Bringing Hugh Miller's The Old Red Sandstone to a new generation of readers

Abstract

• The 2023 edition of The Old Red Sandstone is the first truly new one for a century. It is in two main parts: a facsimile reprint of Miller’s original first edition of 1841, with explanatory notes added, and a book-length ‘Critical Study’ of Miller’s work by the authors Ralph O’Connor and Michael Taylor. Ralph O’Connor’s expertise lies in history and English literature, with Celtic languages and culture, and Michael Taylor’s in palaeontology and museums, with an overlap in the history of geology. This seemingly odd combination was just what was needed to tackle this highly idiosyncratic book, in a project that stretched over fifteen years, on and off.