Read this text »

(445 pages)

Bishop Hamilton's The catechisme is intended to make the doctrines of the faith accessible to the people. For this reason, the catechism was written in Scots. The exact day when printing finished was ‘the xxix. day of August, the zeir of our Lord M.D.liii'. [= 'the 29 day of August, the year of our Lord 1553.']

About the printer

The catechisme was the first book produced on the first press set up in St Andrews, in 1552. The printer, John Scot, first worked in Edinburgh. Then he was active in St Andrews between 1552 and 1555.

His subsequent books mention no place of printing, but he was certainly active in Edinburgh in 1562. In that year the magistrates of Edinburgh imprisoned him and confiscated his printing equipment. By 1568 he was out of custody. The last work that we know he printed dates from 1571.

See also

• More about the 1552 catechisme