The result of six years of intensive study, this academic work covers all traced lithographic businesses established in Scotland during the 50 year period from 1820 to 1870 and then continues to follow their existence until 1900. While many of these printers produced only commercial work such as letterheads, invoices and forms etc., the principal objective of the directory is the identification of those who were involved in any form of artistic work, such as portraits, topographical work, landscapes, military prints and other types of artistic work such as illustrations in books or magazines. Importantly, this is indicated in the individual entries which include some of the hundreds of examples that have been traced.

Following an introduction in which the earliest of these printers is at last identified, there follows a number of statistical tables showing periodic growth rates in the numbers of these businesses, together with their average duration and comparing these with the numbers in London and other provincial cities of England. They also stress the high number of failures of these businesses in their first year. There then follows the main directory which comprises approximately 700 entries of business titles and subsequent changes in those titles, together with their locations and changes of address, biographical notes and indications of the type of work undertaken. Interestingly, the study also includes references to a number of ladies who were involved in lithographic work.