Rare Books @ NLS

The Library has the largest collection of bindings by the brothers James and William Scott, renowned Scottish bookbinders who were active in the second half of the 18th century. We are always looking to add to our collections of bindings, and here’s one we bought recently.

This particular volume is bound in a red morocco binding which is representative of James Scott’s earlier work. Here is a bit of technical information: It combines the characteristics of the rococo style with elements of chinoiserie, a style that preceded his shift into a more neo-classical decorative influence. Both boards are bordered by a Greek-key roll, panels with an elaborate rococo decoration framing a radiating pyramid, with use of swan and nesting bird tools; the spine is gilt in compartments, repeating a tool with two birds. The binding appears datable to c.1777. 

Three books are bound together in this one volume: a Book of Common Prayer, a Companion to the altar, and the New version of the Psalms of David. They were all printed by Adrian Watkins in Edinburgh between 1761 and 1762, but they obviously had to wait some 15 years before they were bound together by James Scott.

I thought it would be appropriate to mark World Book Day with some quotations from our exhibition Beyond Macbeth in praise of books.

William Drummond is one of my favourite collectors – his motivation in building his collection seems to have been his love of reading all kinds of literature. He wrote two essays about libraries. The first is in the persona of the library of Edinburgh University, to which he donated a substantial part of his own personal library in 1626. In ‘Bibliotheca Edinburgena Lectori‘ (’The Edinburgh Library to the Reader’), he says

‘ Books have that strange Quality, that being of the frailest and tenderest Matter, they out-last Brass, Iron, and Marble; and tho’ their Habitations and Walls, by uncivil Hands, be many Times overthrown; and they themselves, by foreign Force, be turned Prisoners, yet do they often, as their Authors, keep their Givers Names; seeming rather to change Places and Masters, than to suffer a full Ruine and total Wrack.’

Continue reading On World Book Day: in praise of books

Until Sunday January 8th, you can see original editions of both the King James Bible of 1611 and the First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays from 1623 on display at NLS – not quite side by side, but close enough to compare, in their two separate exhibitions. The King James Bible is at the centre of our Treasures display, which Anette blogged about in November, and which will close on Sunday, and the First Folio is in our Beyond Macbeth exhibition, which runs until the end of April. Both are surrounded by other early editions – the translations which preceded and rivalled the King James Bible, and the quarto playbooks in which individual plays were published.

It’s very interesting to compare the circumstances under which the Bible and the plays of Shakespeare were published in early modern Britain, and the similarities and differences in the appearance of the final printed volumes. A whole book could be written about this subject, but in this blog entry I just want to mention a couple of things which strike me – one way in which they are similar and one in which they are very different. Continue reading Shakespeare and the King James Bible

Our new exhibition Beyond Macbeth: Shakespeare in Scottish Collections is now open!

This exhibition is a collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, showcasing the two libraries’ world-class collections of early editions of Shakespeare’s plays, other early modern drama, and manuscripts relating to the study of Shakespeare. 

On display are the First Folio, the first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays published in 1623, and over 30 Quartos – the small early editions of the plays. You can also see manuscripts and other playbooks from the age of Shakespeare, and a range of other books and manuscripts showing the different ways in which people have edited, appropriated, and responded to the playwright over the centuries – including a special section on Scotland and Shakespeare.

At the heart of this exhibition are the stories of the people who brought these collections together over four hundred years -

• William Drummond of Hawthornden, Shakespeare’s contemporary, who provides us with a rare opportunity to see how Shakespeare’s earliest admirers responded to his plays
• Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and the Bute family, aristocrats whose collection shows the rise of Shakespeare’s cultural status in the 18th century – from a playwright whose plays were popular but adapted and criticized to a literary giant, early editions of whose plays were ornaments of a bibliophile’s library
• James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps, an archetypal Victorian antiquarian, whose passion for discovering as much as possible about the life and times of Shakespeare led him to amass a huge array of Shakespeariana, and who donated a substantial collection to the Library of Edinburgh University
• John Dover Wilson, 20th-century academic, whose passion for Shakespeare led him not only to pursue his own scholarly research, but to share his knowledge with the vast array of correspondents from actors to politicians who wrote to him on the subject.

The exhibition runs until April 29th and is free. Read more on our exhibition webpage.

I hope to blog some more about the exhibition and the items in it during its run, but meanwhile I have to thank my co-curator, James Loxley, of the University English Literature department, and the staff of the University Library for all their help with this exhibition. And of course the Arts and Humanities  Research Council, for their generous funding.

2011 is the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible. To mark this achievement, we have put on a Treasures Display which charts the story of the Bible in English. It runs from 4 November 2011 until 8 January 2012.

The display starts with two Wycliffite manuscripts dating from the late 14th and early 15th century, and finishes with a first edition copy of the King James Bible of 1611.

It didn’t get off to a great start: it was not an immediate bestseller, and because it relied heavily on Tyndale’s translation from the 1530s its language was already a bit archaic when it was published. It was not licensed by James VI / I because it was only regarded as a revision; and it was not authorised until 1824. Nevertheless, the King James Bible has become the most famous and popular bible in English, and is still used in churches today, at least on some occasions: the poetry of its language has been unsurpassed, even if modern translations are linguistically more accurate.

You can also see copies of the first complete authorised Bible in English (1537), the Great Bible of 1539 which measures 34cm x  24 cm (closed!), the Geneva Bible produced by Protestant exiles in 1560, the first Catholic Bible in English (1582), a copy of the beautiful Bishops’ Bible of 1568, and portraits of John Wyclif, William Tyndale and King James VI / I.

Here’s a book we bought not so much because of what’s in it, but because of who owned it. It’s an English translation of a theological treatise by a French noblewoman, Louise Francoise de la Baume le Blanc, Duchesse de la Valliere (1644-1710), called The penitent lady (NLS shelfmark  AB.1.211.014).  The book itself does not look terribly exciting –

but its author is certainly an interesting figure! Louise Francoise de la Baume le Blanc made her debut at court in 1661 and soon attracted the attention of  King Louis XIV. She became his mistress and bore him four children. However, by 1670 she had lost her place as Louis’ principal mistress, and, after recovering from a serious illness and suffering a crisis of conscience, she decided to renounce her former sinful existence. One of the results of her change of heart was her turning towards writing. In 1671 she published her Reflexions sur la misericorde de Dieu (Reflections on the mercy of God), of which we have now bought a rare English translation.  In 1674 she entered a Carmelite convent in Paris, where she remained for the rest of her life.

This particular copy has an inscription by a former owner, Maurice Paterson (1836-1917), who was the rector of Moray House in Edinburgh, then a Free Church teacher training college. It reads:

“This book belonged to and was much prized by Mrs. Scott, mother of Sir Walter Scott.

Presented by Isabella Paterson step cousin who resided with Aunt Esther who was companion of Mrs. Scott.

Esther Paterson was my father’s half sister.

M. P.”

So, this book once belonged to Anne Scott, Sir Walter Scott’s mother, and had passed into Maurice Paterson’s hands via a step-cousin!

Esther Paterson had nursed Walter Scott’s older brother John through his final illness and then became his mother’s companion for the final years of her life. Anne Scott died in 1819, and Esther Paterson presumably received this book as a token of gratitude for her work.

Walter Scott was certainly grateful to Esther, describing her as a person of ‘uncommon good sense and civility’, who was of ‘inestimable comfort’ to his dear mother.

Further reading:

Sir Walter Scott in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (accessible through NLS Licensed Digital Collections)

H.J.C. Grierson (ed.). The letters of Sir Walter Scott, London, 1932-37. (NLS shelfmark Lit.S.25) Volumes 6 and 7 are particularly interesting here.

We’ve been fortunate recently to buy a copy of a book which appears to be the only known copy! It’s called Whiskiana, or the drunkard’s progress.  A poem. In Scottish verse (NLS shelfmark AP.1.211.06), and it was printed in Glasgow in 1812:

Whiskiana deals with the “evil of habitual intoxication”.  The author acknowledges the popular Scots poet Hector Macneill as an inspiration but remains anonymous, simply calling himself Anti-Whiskianus.

All we know about him is what he reveals about himself in the preface: he was originally from the village of Ceres in Fife. 

 The poem follows a drunkard all the way from inebriation to redemption in order to “counteract the excessive praises lavished on whisky by Burns”. I’m not sure how much Robert Burns can be blamed for excessive whisky consumption, but for Anti-Whiskianus temperance was the only solution to the problem. No half measures then!

We recently bought a collection of Scottish poems (shelfmark: RB.s.2811(1-13)) written in the late 18th century. What makes this small book so interesting is that most of the poems were either written or edited by a physician:  Andrew Duncan the elder (1744-1828).

Duncan was a key figure in the Scottish Enlightenment, a period which came to an end at the close of the 18th century. But he is still well known today, as the founder of two Edinburgh institutions: a dispensary for the sick poor, and a lunatic asylum where patients were treated humanely.  

Not only did Andrew Duncan write poetry, but he composed much of it in Scots! Here is the title page of the collection:

I am fascinated by the Scottish Enlightenment figures. Like David Hume, who you can read about in the previous blog, Andrew Duncan had multiple talents, and this is true for most other eminent representatives of that period. Adam Ferguson was an army chaplain and sociologist, the economist Adam Smith wrote his first book on moral sentiments, the painter Allan Ramsay of Kinkell published a book on government, the poet James MacPherson wrote a history of Great Britain, and Thomas Telford published poetry before he became famous as a civil engineer. And there are more examples like this!

Like the other Enlightenment figures, Andrew Duncan was a convivial man with great energy, and founded many clubs and societies, such as the Aesculapian Club, the Harvein, Gymnastic and Royal Caledonian Horticultural societies. His poetry, admittedly of indifferent quality, was often read out or sung at meetings of these clubs. The atmosphere in the taverns where they met must have been amazing!

You can get a great insight into the figures and achievements of the Scottish Enlightenment from our Learning Zone feature “Northern Lights“. It is particularly designed as a resource for secondary schools, but there is something in it for everybody: town planning, Ossian, Scotticisms, clubs and societies like those founded by Andrew Duncan, and the Statistical Account of Scotland.

Further reading:

Andrew Duncan the elder in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (accessible through NLS Licensed Digital Collections)

David Hume in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (accessible through NLS Licensed Digital Collections)

Adam Ferguson in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (accessible through NLS Licensed Digital Collections)

Adam Smith in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (accessible through NLS Licensed Digital Collections)

Allan Ramsay in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (accessible through NLS Licensed Digital Collections)

James MacPherson in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (accessible through NLS Licensed Digital Collections)

Thomas Telford in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (accessible through NLS Licensed Digital Collections)

A new Treasures display opening today at the National Library of Scotland celebrates the 300th birthday of David Hume, the great Scottish philosopher although better known in his own time as historian and essayist.  It runs until 28 June.

The curators working on this display found it very close to their hearts.  In addition to his other achievements, David Hume was Keeper of the Advocates Library 1752-1757.  The foundation of the National Library in 1925 would not have happened without the generosity of the Faculty of Advocates who presented the non-legal collections of the Advocates Library to the nation to form the basis of the new National Library.  We don’t know to what extent Hume got involved in the day-to-day work of running the library, but he was certainly responsible for purchasing books to add to the collections — the collections which are now for the most part in the National Library.   Purchasing books is something that we curators do now, and so Hume is one of our direct predecessors: we carry on the work that he did.

Ex-libris written by David Hume: "Ex Libris Bibliothecae Facultatis Juridicae Edinburgi."

In the 18th century Advocates Library books all contained a hand-written statement of ownership — an “ex libris” so-called because they often began “Ex libris … (From the books …)”.  I’ve tracked down very few of these written by Hume himself.  The one shown here is a bit exceptional because it is from a copy of a book that he himself wrote, An enquiry concerning the principles of morals, published in late 1751 just before he became Keeper (January 1752).

We recently bought a book that’s now 525 years old! It was written by the Scottish Jesuit John Hay (1547-1607), and its English title is “Certaine demandes concerning the Christian religion”. The book consists of 166 questions on points of religious controversy. It is still in its original binding:

Hay moved from Scotland to Rome in 1566 and spent most of the rest of his life on the Continent. He came back to Scotland in 1579, but there was now a lot of unease about the Jesuits and their teaching, because Scotland had become Protestant. Hay based himself in Aberdeenshire, but he attracted a lot of controversy and eventually returned to France. 

“Certaine demandes” was first published in Paris in 1580. It became hugely influential on the Continent and a key text for supporters of the Counter-Reformation. This was a movement by the Catholics to overturn the Protestant Reformation and bring Roman Catholicism back. 

A French translation appeared in 1583, and our new acquisition, published in 1585, is a copy of the German translation by the Swiss Catholic theologian Sebastian Werro (1555-1614).  Have a look at the elaborate title page: