Publisher of the Month: National Museums of Scotland
NMS Enterprises Limited – Publishing is the publishing division of the National Museums of Scotland (NMS). NMS comprises the Royal Museum and the Museum of Scotland (in Chambers Street); the National War Museum of Scotland (at Edinburgh Castle); the Museum of flight (East Fortune); Shambellie House Museum of costume (Dumfriesshire); and the Museum of Scottish Country Life (near East Kilbride).
The publishing division began in 1985. It has been known by its current name since 2002. The staff, three full-time and one part-time, are to be found in the former Dental Hospital in Chambers Street, across the road from the Museum of Scotland. We answer the bell occasionally to people clutching their jaws to whom we have to gently break the news that the Dental Hospital moved to Chalmers Street four years ago...
Some of our titles have been in print for many years, for example: The Scenery of Scotland, an introduction to the Scottish landscape by W J Baird with stunning aerial photographs by Pat Macdonald, has been selling continuously since 1988; we have just brought out the third edition of Tartan, first published in 1991, written by Hugh Cheape, the Head of the Scottish Material Culture Research Centre at NMS.
Over the years we have produced lavishly illustrated catalogues for Royal Museum exhibitions such as Quianlong: Treasures from the Forbidden City; Treasures from Tuscany; Nicholas and Alexandra: The Last Tsar and Tsarina; and, this year, Beyond the Palace Walls: Islamic Art from The State Hermitage Museum.
Aside from exhibition catalogues, we have a wide variety of titles which provide their own challenges in editing, designing, producing and marketing, whether it's John Logie Baird: A Life; The Concorde Experience; Minerals of Scotland; Audubon in Edinburgh; William Speirs Bruce: Polar Explorer and Scottish Nationalist; John Napier: Logarithm John; Romanesque and Gothic Decorative Metalwork and Ivory in the Museum of Scotland; Weights and Measures in Scotland (winner of the 2005 Saltire Society/National Library of Scotland Research Book of the Year Award); or the Scotties activity series for young readers. We get closely involved in all the different subjects and end up knowing a little about them all – just enough to dazzle our friends and relatives with 'Did you know...?'
Most of our books come through NMS curators or are commissioned, but Lesley Taylor, Director of Publishing, is open to ideas of scholarly or popular Scottish interest. Subject areas include history and culture, archaeology, geology, natural history and art. Email her in the first instance please with your proposal: l.taylor@nms.ac.uk
Books featured in this article
- Audubon In Edinburgh
John James Audubon, the French American ornithologist, is renowned for his superlative bird paintings. This work concentrates on the time Audubon spent in Edinburgh where his paintings were first engraved and he realised the ambition of their publication. - Beyond The Palace Walls: Islamic Art From The State Hermitage Museum
A catalogue of the summer exhibition at the Royal Museum, Edinburgh 14 July-5 November 2006. This work shows how Islamic art is the unique product of a civilisation. It features an Ottoman Turkish campaign tent, along with paintings, textiles, jewellery, tiles, costumes, carpets and weapons. - The Concorde Experience
This is the story of the world's favourite supersonic plane, and more particularly the dramatic life and retirement of 'Alpha Alpha', now part of the collection of the National Museums of Scotland. - John Logie Baird: A Life
This balanced and thoroughly documented biography throws light not only on Baird himself, but on many of those associated with him. Truth is separated from legend and the facts are uncovered behind Baird's autobiographical 1988 memoir. - John Napier: Logarithm John
As the inventor of logarithms, John Napier made one of the greatest advances in the history of mathematics, and his development of an ingenious calculating tool is described here. - Minerals Of Scotland: Past And Present
This is a comprehensive and definitive account of Scotland's minerals and the men who discovered, collected and examined them. This study includes sections on the collectors themselves as well as a brief account of Scotland's geological evolution. - Romanesque & Gothic Decorative Metalwork And Ivory Carvings In The Museum Of Scotland
A comprehensive catalogue of the decorative metalwork and ivory carvings found at Scottish sites, dating from 1100-1500. - The Scenery Of Scotland: The Stucture Beneath
The landscape of Scotland has been shaped by the weather and by geological forces for thousands of years. This text provides an overview of the key features of the landscape and explains the geological processes that brought them into being. - Tartan: The Highland Habit
Hugh Cheape, curator of modern Scottish history at the National Museums of Scotland, takes the story of tartan from the medieval love of display to the Victorian invention of exclusive clan identity. - Treasures From Tuscany: The Etruscan Legacy
Contemporaries of the ancient Greeks, the Etruscans were pivotal in contributing to the cradle of European civilization and can be credited with having a lasting influence on modern day Italy. This collection gather 500 objects from the finest collections in Tuscany, depicting Etruscan life and death. - Weights And Measures In Scotland: A European Perspective
Winner of the 2005 Saltire Society/National Library of Scotland Research Book of the Year Award. After looking at contemporary legislation and examining the physical evidence of surviving artefacts, the authors have come to some surprising conclusions. - W. S. Bruce: Scottish Nationalist And Polar Explorer
W.S. Bruce was one of the foremost polar scientists of the Heroic Age of Polar Exploration, yet remains largely unknown. This biography is written to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition of 1902-04.