press|printing with moveable type]] in Germany in the decade after 1440. The new technology [[Global spread of the printing press|spread rapidly]].

Scots began to commission the printing of books in other countries. France, with its strong [[Auld Alliance|diplomatic]] and [[Scots College (Paris)|intellectual]] connection to Scotland, was favoured.

==Foundation by Royal Charter==
[[File:Patent of James IV to Chepman and Myllar.gif|300px|thumb| The entry in the Register of The Privy Seal of Scotland, 15 September 1507, which established the press. ([[National Archives of Scotland]]).]]

King James IV authorised the creation of a press in a proclamation of 15 September 1507.<ref name="Privy Seal"/> He charged his "beloved servants" Chepman and Myllar to "acquire and bring home a press with all accessories and skilled men required to use it".

:''{{lang|en-emodeng|Wit ye that forsamekill as our lovittis servitouris Walter Chepman and Andro Myllar burgessis of our burgh of Edinburgh, has at our instance and request, for our plesour, the honour and proffit of our Realme and Liegis, takin on thame to furnis and bring hame ane prent, with all stuff belangand tharto, and expert men to use the samyne,}}''

The King intended the press to publish books of laws, acts of [[Parliament of Scotland|parliament]], histories and religious texts.

:''{{lang|en-emodeng|for imprenting within our Realme of the bukis of our Lawis, actis of parliament, croniclis, mess bukis, and portuus efter the use of our Realme, with addiciouns and legendis of Scottis sanctis, now gaderit to be ekit tharto, and al utheris bukis that salbe sene necessar}},''

The King would determine "competitive prices" for the books.

:''{{lang|en-emodeng|and to sel the sammyn for competent pricis, be our avis and discrecioun thair labouris and expens being considerit.}}''

Chepman and Myllar were awarded a monopoly in print within Scotland. The commissioning of imported printed books would be prohibited.

:''{{lang|en-emodeng|And because we understand that this can not be perfurnist without Rycht greit cost labour and expens, we have grantit and promittit to thame that thai sal nocht be hurt nor prevenit thairin be ony utheris to tak copyis of ony bukis furtht of our Realme, to ger imprent the samye in utheris cuntreis, to be brocht and sauld agane within our Realme, to cause the said Walter and Androu tyne thair gret labour and expens,}}''

The charter then specifies a key purpose for the press: the production of [[Liturgy|liturgical]] books with a distinctive Scottish character. These were intended to replace the service books of the English [[Use of Salisbury]] which was the rite commonly used throughout Scotland at the time. Eventually the importation of books of the English rite would be outlawed.

:''{{lang|en-emodeng|And als it is divisit and thocht expedient be us and our counsall, that in tyme cuming mess bukis, manualis, matyne bukis and [[Breviary|portuus bukis]] efter our awin Scottis use, and with legendis of Scottis sanctis, as is now gaderit and ekit be ane Reverend fader in God, and our traist counsalour Williame bischope of abirdene and utheris, be usit generaly within al our Realme alssone as the sammyn may be imprentit and providit, and that na maner of sic bukis of Salusbery use be brocht to be sauld within our Realme in tym cuming; and gif ony dois in the contrare, that thai sal tyne the sammyne.}}''

The [[Aberdeen Breviary]], compiled by the King's "traist counsalar" Bishop [[William Elphinstone]] of Aberdeen, is apparently an example of this policy.<ref name="Macdougall1"/>

==Career of the Press==
[[File:Goldyn Targe.gif|300px|thumb| The device of Walter Chepman from the chapbook of 'The Goldyn Targe' in the 'Chepman and Myllar prints'. ([[National Library of Scotland]]).]]

Androw Myllar was a bookseller who had supplied volumes to the King.<ref name="ALHTS">[https://archive.org/details/accountsoflordhi03scot Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, vol.3 (1901), see index, p.458, 504.]</ref> He had also published books, printed at [[Rouen]] in 1505 and 1506.<ref name="DNB">{{cite DNB|wstitle=Chepman, Walter|volume=10|pages=186-187}}</ref> As such, he can be assumed to have had some knowledge of printing technology.

Walter Chepman was a prosperous textile merchant who had supplied goods to the Crown and also carried out clerical duties at the Royal Court.<ref name="ALHTS"/><ref name="DNB"/> It might be supposed that he provided the bulk of the capital for the enterprise.

It is not known where or when Chepman and Myllar acquired their printing press and staff, but in the months following the Royal charter, they established themselves in the Southgait of Edinburgh,<ref name="Dawson">Jane E. A. Dawson, ''Scotland Re-formed'', The New Edinburgh History of Scotland, Volume 6. Edinburgh University Press, 2007, p.81.</ref> now known as [[Cowgate|The Cowgate]]. Their earliest surviving publication dates to 4 April 1508.<ref name="C and M prints"/>

It not known when the press closed, but the latest surviving copies of the Aberdeen Breviary date to 1510.<ref name="NLS Breviary"/>

==Surviving Publications of the Press==

===The Chepman and Myllar Prints===
[[File:Device_of_Androw_Myllar.png|300px|thumb| The device of Androw Myllar from the chapbook of 'The Porteous of Nobleness' in the 'Chepman and Myllar prints'. The windmill is apparently a pun on his surname. ([[National Library of Scotland]]).]]

The '''Chepman and Myllar Prints''' are nine of Chepman and Myllar's chapbooks bound into a single volume alongside two other pamphlets from Scotland in the sixteenth century. This volume was acquired by the [[Advocates' Library]] of Edinburgh and is now held in the National Library of Scotland.<ref name="C and M prints"/>

The volume contains the following texts of Chepman and Myllar's press, all written in [[vernacular]], either [[Scots language|Scots]] or English.

:'''Book 1''' 
:*"The Porteous of Nobleness". An anonymous Scots translation of [[Alain Chartier]]'s "Breviaire des Nobles". A guide to courtly manners.

:'''Book 2''' 
:*"Golagrus and Gawain". An anonymous chivalric romance.
:*"Rhyme Without Accord". A work of [[John Lydgate]]'s.

:'''Book 3'''  
:*[[Sir Eglamour of Artois|Eglamour]]. An anonymous chivalric romance.
:*"Balade". A fragment of an anonymous ballad.

:'''Book 4''' 
:*[[William Dunbar|Dunbar's]] "The Golden Targe" An allegory of love.

:'''Book 5''' 
:*'"De regimine principum bonum consilium" or "Ane Buke of Gude Counsale to the King". A commentary on statecraft.

:'''Book 6''' 
:*Lydgate's [[The Complaint of the Black Knight]].
:*"When by Divine Deliberation". A short religious poem.

:'''Book 7'''
:*[[The Flyting of Dumbar and Kennedie|The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy]].
:*[[Robert Henryson|Henryson's]] "The Praise of Age".
:*"Device, Prowess and eke Humility." A fragmentary anonymous poem.

:'''Book 8'''
:*Henryson's [[The Tale of Orpheus and Erudices his Quene|Orpheus and Eurydice]].
:*"The Want of Wise Men." A short anonymous moral piece.

:'''Book 9'''
:*Dunbar's "The Ballade of Lord Bernard Stewart".

The same volume contains two other Scottish booklets from the Sixteenth Century.

:'''Book 10'''
:*[[William Dunbar|Dunbar's]] [[The Tua Mariit Wemen and the Wedo]], [[Lament for the Makaris]] and "The Testament of Mr Andro Kennedy".
:*"Kynd Kittok". Erroneously ascribed to Dunbar{{citation needed|reason=most critical sources state otherwise|date=October 2015}}.

:'''Book 11'''
:*"A Gest of Robin Hood". A ballad of [[Robin Hood]].

The prints have a page height of approximately 15&nbsp;cm and include the [[woodcut]] devices of Myllar and Chepman.<ref name="C and M prints"/>

The National Library of Scotland speculates that these chapbooks may have been [[Prototype|test-pieces]] for the press. Their sale would also have provided a source of income for the new enterprise.<ref name="C and M prints"/>

===The Aberdeen Breviary===
[[File:Aberdeen Breviary, Litany of Saints.jpg|300px|thumb| A litany of saints from the [[Aberdeen Breviary]]. Scottish Saints are prominent including, [[Saint Mungo|Kentigern]], [[Æbbe of Coldingham|Ebba]] and [[Triduana]].  ([[Edinburgh University Library]]).]]
The [[Aberdeen Breviary]] or "Brevarium Aberdonense" is the largest surviving product of Chepman and Myllar's press.<ref name="NLS Breviary"/><ref name="Edinburgh Breviary">[http://www.lib.ed.ac.uk/resources/collections/specdivision/ch200803.shtml The Aberdeen Breviary at Edinburgh University Library.]</ref>

Produced between 1509 and 1510, it is a substantial Latin text consisting of two volumes printed in black and red.

Breviaries are handbooks intended to guide priests in conducting Catholic religious ceremonies. They include a [[psalter]] and prayers to mark particular [[Calendar of saints|festivals and saints' days]]. The content of breviaries varied across Catholic Europe, with the English [[Sarum Rite|Salisbury or Sarum Rite]] dominant throughout the British Isles.

The Breviary was compiled by Bishop [[William Elphinstone]] of Aberdeen and aimed to give the rituals of the Scottish Church a character distinctive from that in [[Kingdom of England|England]] and its dependencies. More than seventy of the saints honoured by it are identified with Scotland.<ref name="Macdougall2">Norman Macdougall, The Stewart Dynasty in Scotland, James IV, Tuckwell press, 1997, pp. 262–263.</ref> As such, it forms part of the policy set out in the charter which established the press;<ref name="Privy Seal"/>

:''that in tyme cuming mess bukis, manualis, matyne bukis and [[Breviary|portuus bukis]] efter our awin Scottis use, and with legendis of Scottis sanctis, be usit generaly within al our Realme alssone as the sammyn may be imprentit and providit.''

Copies of the Aberdeen Breviary survive, in varying degrees of completeness, at [[Edinburgh University]], [[Aberdeen University]], [[National Library of Scotland|The National Library of Scotland]], [[British Library|The British Library]] and a private collection.<ref name="Edinburgh Breviary"/>

===Fragments===
Fragmentary remains of two further publications survive whose [[typeface]] matches that of the Chepman and Myllar press.

These were [[Blind Harry]]'s ''[[The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace|The Wallace]]'' and [[Richard Holland|Holland's]] ''[[Buke of the Howlat|The Buke of the Howlat]]''.<ref name="Howlat Fragment">{{Cite web |url=http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/deptserv/rarebooks/featuredbook.html |title=Cambridge University Library |access-date=10 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121122050110/http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/deptserv/rarebooks/featuredbook.html |archive-date=22 November 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The fragments of ''The Wallace'' are preserved at Glasgow's [[Mitchell Library]] and [[Cambridge University Library]]. The fragment of ''The Howlat'' is kept at Cambridge.<ref name="Howlat Fragment"/>

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

==See also==
* [[Global spread of the printing press]]
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:16th-century printers]]
[[Category:Scottish printers]]
[[Category:16th century in Scotland]]
[[Category:1508 establishments in Scotland]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies based in Edinburgh]]
[[Category:History of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Defunct companies of Scotland]]
[[Category:Partnerships]]
[[Category:Former monopolies]]
[[Category:1510 disestablishments in Scotland]]
[[Category:Organisations based in Edinburgh with royal patronage]]
[[Category:Scottish literature]]
[[Category:Publishing companies established in the 16th century]]
[[Category:Companies disestablished in the 16th century]]
[[Category:16th-century Scottish businesspeople]]