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Walter Chepman and Andrew Myllar Issue the First Book Printed in Scotland

4/4/1508
Device of printer Walter Chepman on the first page of the vernacular poem by John Lydgate

Device of printer Walter Chepman on the first page of the vernacular poem by John Lydgate 'The Complaint of the Black Knight'. This was the first book printed in Scotland. From the only surviving copy in the National Library of Scotland.

 The printer's mark of Androw Myllar, who together with Walter Chepman became the first printer in Scotland under King James IV.

On September 15, 1507 James IV of Scotland granted Walter Chepman, an Edinburgh merchant, and his business partner Androw Myllar, a printer and bookseller, the first royal licence for printing in Scotland. The first printed book with a definite date from this press was a vernacular poem by John Lydgate The Complaint of the Black Knight which was printed on  April 4, 1508 on the press they had set up, near what is now Edinburgh's Cowgate. The only known copy is held in the National Library of Scotland.

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