Andrew Foulis

Andrew Foulis (1712 – 18 September 1775) was a Scottish printer, brother of Robert Foulis. They worked in partnership as printers to the University of Glasgow publishing many books in Latin and Greek, and reaching fame in printing and in art.^[1]

Biography

Andrew Foulis was the son of a Glasgow barber and maltman (brewer), named Andrew Faulls (or Faulds). Andrew's brother was Robert Foulis, and both reached fame in printing and in art.^[2]

Andrew Foulis, was intended to be trained for the church, and hence received the better education than Robert Foulis, who was intending to take up his father's trade as a barber. However, Robert still sat in on classes at the University of Glasgow and received an unofficial education and a formal mentor from Francis Hutcheson. Both Andrew and Robert had changed their surname from Faulls to Foulis in the 1730s. Robert shared a passion with Andrew Foulis for knowledge and found the way for them to contribute to academia beyond a professorship; also, the professor Francis Hutcheson was the first person to encourage Robert to take up an interest in Book selling and printing. Robert had initially started the press, however Andrew Foulis had joined in on the venture to form a partnership after spending 1738 and 1739 in England and France together. In Paris, Andrew and Robert had found some extraordinary books that they had purchased, imported back to England and then sold them for a profit; hence the beginning of their lucrative and prestigious partnership. Andrew and Robert's enterprise would continue for the next 30 years.^[2]

Andrew and Robert Foulis continued with bringing an eclectic range of edition to the classics. The Foulis Presses continued to import rare editions of the classics and purchase manuscripts with promising upside from mainland Europe and in turn sold them to the local scholars and collectors. They printed editions of books from the very expensive fine paper prints to the very novel and practical, even miniature editions. The Foulis Print editions of the classic books were sought after for being well edited, simple and of practical size.^[3]

He is buried with Robert in the Ramshorn Cemetery on Ingram Street. Due to a widening of Ingram Street the graves now lie beneath the pavement but are still marked, using their initials in the paving.^[4]

Notes

1. "TheGlasgowStory: 1560 to 1770s: Personalities: Robert Foulis and Andrew Foulis". www.theglasgowstory.com. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
2. Murray, David; Heritage Book Shop (Los Angeles, Calif ) (1913). Robert & Andrew Foulis and the Glasgow Press : with some account of the Glasgow Academy of the Fine Arts. University of California Libraries. Glasgow : J. Maclehose and Sons.
3. Robert and Andrew Foulis, the Foulis Press, and Their Legacy; George Fairfull Smith; University of Glasgow Library Special Collections; April 2001
4. "Discover Glasgow – Religious – Ramshorn Kirk and Graveyard". Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.

References

• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Foulis, Andrew and Robert" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 728.

External links

• The University of Guelph Library, Archival and Special Collections, has a collection of 400 Foulis Press publications. All records are catalogued and accessible at its introductory page [1]