Robert Foulis (20 April 1707 – 2 June 1776) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James Printer (1640 ...

and

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

Biography

Publishing

Robert Foulis was born the son of a maltman. He was apprenticed to a

barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a barbershop or the barber's. Barbershops have been noted places of social interaction and public discourse ...

, but was encouraged to become a publisher by Francis Hutcheson who was impressed by his ability. After spending 1738 and 1739 in England and France in company with his brother

Andrew Andrew is the English form of the given name, common in many countries. The word is derived from the , ''Andreas'', itself related to ''aner/andros'', "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "brave", "strong", "c ...

, who had been intended for the church and had received a better education, Robert set up a publishing business in 1741 in Glasgow, and in 1742 acquired his own press. He bought

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

from the renowned type-maker and punch-cutter Alexander Wilson. In 1743, he was appointed printer to the

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

. In the same year he produced the first Greek book published in Glasgow, namely the ''De Elocutione'' by

Demetrius Phalereus Demetrius of Phalerum (also Demetrius of Phaleron or Demetrius Phalereus; ; c. 350 – c. 280 BC) was an Athenian orator originally from Phalerum, an ancient port of Athens. A student of Theophrastus, and perhaps of Aristotle, he was one of the ...

. It was also offered in Latin. Soon he went into partnership with his brother. Their press published books in English, Latin, Greek, French and Italian that were noticeable for their quality. Indeed, the brothers were sometimes referred to as "the Elzevirs of Britain." They spared no pains, and Robert went to France to procure manuscripts of the classics, and to engage a skilled engraver and a copper-plate printer. Among authors whose works were published by the Foulis press were

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

, Milton and

Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, and classics, classical scholar at Cambridge University, being a fellow first of Peterhouse then of Pembroke College, Cambridge, Pembroke College. He is widely ...

. The Homer, for which

John Flaxman John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several yea ...

's designs were executed, is perhaps the most famous production of the Foulis press. Famous as well, the

12mo Bookbinding is the process of building a book, usually in codex format, from an ordered stack of paper sheets with one's hands and tools, or in modern publishing, by a series of automated processes. Firstly, one binds the sheets of papers alon ...

edition of Horace was long, but erroneously, believed to be immaculate: though the successive sheets were posted in the university and a reward offered for the discovery of any inaccuracy, six errors at least, according to

Thomas Frognall Dibdin Thomas Frognall Dibdin (177618 November 1847) was an English bibliographer, born in Calcutta to Thomas Dibdin, the sailor brother of the composer Charles Dibdin. Dibdin was orphaned at a young age. His father and mother died in 1780 while re ...

, escaped detection; three of those were found by Duke Gordon. The names of the brothers are often reproduced on

title-page The title page of a book, thesis or other written work is the page at or near the front which displays its title, subtitle, author, publisher, and edition, often artistically decorated. (A half title, by contrast, displays only the title of a wor ...

s and colophons of their publications in their

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

ized form, ''"Robertus et Andreas Foulis"''.

The Foulis Academy

The brothers had an ambition to establish an institution for the encouragement of the

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

s. Though one of their chief patrons, the earl of Northumberland, warned them to "print for posterity and prosper," they spent their money in collecting pictures, pieces of sculpture and models, in paying for the education and traveling of youthful artists, and in copying the masterpieces of foreign art. The Foulis Academy was established in Glasgow in 1753. In the teachers it attracted from France and Italy and the collection of paintings it made available to students it brought a new sophistication to art-training in Scotland. William Cochran and Archibald McLauchlan were among the artists who benefited from its travelling scholarships. Skinner, Basil (1966), ''Scots in Italy in the 18th Century'',

National Galleries of Scotland The National Galleries of Scotland (, sometimes also known as National Galleries Scotland) is the executive non-departmental public body that controls the three national galleries of Scotland and two partner galleries, forming one of the Nation ...

, Edinburgh, pp. 25 7 26 However, the Academy was not a financial success, and left its founders in straightened circumstances. Robert went to London, hoping to realize a large sum by the sale of his pictures. They were sold for much less than he anticipated. Robert was the author of a ''Catalogue of Paintings with Critical Remarks''.

Death and legacy

The brothers were buried in the

Ramshorn Cemetery The Ramshorn Cemetery is a cemetery in Scotland and one of Glasgow's older burial grounds, located within the Merchant City district, and along with its The Ramshorn, accompanying church, is owned by the University of Strathclyde. It has had v ...

. Due to a widening of Ingram Street the graves now lie beneath the pavement but are still marked, using their initials in the paving. The business was afterwards carried on under the same name by Robert's son Andrew. W. J. Duncan's ''Notices and Documents illustrative of the Literary History of Glasgow'', printed for the Maitland Club in 1831, among other things contains a catalogue of the works printed at the Foulis press, and pictures, statues and busts in plaster of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

produced at the Academy in the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

References

Famous Glaswegians: Robert Foulis

The Glasgow Story: Robert Foulis and Andrew Foulis
* * The Foulis Press and The Foulis Academy - Glasgow's Eighteenth-Century School of Art and Design, by George Fairfull-Smith, 2001

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foulis, Robert 1707 births 1776 deaths Scottish printers 18th-century Scottish publishers (people) Scottish company founders People associated with the University of Glasgow People of the Scottish Enlightenment 18th-century printers