[Scottish National Memorials Contents]
‘TRVE / CHRISTIAN / LOVE. / To bee sung with any of the / common tunes of the / Psalmes. / Col. 3. 16 / Let the Word of CHRIST dwell in you rich– / ly in all wisdome; teaching and admonish– / ing one another, in Psalmes and Hymmes / and spirituall songs, singing with a grace / in your hearts to the LORD. / Printed by I. W. for lohn Wilson / and are to be sould at his shop / in GLASGOW. 1634.’ 16mo. Title within ornamental border.
This is the earliest known Glasgow imprint. but it is doubtful whether the book was actually printed in Glasgow. I. W. has been conjectured to stand for lohn Wreittoun, Printer in Edinburgh (d. 1640). The evidence is, however, of a negative character. As will be explained in the following note, it is known that a printing press was set up in Glasgow in 1638, under the patronage and with the support of the magistrates, and its subsequent history is well known. It is argued that if I. W. had been a printer in Glasgow, other works would have issued from his press, and he would have had the same encouragement as Anderson had in 1638, and there would have been some notice of him in the records of the Town Council. This, however, does not necessarily follow. I. W. may have failed for want of encouragement by the authorities; he may have been disappointed by the results of his first venture; or he may have died or left Glasgow. The expression ‘I. W. for John Wilson’ does not prove that I. W. was not in Glasgow. As will have been observed in the case of Raban’s Psalms, the imprint is ‘Printed by Edward Raban, 1633. For David Melvill’; and the same is found in several others of Raban’s books, but there is no doubt that he was printing in Aberdeen.
An argument in favour of Wreittoun being the printer is that Zachary Boyd employed him in 1629 and 1633 to print and publish three of his works; but, on the other hand, John Wilson is not connected with them.
The author of True Christian Lore was David Dickson, son of John Dickson, merchant in Glasgow. He was educated at Glasgow, and became a Regent in the University. In 1618 he was ordained minister of Irvine, where he laboured for twenty-nine years. In 1641 he was appointed Professor of Divinity in the University of Glasgow; and in 1650 he was transferred to the same chair in the University of Edinburgh. He died in the beginning of 1663.
Dickson was also the author of some other poetical pieces, ‘The Christian Sacrifice,’ and ‘O Mother dear Jerusalem,’ which at one time were favourites with the country people. He was one of the authors of The Sum of Saving Knowledge, and of The Directory for Public Worship; and wrote many exegetical works. Of these there were printed in Glasgow by George Anderson the following:-
Expositio analytica omnium Apostolicarum Epistolarum. 4to. 1645 and again 1647.
A brief Exposition of the Gospel according to Matthew. 4to. Printed in Hutchesons’ Hospital. 1647.
The present copy is imperfect. It formerly belonged to George Chalmers, and later to Alexander Gardyne, who wrote a note regarding it in the Reformers’ Gazette, under the initials of J. O., afterwards reprinted in Northern Notes and Queries, No. clxxxiii.
A copy of the 1634 edition of True Christian Love was advertised for sale by B. Quaritch, April 1880, price £20. A copy in David Laing’s sale, Part I., No. 1080, brought £16. (See Fig. 127.)
(1579) Lent by GEORGE GRAY.
‘THE / PROTESTATION / of the Generall / Assemblie of the / Church of Scotland, and of the Noblemen, Barons, / Gentlemen, Borrowes, Mi / nisters and Commons; / Subscribers of the Covenant, lately / renewed, made in the high Kirk, and at the / Mercate Crosse of Glasgow, the 28, and 29, / of November 1638. / [Woodcut] Printed at Glasgow by George Anderson / in the Yeare of Grace, 1638. / 4to.’ Pp. 15.
In 1638 the Magistrates of Glasgow arranged with George Anderson, printer in Edinburgh, to transfer his business to Glasgow, and agreed to defray the cost of transporting his plant and to pay him an annual salary of £66, 13s. 4d. Scots = £5, 11s. 1½d. sterling, beginning at Whitsunday of that year. So far as is known, the above is the first piece of work which he executed in Glasgow. It could scarcely have been printed before December, and from Abernethie’s Abjuration it would seem that he was still printing in Edinburgh in the end of August. It is probable, therefore, that he did not remove from Edinburgh until Martinmas 1638. (See Fig. 80, page 92.)
(837) Lent by GEORGE GRAY.
Alongside of the Protestation, Anderson’s first work in Glasgow, it is interesting to place the following:-
(1) ‘Abjuration of Pope- / rie, by Thomas Abernethie: / Sometime Jesuite, but now penitent / Sinner, and an unworthie Member of the true reformed Church of God in / Scotland, at Edinburgh, in the Gray- / frier Church, the 24 of August, 1638. / … Printed at Edinburgh, in King James his / College, by George Anderson, 1638. /’ 4to. Pp. 48.
(2) ‘A / Warning to come / out of Babylon, / In a Sermon preached by Master / Andrew Ramsay, Minister at / Edinburgh; At the receiving of Mr. Thomas Abernethie, / sometime Jesuite, into the societie of the true– / ly reformed Church of Scotland… Printed at Edinburgh, in King James his / College, by George Anderson. 1638.’ 4to. Pp. 46.
(3) ‘The / Declinator / and Protestation / of the / Archbishops and Bishops, of the Church / of Scotland, and others their / adherents within that Kingdome, / Against the pretended Generall Assembly / holden at Glasgow Novemb. 21. / 1638. / London, / Printed by John Ravvorth, for George / Thomason and Octavius Pullen, and are to be / sold at their shop, at the Rose in S. Paul’s Churchyard, 1639. /’ 4to.
MacVean says that George Anderson printed many of the pamphlets relating to the troubles before the commencement of the Civil War, but without adding his name. Amongst these was-
‘An / Assertion / of The Government of the Church / of / Scotland, / in / The Points of Ruling-Elders, and of / the Authority of Presbyteries and Synods. / With a Postscript in answer to a Treatise lately / published against Presbyteriall Government / … Printed in the year, 1641.’
The author was Rev. George Gillespie, then minister of Wemyss, afterwards of Edinburgh. According to the late Sir James Gibson-Craig this very scarce pamphlet was printed at Glasgow.
‘A CLEARE FORME OF CATECHI / SING before the giving of / the Sacrament of the / Lords Supper. / To this are subjoined two com- / pends of the Catechisme, fit / fo little Children. / John XVIII. vers. 3. / This is life eternall, to know thee the onely / true GOD, and Jesus Christ whom / thou hast sent. / By M. Zacharie Boyd, Preacher of / God’s Word at Glasgow / [Woodcut.] Printed at Glasgow by George / Anderson, 1639. /’ 12mo. Pp. 119.
Dedication ‘To The Religious and Noble Ladle, the Countess of Argyle. From Glasgow the 14 of Ianuar 1639.’
The Compend of the Catechism is dedicated ‘To the Noble Lady D. Anne Campbell, Daughter to the Noble and Potent Earle of Argyle &c. From Glasgow the 19 of Ianuar, 1639.’
This, so far as can be ascertained apart from the pamphlet No. 837 (p. 175), is the first book printed in Glasgow by Anderson, and if Dickson’s True Christian Love be excepted, the first book printed in Glasgow. Fortunately this copy is perfect. An account of the work appeared in the Glasgow Herald of 5th September 1876.
Zachary Boyd kept Anderson well employed. The following issued from his press:
Four Letters of Comforts on the deaths of the Earle of Haddingtoune and the Lord Boyd, 8vo, 1640; The Battell of Newbvrne, 2d edition, 8vo, 1643; Crosses, Comforts, and Councels, 8vo, 1643; The Garden of Zion, 2 vols. 8vo, 1644; The Holie Songs of the Old and New Testament, 1645; The Psalms of David in Meeter, 3d edition, 12mo, 1646.
Book-collectors have recently taken a craze for Boyd’s works, and The Last Battell of the Soule in Death, by no means an uncommon book in perfect condition, and still oftener to be met with wanting a few leaves, commands fabulous prices. In 1842 this work, together with Boyd’s Two Oriental Pearles, his Crosses and Comforts, and sundry other tracts, produced at the sale of George Chalmers’s Library, only £2, 5s. There is a copy of the Crosses and Comforts in the Advocates’ Library, and another was sold at David Laing’s sale. (See Fig. 128.)
(807) Lent by ALEXANDER MACDONALD.
‘THE, GARDEN, OF / ZION; wherein the life and death of / godly and wicked men in Scriptures are to bee seene; from Adam unto / the last of the Kings of Judah and / Israel, with the good uses of / their life and death.
In this Garden consider and take heed
The fragrant flower growes hard beside the weed.
A precept for the right use of the Booke:
Love those who have their race in God’s fear runne,
But rogues as rockes in sea see that thou shunne.
Printed AT GLASGOW / by George Anderson. 1644.’ / Pp. 441.
This is a very curious work, and very rare. It is fully described by the late Gabriel Neil of Glasgow, in his Four Poems from ‘Zion’s Flowers,’ Glasgow, 1855.
The following refers to the death of Jacob:-
At last on bed most ready for to die,
To all his Sonnes he left a Legacie;
To some reproofs, to some comforts most sweet,
When he had done he gathered tip his feet.
This was so favourably received that in the course of four months he issued a second volume.
‘THE / SECOND VOLUME / of / THE GARDEN / of ZION; containing Bookes of / Job, Proverbs, Ecclesia / stes, and Song of Songs, all / in English verse. / By M. Zachary Boyd. / GLASGOW, / Printed by George Anderson / 1644. /’ Pp. 440.
There is a copy of both volumes in the Advocates’ Library. The above copy is imperfect – the first volume wanting the title-page.
(808) Lent by A. C. McINTYRE.
‘קצור הֵךּקךוּק Hebrææ / Linguæ In- / stitutiones compen- / diosissimæ & facilli– / mæ, in Discipulorum gra- / tiam primùm concinnatæ. / Nunc vero / In Juventutis ubiq. studiofæ & / eorum præcipuè gratiam, qui The- / ologiæ sacrosanctæ navant / operam, in lucem editæ; / A M. loa. Row, tunc Moderatore / Scholæ Perthanæ; nunc vero Ec- / clesiæ Aberdonenfis Pastore. / : אנלא : עמ׳ עשו / Glasguæ / Excudebat Georgius Andersonus, / Anno partus Salutiferi / אםמך . i. 1644.’ (See Fig. 129.)
‘אָלֶף הֵךּבֵךים / ΧΙΛΙΑΣ / Hebraica: / Seu, / Vocabvlarivm / Continens præcipuas / radices Linguæ He– / brææ, Numero 1000. / Cui accessit Index Alphabeticus / Propriorum, &c. supra 1200. / Item Rudimenta Pietatis / Hebraïcè descripta cum / interpretatione / A M. loa. Row Pastore Ecclesiæ / ABDNS. / Glasguæ / Excudebat Georgius Andersonus, / Anno Christogonias / M.DC .XLIV.’ 18mo. The book is bound in green morocco, richly tooled and gilt, and being a fine example of Scottish craftsmanship of the early eighteenth century it is reproduced in Plate XXV.
This is the first Hebrew book printed in Glasgow, and one of the first printed in Scotland.
John Row, Principal of King’s College, Aberdeen, was the son of John Row, the author of the History of the Kirk of Scotland, and grandson of John Row the Reformer, the first Protestant minister of Perth. The latter is said to have been the first who introduced the study of the Hebrew language into Scotland, a knowledge of which he had acquired on the Continent. His son John (the historian) learned it before he was seven years of age, and taught it to his master when sent to the grammar-school of Perth. The first edition of Principal Row’s Hebrew Grammar was published in 1634, and the first edition of his Vocabulary in 1643.
His younger brother, James Row, minister of Monivaird and Strowan, was the author of the famous ‘Pockmanty Sermon,’ preached in St. Giles’s Church, Edinburgh, on the last Sunday of July 1638, first printed in London in 1642, under the title ‘The Red Shankes Sermon.’
(1550) Lent by DAVID MURRAY, LL.D.
Plate XXV. – HEBRÆÆ LINGUÆ (Scottish Binding Circa 1716).
‘A / VINDICATION / of the Authority, / Constitution, and Laws / of the Church and State / of Scotland. / In Four Conferences. / Wherein the Answer to the Dialogues betwixt / the Conformist and the Non-con / formist, is examined. / By GILBERT BURNET, Professor / of Theology in Glasgow. GLASGOW, By ROBERT SANDERS, Printer / to the City, and University. / M. DC. LXXIII.’ 12mo.; with which is bound up
‘OBSERVATIONS / on the First and Second of the Canons, / commonly ascribed to the / 
/ Wherein / an Account of the Primitive Con- / stitution and Government of / Churches is contained. / Drawn from ancient and acknowledged writings. / GLASGOW, / By Robert Sanders, Printer to the City and / University, / 1673.’ 12mo.
Two in one.
The Vindication is dedicated to the Duke of Lauderdale, His Majestie’s High Commissioner for Scotland. The author was afterwards the celebrated Bishop of Sarum.
(1552) Lent by JOHN WILLIAM BURNS.
‘THE / CHERRY / and the / Slae, / with other / Poems. / By Captain / Alexander Montgomery. / Glasgow: / Printed and Sold by Robert and Andrew Foulis. / MDCCLL. /’ 12mo.
This and a later Glasgow edition, published by Robert Urie in 1754, are two of the standard editions used in the preparation of Montgomerie’s poems for the Scottish Text Society.
No MS. of ‘The Cherrie and the Slae’ is known to exist, and the principal authority for the text is an edition, ‘Edinbvrgh: Printed be Robert Walde-graue, Printer to the King’s Majestie, Anno Domini 1597,’ 4to; and reprinted the same year, likewise by Waldegrave.
There are several Glasgow issues besides those above mentioned; 12mo, Robert Sanders, 1668; 12mo, Robert Foulis, 1746; 18mo, G. Hall, 1757; 12mo, 1768.
It may be interesting to note in connection with Archbishop Beaton’s Bible (see p. 66) that James VI. granted Montgomery a pension of 500 merks from the rents of the archbishopric of Glasgow. He apparently had great difficulty in collecting it, and had to raise an action in the Court of Session to compel payment. The defenders seem to have taken some plea founded upon the rights of the Archbishop, for in one of his sonnets (No. xix.), the poet says:-
‘Mak Bishop Betone vhat they lyk to be:
He must perforce be ather quik or deid.’
James VI., in 1581, granted the archbishopric to Mr. Robert Montgomery, minister of Stirling, second son of Hugh Montgomerie of Hessilhead in the parish of Beith, for the ulterior purpose, it is believed, of creating gifts through a titular holder of the see. Captain Montgomery is generally supposed to have been brother of this Archbishop, and the fact of his pension is strong evidence that the supposition is well founded, and clears up the long-disputed question of his family and descent.
(692) Lent by WILLIAM MACMATH.
‘POEMS / on / Several Occasions. / Glasgow: / Printed and sold by Robert and Andrew Foulis, / MDCCXLVIII. /’ 12mo, pp. 6, 148.
These are the poems of William Hamilton of Bangour in Linlithgowshire, born in 1704. He was for some years a bright figure in the literary society of Edinburgh, but, having strong Jacobite tendencies, he joined the standard of the young Chevalier in the ‘45, and after Culloden was obliged to take refuge on the Continent. He was pardoned, and returned to Scotland, but ill-health again compelled him to return to France, where he died in 1754. His ballad, ‘Busk ye, busk ye, my bonnie, bonnie bride!’ suggested to Wordsworth his ‘Yarrow Unvisited,’ and its sequel.
The present volume was published when the author was abroad, not only without his consent, but without his knowledge. The preface is understood to have been written by Adam Smith. The collection was reprinted by the same publishers in 1749; and in 1758 they published a third edition, but with the author’s name attached, and with a dedication ‘To the Memory of Mr. William Crawford, merchant in Glasgow, the friend of Mr. Hamilton.’ A fourth edition was issued at Edinburgh in 1760, with a preface by David Rae, advocate, afterwards (1782) Lord Eskgrove.
Although the first edition was published in the author’s absence, it seems probable from the fact of the later edition being dedicated to Mr. Crawford’s memory that he assisted in its preparation. Hamilton communicated several of his pieces to him in MS., and seems to have consulted him generally in reference to his writings.
Amongst the poems of later editions are two from a young lady in Glasgow (ed. Paterson. pp. 92, 94). Hamilton appears to have been at Glasgow in January 1746.
(691) Lent by WILLIAM MACMATH.
