Publishing in Scotland to 1800

Brown, R. (2024) Publishing in Scotland to 1800. In: Carruthers, G. (ed.) Wiley Blackwell Companion to Scottish Literature. Wiley Blackwell: Hoboken, NJ, pp. 180-191. ISBN 9781119651444 (doi: 10.1002/9781119651550.ch15)

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Abstract

The bulk of scholarship on the evolution of the Scottish periodical press has focused on the nineteenth century, in which the relaunched Edinburgh Review and its Tory rival, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine , began and maintained their long reign over Scottish readers. The path of periodicals publishers in eighteenth-century Scotland was littered with obstacles: they had to contend with strong competition from the London press, as well as heavy taxation, including the introduction of stamp duty on paper, and, later, further taxes on newspapers and advertisements. James Watson was a key figure in early eighteenth-century publishing, being responsible for ‘at least nine different news and journal publications, making him the most active agent in the frenetic newspaper market of early eighteenth-century Edinburgh’. Walter Ruddiman was able to evade the stamp tax even while printing local, national and international news, because his magazine did not comfortably fit the Stamp Act's definition of a newspaper.

Item Type:Book Sections
Additional Information:eISBN: 9781119651536
Status:Published
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Brown, Professor Rhona
Authors: Brown, R.
Subjects:P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN0441 Literary History
College/School:College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > Scottish Literature
Publisher:Wiley Blackwell
ISBN:9781119651444
Published Online:01 December 2023
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