Androw Myllar
Androw Myllar | |
|---|---|
| Occupation(s) | Printer, bookseller |
| Years active | circa 1503–1508 |
| Known for | First printer in Scotland; co-founder of Edinburgh press with Walter Chepman |
Androw Myllar (active circa 1503–1508) holds the distinction of being Scotland’s inaugural printer and was engaged as a bookseller from at least 1503. He is documented to have commissioned two printed works in 1505 and 1506, which were probably produced in Rouen. On 15 September 1507, Myllar, together with Walter Chepman, obtained a royal patent from James IV permitting them to establish a printing press within Scotland. Their Edinburgh-based press released the earliest known Scottish-printed book, The Complaint of the Black Knight, on 4 April 1508. There are no subsequent records of Myllar’s endeavors after that year, nor is there proof of his participation in the 1510 publication of the Aberdeen Breviary, which was financed by Chepman and played a key role in initiating printing in Scotland.
Background
A burgess of Edinburgh and a bookseller by profession, Myllar may have combined bookselling with other commercial activities. Historical accounts reveal payments made to him for supplying significant legal and theological texts. For instance, on 29 March 1503, he was paid 10 Scots pounds for providing works such as Decretum Magnum and Opera Gersonis. Another transaction dated 22 December 1507 records payment for three printed volumes delivered to the king by Myllar’s wife.
The earliest book bearing Myllar’s imprint is a 1505 edition of Joannes de Garlandia’s Multorum vocabulorum equiuocorum interpretation, featuring a colophon that acknowledges his involvement in its meticulous production. The following year saw the printing of the Expositio Sequentiarum (aligned with the Sarum rite), distinguished by Myllar’s printer’s emblem depicting a windmill alongside a miller carrying grain. Both editions were likely printed abroad; initially attributed to Laurence Hostingue’s press in Rouen, subsequent findings suggest they originated from Pierre Violette’s workshop.
Encouraged by William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen, who was adapting the Sarum breviary for his diocese, James IV granted Myllar and Chepman a patent on 15 September 1507. This license authorized them to import printing machinery and skilled artisans to produce books encompassing legal codes, parliamentary records, chronicles, missals, and other texts in Scots—including supplements and legends concerning Scottish saints—with exclusive rights to sell these publications at fair prices.
Printing
While Chepman provided the necessary capital, Myllar secured typefaces from France—most likely Rouen—to establish Scotland’s first printing operation in a property located at the base of Blackfriars Wynd, Southgait (present-day Cowgate) in Edinburgh. On 4 April 1508, they published Scotland’s pioneering printed book, The Maying or Disport of Chaucer (commonly known as The Complaint of the Black Knight), penned by Lydgate. This fourteen-leaf tract features Chepman’s printer’s mark on its title page and Myllar’s device at its conclusion. The sole surviving copy has been preserved by the Library of the Faculty of Advocates since 1788.
This volume also contains ten other unique works, eight originating from the Southgait press; only two—The Maying or Disport of Chaucer and William Dunbar’s The Goldyn Targe—remain complete. Four tracts bear both Chepman’s and Myllar’s printer marks, while three display only Myllar’s emblem.
Other titles with known dates include:
- The Knightly Tale of Golagros and Gawane, dated 8 April 1508
- The Porteous of Nobleness, a translation of Alain Chartier's "Le Bréviaire des nobles", dated 20 April 1508
- Syr Eglamoure of Artoys
- The Goldyn Targe, authored by William Dunbar
- Ane Buke of Gude Counsale to the King
- The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy
- The Tale of Orpheus and Erudices his Quene, written by Robert Henryson
- The Ballade of Lord Barnard Stewart, by William Dunbar
Two further works—Dunbar’s The Tretis of the Twa Mariit Wemen and the Wedo and A Gest of Robyn Hode—are included in this same collection but were printed using different types, with no conclusive evidence linking them to this initial Scottish press. Circa 1510, under Walter Chepman’s patronage and management, the Aberdeen Breviary was produced; this publication largely inspired the establishment of printing in Scotland, though the identity of its printer remains unknown. Following this significant undertaking, Androw Myllar vanishes from historical documentation.
Further reading
- Dickson and Edmond's Annals of Scottish Printing, published in 1890
- Gordon Duff's Early Printed Books, released in 1893
- The Knightly Tale of Golagros and Gawane and other Ancient Poems, edited by David Laing, 1827
- Breuiarium Aberdonense, featuring a preface by David Laing (Bannatyne Club), 1854