BURNS IN A PRINTING-OFFICE. 



191 



tered himself that, by the assist- 

 ance of Didot, not a single typogra- 

 phical error should be found in that 

 splendid volume. 



" But an error was afterwards 

 discovered in some of the copies, 

 occasioned by one of the letters in 

 the word Lusitano having got mis- 

 placed during the working of one 

 of the sheets. It must be confessed 

 that this was an accident or mis- 

 fortune, rather than an erratum ! " 

 The celebrated Foulises, of Glas- 

 gow, attempted to publish a work 

 which should be a perfect specimen 

 of typographical accuracy. Every 

 precaution was taken to secure the 

 desired result. Six experienced 

 proof-readers were employed, who 

 devoted hours to the reading of 

 each page ; and after it was thought 

 to be perfect, it was posted up in 

 the hall of the university, with a 

 notification that a reward of fifty 

 pounds would be paid to any per- 

 son who could discover an error. 

 Each page was suffered to remain 

 two weeks in the place where it 

 had been posted, before the work was 

 printed, and the printers thought 

 that they had attained the object 

 for which they had been striving. 

 When the work was issued, it was 

 discovered that several errors had 

 been committed, one of which was 

 in the first line of the first page. 

 The Foulis' editions of classical 

 works are still much prized by 

 scholars and collectors. 



BURNS IN A PRINTING-OFFICE. 



The following anecdote is related 

 by Robert Chahibers : 



"Meanwhile the preparation of 

 the new edition was going rapidly 

 on in the printing-office of William 

 Smellie a man who, like Creech, 

 mingled literary labours with those 

 attending one of the trades of lite- 

 rature. 



" There was a vast fund of know- 

 ledge, shrewdness, and talent under 

 the rude exterior of Smellie. In his 



office, at the foot of Anchor Close, 

 he had done typographic duty for 

 Gilbert Stuart, Robert Fergusson, 

 Dr. Robertson, Hugo Arnot, Adam 

 Smith, and many others of the re- 

 cent and living literati of Scotland, 

 all of whom had been his personal 

 friends. 



" His son, Alexander, who lately 

 died at an advanced age, perfectly 

 remembered the visits of the Ayr- 

 shire Ploughman to the composing- 

 room, along which he would walk 

 about three or four times, cracking 

 a whip which he carried, to the no 

 small surprise of the men. He paid 

 no attention to his own copy under 

 their hands, but looked at any other 

 which he saw lying on the cases. 



" One day he asked a man how 

 many languages he was acquainted 

 with. ' Indeed, sir,' replied the 

 man, ' I've enough ado wi' my ain.' 

 Burns remarked that behind there 

 was one of his companions setting 1 

 up a Gaelic Bible, and another com- 

 posing from a Hebrew Grammar. 

 'These two,' said the compositor, 

 ' are the greatest dolts in the house.' 

 Burns seemed amused by the re- 

 mark, and said he would take a 

 note of it. 



" Mr. Alexander Smellie also- 

 communicated the following anec- 

 dote : There was a particular stol 

 in the office, which Burns uniformly 

 occupied while correcting his proof- 

 sheets ; as he would not sit on any 

 other, it always bore the name of 

 Burns' stool. It is still (1844) in 

 the office, and in the same situation 

 where it was when Burns sat on it. 



"At this time, Sir John Dal- 

 rymple was printing, in Mr. Smel- 

 lie's office, an Essay on the Proper- 

 ties of Coal Tar. One day it hap- 

 pened that Sir John occupied the 

 stool, when Burns came into the 

 correcting-room, looking for his fa- 

 vourite seat. It was known that 

 what Burns wanted was his stool ; 

 but before saying anything to Sir 

 John on the subject, Burns was re- 



