9. Story Books, Godly Books, Ballads, and Song Books: The Chapbook in Scotland, 1740–1820

The widespread presence of the chapbook in Scotland (not to be confused with the Scottish chapbook) over the later decades of the eighteenth century (thus covering the period of its highest production) is subjected to a number of detailed considerations. The production of such material was dominated by a relatively few firms, and the greatest number of chapbooks themselves emanated at this period from Glasgow, followed by Edinburgh. The activities of the printers and publishers John Morren, Edinburgh, and the Robertson family, Glasgow, are given particular attention. Some chapbook publishers, as with James Chalmers of Aberdeen, evidently regarded their production as a small but integral part of their broader printing activities, while for others it came close to a monopoly.