RA Collection: People and Organisations
In partnership with his brother Robert worked as printers to the University of Glasgow.
Andrew Foulis was the son of Andrew Faulls, or Faulds, a barber and maltman from Glasgow. Andrew, and his brother Robert, changed their surname in the 1730s. Foulis studied Humanity (Latin) at Glasgow University, and later taught Greek, Latin and French in Glasgow.
In 1738 he and his brother Robert toured England and France, and in Paris an introduction to Chevalier Andrew Ramsay (1686-1743), a native of Ayr who tutored Prince Charles Edward Stuart, gained them access to some of the city’s finest libraries. While there they purchased a number of books which they exported to Britain, and successfully sold in London. In 1741 Robert Foulis established a bookshop at the College in Glasgow. He soon began to publish books. At first they were printed by other firms, but he acquired his own press in 1742. The following year he was appointed the University’s printer, and soon afterwards he went into partnership with his brother, Andrew.
The names of the brothers are often reproduced on title-pages and colophons of their publications in their Latinized form, “Robertus et Andreas Foulis”.
Born: 1712
Died: 18 September 1775
Gender: Male