Searching for the "Vanguard of an Army of Scots" in the Early Canadian Book Trade‪.‬

From the Gaelic culture on Cape Breton to tartan skirts in Victoria and Celtic rock music in the prairies, aspects of Scottish culture are in clear evidence across Canada today. Historically, Scottish influences in Canada have been documented by many writers, from early relatively anecdotal writings,(3) to more recent scholarly studies which attempt both to quantify and qualify the role of Scots in the development of Canada's economic, cultural and political life.(4) The involvement of Scots in Canadian print culture, whilst alluded to by such scholars as George Parker,(5) is not revealed in the imprints of items printed in Canada in this early period. This paper is drawn from a study which systematically researches the input of the Scots in English-language book availability in six Canadian towns in the period 1752 to 1820: Halifax, Saint John, Quebec, Montreal, Kingston and York, with the emphasis on Halifax.(6) The input is examined from the perspective of the personnel involved in the book trade in its broadest sense. The paper provides a glimpse of the myriad contributions made by Scots, both within and outwith the trade. As the paper will demonstrate, it was the separate efforts of relatively small merchant enterprises which formed the early infrastructure for the dissemination of books from Scotland to Canada.