Birlinn Limited is an independent

publishing house Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

based in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland. It was established in 1992 by managing director Hugh Andrew.

Imprints

Birlinn Limited is composed of a number of

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

s, including: *Birlinn, which publishes Scottish interest books, from biography to history, military history and

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

. (Its name comes from the

old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

word , meaning a

long boat A longboat is a type of ship's boat that was in use from ''circa'' 1500 or before. Though the Royal Navy replaced longboats with launches from 1780, examples can be found in merchant ships after that date. The longboat was usually the largest boat ...

or small

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...

with 12 to 18 oars, used especially in the Hebrides and West Highlands of Scotland in the Middle Ages.) *Polygon Books, which publishes

literary fiction Literary fiction, mainstream fiction, non-genre fiction or serious fiction is a label that, in the book trade, refers to market novels that do not fit neatly into an established genre (see genre fiction); or, otherwise, refers to novels that are ch ...

and

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

, both classic and modern, from Scottish writers such as

Robin Jenkins John Robin Jenkins (11 September 1912 – 24 February 2005) was a Scottish writer of thirty published novels, the most celebrated being '' The Cone Gatherers''. He also published two collections of short stories. Career Robin Jenkins was bo ...

George Mackay Brown George Mackay Brown (17 October 1921 – 13 April 1996) was a Scottish poet, author and dramatist with a distinctly Orcadian character. He is widely regarded as one of the great Scottish poets of the 20th century. Biography Early life and caree ...

, and the author of ''

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency ''The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency'' is a series of novels by Alexander McCall Smith set in Botswana and featuring the character Mma Precious Ramotswe. The series is named after the first novel, published in 1998. Twenty-two novels have been p ...

'',

Alexander McCall Smith Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE (born 24 August 1948), is a British writer. He was raised in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and formerly Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. He became an expert on medical law and ...

. It was founded in the late 1960s by students of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. *

Mercat Press Mercat Press is an imprint of the Edinburgh, Scotland-based publishing company Birlinn Limited. It was established in 1970 as a subsidiary of the bookseller James Thin, and published facsimile editions of out-of-print Scottish works, such as the ...

, founded in 1970 and acquired by Birlinn in 2007, which publishes walking and climbing guides. (''Mercat'' is the

Scots language Scots ( endonym: ''Scots''; gd, Albais, ) is an Anglic language variety in the West Germanic language family, spoken in Scotland and parts of Ulster in the north of Ireland (where the local dialect is known as Ulster Scots). Most commonly ...

word for "market" or "trade".) *John Donald, publishing academic books about Scotland.

Notable authors and works

** Love in the Time of Bertie (2021) ** The People's City (2022) * Martin C. Strong ** ''The Great Folk Discography, Vol. 1: Pioneers & Early Legends'' (2010) ** ''The Great Folk Discography, Vol. 2: The Next Generation'' (2011) *

Andy Wightman Andrew Dearg Wightman is a Scottish Independent politician, who served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Lothian region from 2016 to 2021. He was elected as a member of the Scottish Greens, but resigned from the party in ...

** ''The Poor Had No Lawyers'' (Third Edition, 2015)Combe, M. M. (2011). Review of Andy Wightman, 'The Poor had no Lawyers: Who Owns Scotland (and how they got it)'. Environmental Law Review, 13(3), 242-243. https://doi.org/10.1350/enlr.2011.13.3.131

References

External links

Birlinn
Book publishing companies of Scotland Companies based in Edinburgh Publishing companies established in 1992 Scottish brands 1992 establishments in Scotland {{UK-media-company-stub