Manuscript Purchases

  • Album compiled by Christina Alice Ballantyne (1825-1904), wife of John Ballantyne, RSA, and continued by others, containing autograph letters and documents of various dates between 1671 and 1935: writers include William Robertson, William Creech, John Gibson Lockhart, Daniel Terry, Francis Jeffrey, Henry Cockburn and Thomas Carlyle.
    Acc.11558.
  • Accounts, 1719, 1733-34, of James Maule and Alexander Symmer to John Fleming, 6th Earl of Wigtown, for the sale of books, pictures and other goods.
    Acc.11554.
  • Microfilm of manuscript of James Oswald's 'Song Book', 1731, thought to be in Oswald's hand; with a microfilm of manuscript of flute sonatas of Robert Valentine.
    Acc.11563.
  • Letter, ca.1737, of George Sutherland of Forse to his cousin on his hopes of a commission in the Dutch service and his financial difficulties, and mentioning Sir Robert Walpole and the latter's brother Horatio, Ambassador to Holland.
    Acc.11582.
  • Letter, 1750, of James, 6th Duke of Hamilton, to William Mair on Scottish politics.
    Acc.11521.
  • Letter, 1766, of Charles Lyttelton, Bishop of Carlisle, to David, Lord Cardross, later 11th Earl of Buchan, on historical matters and preferment.
    Acc.11541.
  • Inventories and other legal papers, 1776-1844, relating to the family of Lockhart, of Lee and Carnwath.
    Acc.11461.
  • Letter, ca.1787, of Robert Burns to Patrick Miller of Dalswinton.
    Acc.11475.
  • Correspondence and papers, 1807-1818, relating to the bankruptcy and financial affairs of Sir Henry Raeburn.
    Acc.11547.
  • Photocopies of twelve letters, 1809-23, of and concerning Thomas Dale, Captain, Madras Regiment, mostly to his brothers at Liberton, and of a family tree.
    Acc.11571.
  • Album of caricatures, ca.1810-17, by John Gibson Lockhart, drawn in Oxford and Edinburgh.
    Acc.11480.
  • Three volumes of letters of Robert Pearse Gillies, 1811-27, to Sir Samuel Egerton Brydges, 11th Earl of Buchan and others on literary, antiquarian and social matters, together with a file of papers on the provenance of the letter-books and their significance.
    Acc.11453.
  • Five letters, 1812-19, n.d., of Sir Walter Scott to James Ballantyne on literary and personal matters, including the publication of The Bridal of Triermain, Rokeby and Ivanhoe; with one letter to Alexander Ballantyne; and a fragment of The Field of Waterloo.
    Acc.11557.
  • Two letters, 1824, of George Ticknor and George Huntly Gordon concerning portraits of Sir Walter Scott; with an unrelated letter, 1812, of Sir David Wilkie; an autograph note, 1816, of Walter Scott to James Ballantyne about The Antiquary; and a printed letter, 1820, of Scott.
    Acc.11580.
  • Photocopy of the extent and value of lands in the estate of Cadboll, 1813, vol.1 (parishes of Fearn, Tain, Edderton, Kincardine and Creech).
    Acc.11478.
  • Fifty-two letters, 1819-20 1825-7, of Michael Carmichael to his father describing his travels in Germany, Italy and France.
    Acc.11539.
  • A collection of manuscript material, ca.1820-ca.1890s, relating to Archibald Constable and his family, particularly to his grandson Archibald during his service in India with the railways.
    Acc.11581.
  • Correspondence, 1821-83, n.d., of Alexander Baring, Baron Ashburton (cr.1835) his wife Anne Louisa, and their daughters Harriet, Marchioness of Bath, and Louisa E Baring.
    Acc.11489.
  • Letter, 1822, of Sir Walter Scott to Lieut-Col Dallas of Lympstone, Welshpool, Montgomeryshire, about old times and old friendships; together with a letter, 1822, of Charles Scott to Col Dallas.
    Acc.11546.
  • Letter, 1823, of Francis Jeffrey to David Booth on the behaviour of Richmond 'the spy' in the Glasgow Weavers dispute.
    Acc.11564.
  • Twenty-one letters, 1826-36, of James Henry Skene to his father, James Skene of Rubislaw, and other members of his family, concerning his education in Germany, his military service and his residence in Greece.
    Acc.11537.
  • Letter, n.d., of Jane Welsh Carlyle to Mrs Gilchrist describing a holiday in Aberdour, and the behaviour of her husband, and their dog Nero.
    Acc.11476.
  • Album containing a letter of Thomas Carlyle, 1832, to Allan Cunningham, praising and analysing the latter's poem, 'Maid of Elvar', and obliquely criticising the poetry of Sir Walter Scott; also engravings and photographs of Carlyle and Carlyle locations and a photograph of Jane Welsh Carlyle inscribed by Thomas Carlyle in 1873.
    Acc.11477.
  • Two letters, 1832, of John Gibson Lockhart to James Ballantyne concerning Ballantyne's relations with Sir Walter Scott and memoranda of Scott to be supplied by Ballantyne for the use of Lockhart in his projected biography; together with notes on the letters by Alexander Ballantyne and transcripts of three letters of Scott to James Ballantyne.
    Acc.11556.
  • Photocopy of a letter, 1833, of James Morham, a disillusioned emigrant to Van Dieman's Land, to his nephew in Edinburgh.
    Acc.11550.
  • Two letters, 1837, of Robert Pearse Gillies to James Fraser on his literary work and debts.
    Acc.11540.
  • Photocopy of typescript copy of the journal, 1839-40, of Agnes Paterson, made on a voyage to China with her husband Andrew, of the firm of Jardine Mathieson.
    Acc.11552.
  • Two letters [1842], describing Queen Victoria's visit to Edinburgh.
    Acc.11532.
  • Two music books, 1844-61, of Robert Fleming, Dundee, continuing the bass parts for dance tunes.
    Acc.11579.
  • Letter, 1849, of Agnes Strickland on her travels in Scotland and on books and scholars in Edinburgh.
    Acc.11531.
  • Plan of the lands of Home Farm, the property of Sir Andrew Agnew, of Lochnaw, surveyed in 1849 by Struthers & Charleton, Civil Engineers and Surveyors.
    Acc.11472.
  • Letter [1856], of David Roberts on sending pictures to exhibition.
    Acc.11542.
  • Letter, 1860, of Sir Daniel Macnee to David Roberts, about pictures submitted to the Royal Academy, picture dealers, etc.
    Acc.11573.
  • Letter, 1864, of John Faed on his health, his income and on other artists.
    Acc.11543.
  • Scrapbook containing miscellaneous literary pieces, 1869-84, by J W Mason and friends, Edinburgh.
    Acc.11576.
  • Two letters [1876], of Professor John Stuart Blackie on the theatre and on the teaching of Greek.
    Acc.11549.
  • Memoir, 1878, of Sir Francis Grant, PRA, 'in his studio for last time', by Sir George Scharf, with anecdotes and notes on his technique.
    Acc.11545.
  • Photocopies of minutes and other records of the Hownan and Border Angling Club, 1881-1965.
    Acc.11492.
  • Correspondence and papers of W Skeoch Cumming, ca.1894-1900, including letters relating to portrait commissions and other paintings.
    Acc.11544.
  • Volume of letters and papers, 1897-1903, relating to the research of W L Taylor and J A Fairley on Peter Buchan (1790-1854), printer and ballad collector.
    Acc.11575.
  • Reports and minutes, 1897-1935, of the Église Protestante Française d'Édimbourg, vols.II-III.
    Acc.11449.
  • Typescript poem by, and fiddle music by and from collection of Thomas Sinclair Rae, Barrhead, early 20th cent.
    Acc.11548.
  • Collection of music, photographs and newspaper cuttings, 20th cent., of and relating to Sir Harry Lauder.
    Acc.11485.
  • Author's manuscript, 1901, of The Skipper of Barncraig by Gabriel Setoun [Thomas Nicoll Hepburn].
    Acc.11508.
  • Minute book, 1902-9, of the Edinburgh Highland Ceilidh.
    Acc.11577.
  • Minute book and other papers, 1902-44, of Highland Village Industries, Kyle and Lochalsh District Committee.
    Acc.11442.
  • Corrected MS of Ferruccio Busoni, 'Zehn Variationen über ein Präluden von Chopin', 1922.
    Acc.11568.
  • Manuscript drafts, 1934-60, n.d., of thirty-seven poems by C M Grieve ('Hugh MacDiarmid') and of parts of a larger work probably related to 'Impavidi Progrediamur'.
    Acc.11451.
  • Papers, 1934-97, n.d., of Sorley Maclean, consisting of correspondence, manuscripts of poetry and prose, notebooks, diaries and offprints; and including papers of Alexander and James Nicolson and Calum and John MacLean, and printed material.
    Acc.11572.
  • Photocopies of registration books and related documents, 1937-81, of three Merchant Navy seamen, mostly working for shipping companies based or registered in Leith.
    Acc.11555.
  • Seven letters, 1942-3, of Sir John Charles Walsham Reith, 1st Baron Reith, to Sir John Anderson, on Reith's wish for a wartime post worthy of his talents, and recalling his earlier personal, financial and career sacrifices in the national cause; with one copy reply from Anderson.
    Acc.11583.
  • Collection, 1943-68, of designs for book decorations, stage sets, garden buildings, etc, by William McLaren; with a sketchbook and specimens of calligraphy.
    Acc.11560.
  • Correspondence, 1948-97, of Ronald Stevenson, on musical and literary topics.
    Acc.11567.
  • Correspondence, 1949-61, and texts of lectures, 1957-61, of David, 28th Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, mostly on artistic matters.
    Acc.11533.
  • One hundred and fifty-five letters, 1952-67, of Sir Alexander Gray to Elias Bredsdorff on Danish ballads and their translation into Scots.
    Acc.11562.
  • Literary correspondence, 1959-97, of Professor Alastair Fowler.
    Acc.11522.
  • Manuscripts, corrected typescripts and proof, 1969-96, of Mavis Belfrage by Alasdair Gray.
    Acc.11530.
  • Manuscripts of poems of Alexander Scott, and letters to Alexander Scott, 1965-87, n.d.
    Acc.11535.
  • Inscribed copy of Tom Scott, The Tree (Dunfermline, 1977), with three related letters of Scott to John Stewart Collis, 1978.
    Acc.11586.
  • Papers, 1987-9, of Chapman, including corrected typescripts and proofs of poems, short stories, articles and reviews, together with editorial correspondence.
    Acc.11510.
  • Motet, 1988, by Ronald Stevenson in tribute to Robert Carver.
    Acc.11471.
  • Editorial correspondence and papers, 1989-95, relating to the Scottish literary and cultural magazine, Cencrastus.
    Acc.11509.
  • Papers, 1990-1994, of The Edinburgh Review.
    Acc.11517.
  • Letters, 1991-6, of and to Michael Lister concerning Ronald Stevenson and Norman MacCaig.
    Acc.11520.
  • Setting, 1992, by Ronald Stevenson of Psalm 23 translated by W L Lorimer and Alexander Montgomerie.
    Acc.11470.
  • Correspondence, 1997, concerning Ronald Stevenson, Norman MacCaig and Michael Bonaventure.
    Acc.11584.

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