This Edinburgh book publishing firm produced many hundreds of books mainly on religious and biographical themes, especially during its heyday from about 1880 to 1910. It is probably best remembered for its memorable ‘Famous Scots Series’ with their distinctive red and gilt covers. Forty-two of them were published from 1896 to 1905 and many have been reprinted recently by other publishers. The firm also published the works of Annie S. Swan

Annie Shepherd Swan

Annie Shepherd Swan CBE was a Scottish writer, journalist, novelist and short story writer. Although used her maiden name for most of her literary career, Swan also wrote under the pen names David Lyall and later Mrs Burnett-Smith...

, a very popular writer in her time. It existed in some form from 1807 to 1968. It was incorporated as ‘Oliphants Ltd’ in 1915 and taken over by the publishers, Marshall, Morgan & Scott in 1946. Oliphants Ltd was voluntarily liquidated without debt in 1968.

Origins

William Oliphant: The firm originates with William Oliphant (1773-1842) as a bookseller in 1807. He had been apprenticed with William Creech

William Creech

William Creech was a Scottish bookseller.For 40 years Creech was the chief publisher in Edinburgh. He published the first Edinburgh edition of Robert Burns' poems....

, the publisher of Robert Burns’ poems and began his publishing business in 1818 with juvenile books. He was apparently still selling books as there exists a catalogue of 1823 which offers a variety of religious books for sale. In 1830, Oliphant took his sons into partnership and the firm was renamed ‘W. Oliphant & Sons’. William Oliphant died in 1842 and he was succeeded by his son William (1807-1860) who continued the business successfully till 1858 when ill-health forced him to take on two partners, Robert Anderson and Thomas Robertson, who ran the business under the name of ‘W. Oliphant & Co.’ Click on the Oliphant family tree opposite for more information about the various Williams and Walters involved with the firm.


Addresses:

1807 - Oliphant and Brown, booksellers, High Street

1808 – Oliphant and Brown, 2 Hunter Square

1809-10 – Oliphant and Balfour, booksellers, 2 Hunter Square

1811-17 – Oliphant, Waugh and Innes, booksellers, same address

1818-32 – William Oliphant, 22 South Bridge

1833-35 – William Oliphant, 7 South Bridge

1836-60 – William Oliphant & Son, 7 South Bridge

1861-71 – William Oliphant & Co., 7 South Bridge

1872-74 – William Oliphant & Co., 57 Frederick Street

1875-80 - William Oliphant & Co., 24 St. Giles Street, and 35-37 St. Mary Street

1880 onwards – Oliphant, Anderson and Ferrier

Oliphant, Anderson and Ferrier

In 1880, Thomas Robertson retired and John Scott Ferrier took his place. The firm was then named ‘Oliphant, Anderson and Ferrier’ although Robert Anderson was head of the firm and the Oliphants were no longer involved in the day-to-day running of the firm. William Oliphant III (1866-1884) went to Canada and died there, although his son, Walter Oliphant II (1867-1933) remained in Edinburgh as a solicitor of the Supreme Courts in Scotland. During this latter period, the firm had a showroom at 100 Princes Street, and offices and a warehouse (with bookbinding) at 29-37 St. Mary Street, Edinburgh. Its London office was at 21 Paternoster Square.

Robert Anderson (1830-1901) lived all his life in Edinburgh and had an intimate knowledge of the publishing industry in Edinburgh. in 1891, he gave a talk to the Edinburgh Bibliographical Society on 'Reminscences of Edinburgh Booksellers of My Early Days, Forty-eight Years Ago'. After his death in 1901, the firm began its slow decline and no more works in the "Famous Scots Series" were apparently commissioned. The last of them was published in 1905.

John Scott Ferrier (1844-1910) was born in Brechin

Brechin

Brechin is a former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. Traditionally Brechin is often described as a city because of its cathedral and its status as the seat of a pre-Reformation Roman Catholic diocese , but that status has not been officially recognised in the modern era...

 and began as a bookseller there. He moved to Elgin where he established a wholesale and retail bookselling business before moving to Edinburgh.

Family Connections

Four related Oliphants, three Andersons and two Ferriers were involved with this firm at some stage. Isobel Steel Oliphant (born 1873), the daughter of William Oliphant III, married Walter Gowanlock Anderson (1866-1914), the eldest son of Robert Anderson, in 1896. These family connections with the firm effectively ended when Walter Oliphant II (1867-1933), an Edinburgh solicitor, sold his shares in Oliphants Ltd in 1920.

Oliphants Ltd

Following the death of Walter Gowanlock Anderson in 1914, the firm was incorporated as ‘Oliphants Ltd’ on 11th June 1915. The directors were: Walter Oliphant, solicitor, Edinburgh; John Davidson, publisher, London; Angus Ferrier, publisher, Edinburgh; Thomas Craig Muir, journalist, London; and William Walker Grant, journalist, London. Walter Oliphant was the great grandson of William Oliphant (see family tree) and Angus Ferrier was the son of John Scott Ferrier. The company continued to publish books mainly on a religious theme. It was taken over by the London publishers, Marshall, Morgan & Scott Ltd. in 1945 and was liquidated voluntarily and without debts on 27th March 1968.

Some Books Published by Oliphants Ltd

• The Rev. John Ross D.D. The Origin of the Chinese People, Edinburgh: Oliphants Ltd., 1916.
  
• C.F. Hogg, Touching the Coming of the Lord Edinburgh and London: Oliphants Ltd., 1919.
  
• W.E. Vine
  William Edwy Vine
  William Edwy Vine , more commonly known as W.E. Vine was an English Biblical scholar, theologian and writer, most famous for Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words.-Life:...
  
  , Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, London: Oliphants Ltd., 1940.
  
• William Chalmers Burns, Phyllis Matthewman, ‘Heroes of the Cross’ series, London: Oliphants Ltd., 1953.
  
• Jean A.Rees, Antonia : A Story of Antonia told by the Lady with the Sun Lamp, Edinburgh and London, Oliphants Ltd., 1957.
  
• Eugenia Price, Woman to Woman, London: Oliphants Ltd., 1963.