Doors Open Day at HarperCollins Publishers

‘Doors Open Days’ is an annual event that takes place all over Scotland allowing people entry without charge to buildings and attractions not normally open to the public.

This year, the 500th Anniversary of Printing in Scotland is being celebrated, with a special focus on the Bishopbriggs/Cadder area. Our HarperCollins complex at Westerhill in Bishopbriggs will be one of the featured buildings. The long history of Collins began in 1819 in Glasgow, when the first William Collins went into business with Charles Chalmers to establish a printing and publishing business. Now, for the first time we are opening our doors to the public.

There will be an exhibition from the archive, including fascinating letters from Tolkien, Agatha Christie, Patrick O’Brian and others, giving a real insight into the minds of these authors. You can see how the popular Collins dictionaries are created and find out how books make it onto the shelves in your local bookshop, from the author submitting the manuscript right through to distribution of the finished book.

You can also discover how Collins Geo (the Cartographic department) evolved from the world famous map making firm of Bartholomew, and how we have created a range of award winning maps and atlases, including the world renowned Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World. Limited tours of the map making department will be available to demonstrate the production process.

Open Saturday, 13th September 2008, 10.30am - 4pm.

See area brochure for details.

Area brochure for East Dunbartonshire (download 2MB PDF file).

Doors Open Days website

500 Years of Printing in Scotland website