Rare Books - Important Acquisitions List All
Rare Book Collections works to build up the national collections through purchases (through dealers or at auction) and donations. This directory gives details of 697 of the most important items we have acquired since 2000. We update it regularly as new material comes in. The description gives information about why it was chosen and what makes it particularly interesting. You can order the list by date of acquisition, author or title.
Please let us know what you think of this resource, if you have information to add about an acquisition, or if you have rare Scottish books that you would like to donate or sell. Email us at rarebooks@nls.uk
Important Acquisitions 46 to 60 of 697: |
Ordered by title Order by author | Order by date acquired |
| Author | Woden, George. |
| Title | A collection of 22 novels by George Woden in original dust jackets. |
| Imprint | London: Hutchinson (and others) |
| Date of Publication | 1919-1951 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | This set of 22 novels were presented by the author George Woden during the 1940s and 1950s to his daughter Margery Noel, better known as M. Noel Slaney (1915-2000), the Scottish artist. Unusually all have their original dust jackets and show a variety of artistic styles. The artists include Philip Youngman Carter, Ben Pares, Wyndham Payne, Ley Kenyon and Lance Cattermole. Woden was the pseudonym of George Wilson Slaney (1888-1978) who was born in Staffordshire of Scottish parents. He abandoned engineering to study art and music and eventually became a teacher in Glasgow, working there from 1913. He wrote over 30 works, including novels and plays, many of which were set in Scotland between 1913 and 1952. He was President of Scottish Pen from 1944-1947. |
| Shelfmark | FB.s.922-943 |
| Acquired on | 28/07/08 |
| Author | [Dodsley, Robert, ed.] |
| Title | A collection of poems in six volumes. |
| Imprint | London : J. Dodsley |
| Date of Publication | 1770 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | This handsome 6-volume set of English poetry was bound by James Scott of Edinburgh, the most celebrated of 18th-century Scottish bookbinders. It was formerly in the library of Invercauld Castle, Aberdeenshire, one of a number of bindings executed by Scott for the Farquharson family who lived there. Dodsley's first collection of poetry was published in 1748, in three volumes, later editions were expanded to six volumes as a sign of its popularity. These particular bindings are not identified in Loudon's 1980 work on James and William Scott, but can be identified by the use of the Italianate operatic mask tool on the spines, which was one of Scott's tools. The flourish used to decorate the centre of some of the spine compartments can also be identified as a Scott tool, as well as the roll used to edge the boards. |
| Shelfmark | IN PROCESS |
| Reference Sources | J.H. Loudon, James Scott and William Scott, bookbinders (1980); Bookseller's notes |
| Acquired on | 16/11/12 |
| Author | various |
| Title | A decorative box containing six miniature publications by David Bryce of Glasgow |
| Imprint | Glasgow: David Bryce and Son |
| Date of Publication | ca. 1890 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | A collection of six miniature publications by David Bryce of Glasgow housed in a metal hinged box which features images of a Chinese dragon and flying cranes. The books measure only 27 mm. tall and are bound in flexible red roan leather with pages of very fine, thin India paper. The titles comprise: 'Old English, Scotch and Irish Songs'; 'Witty, Humorous and Merry Thoughts'; 'Golden Thoughts from Great Authors; 'Poems chiefly in the Scottish dialect by Robert Burns' and 'The Smallest English Dictionary in the World'. The sixth title, 'The Tourist's Conversational Guide to English, French, German, Italian' by J. T. Loth, is regarded as perhaps the rarest of all the tiny Bryce miniature books. Tiny bookplates in the volumes indicate that they were owned by Rabbi Kalman L Levitan (d. 2002), the first president of the Miniature Book Society and also Harold Stanley Marcus (1905-2002) president of the luxury retailer Neiman Marcus and one of the most important and influential American businessmen of the 20th century. |
| Shelfmark | RB.s.2761 |
| Reference Sources | Bondy p. 107-8. |
| Acquired on | 14/10/09 |
| Title | A comical dialogue between Sawney and Bonaparte. |
| Imprint | Newcastle: D. Bass |
| Date of Publication | [1803-1805?] |
| Language | English |
| Notes | A spoof conversation between a Scotsman and Napoleon Bonaparte in which Bonaparte threatens to invade Scotland and bring 'liberty' with him. It is a patriotic dialogue in which the 'Sawney' tells Napoleon that he is not wanted and will be resisted by the Highland Watch. The exchange ends with Sawney saying 'There's no a man in a' Scotland but would fight to the last drap o' his blood for the Land o' Cakes' and daring Napoleon to come. Sawney was an English nickname for a Scotsman, now no longer used. The Library also holds a chapbook along similar lines 'Sawney & Bonaparte a dialogue' printed in Stirling in 1807. |
| Shelfmark | AP.4.208.14 |
| Acquired on | 10/03/08 |
| Author | [Smollett, Tobias, ed.] |
| Title | A compendium of authentic and entertaining voyages digested in a chronological series. |
| Imprint | London: R. and J. Dodsley, |
| Date of Publication | 1756. |
| Language | English |
| Notes | This seven-volume anthology of travel writing was partially edited by the Scottish author Tobias Smollett. In 1753 he was contracted, for the considerable sum of £150, to complete the work by the following year. Smollett was at the time working on a wide range of literary projects in his roles of translator, editor and critic; he was also living an expensive and hectic social life in London. It is perhaps little wonder that he later admitted that his overall contribution to the work was actually very limited. The seven volumes consist of edited accounts of the trade and military expeditions of major European explorers and adventurers such as Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Magellan, Francis Drake and Cortes. They contain several plates, including portraits and illustrations of exotic places and peoples, such as cannibals in the Caribbean, as well as 20 maps. A second edition appeared in 1766. This particular set of volumes belonged to the library of the Phelip[p]s family of Montacute House near Yeovil in Somerset. |
| Shelfmark | AB.1.210.014-020 |
| Reference Sources | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |
| Acquired on | 07/05/10 |
| Author | [Anon] |
| Title | A dramatic dialogue between the King of France and the Pretender. |
| Imprint | London: printed by T. Gardner |
| Date of Publication | 1746 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | This 12-page pamphlet contains an unrecorded poem in blank verse printed in London in 1746. The anonymous work, signed only 'By a young gentleman of Oxford', is an imaginative recreation of a conversation between King Louix XV of France (1710-1774) and Charles Edward Stuart (1720-1788), known as the Young Pretender, following events at the Battle of Culloden. The Battle of Culloden, on 16 April 1746, marked an end to the Jacobite uprising, which started in 1745 and Charles Stuart's attempt to restore the House of Stuart to the British throne. While the King refers to Prince William, duke of Cumberland (1721-1765) as 'that beardless, unexperienc'd Boy', the Pretender recounts the abilities of the Duke in battle: 'But, soon as e'er the sad and dreadful Name / Of Cumberland was whisper'd through the Lines, / Each Face grew pale, a sudden Panick seiz'd / Each Scottish Heart, as if some mighty Power / With him had join'd, to disappoint our Hopes.' The Pretender goes on to relate his troops' valiant attempts before they 'fell a victim to their dreadful Duke', and Charles himself was forced 'reluctant, from the bloody Field'. The poem ends on a pessimistic note with an order to the Pretender from the King: 'Betake thee strait to some religious Choir, / ... Where, in Peace you may forever live, / And think no more of ruling o'er a People, / Who both despise Religion and their Prince.' This is the only recorded copy of the poem and supplements the Library's rich holdings of printed material relating to Jacobites and Jacobitism. |
| Shelfmark | RB.m.701 |
| Reference Sources | Bookseller's catalogue; Oxford DNB |
| Acquired on | 09/08/10 |
| Author | Colquhoun, Patrick. |
| Title | A general view of the national police system, recommended by the Select Committee of Finance to the House of Commons. |
| Imprint | London : Printed by H. Baldwin and Son |
| Date of Publication | 1799 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | Patrick Colquhoun (1745-1820), born in Dumbarton, was a magistrate and founder of the Thames police, a river police force to protect trade on the Thames. In 1796 his "Treatise on the police of the metropolis" was published anonymously, outlining the author's plan for an improved police system. In 1799 Colquhoun published this work, "A general view of the national police system", on the topic of the proposed board of police revenue. This is a first edition. ESTC lists only four other copies held in the UK. |
| Shelfmark | RB.s.2763 |
| Reference Sources | Oxford DNB |
| Acquired on | 30/09/09 |
| Author | [Anon.] |
| Title | A geographical history of Nova Scotia |
| Imprint | London: Paul Vaillant |
| Date of Publication | 1749 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | This is one of the earliest printed accounts of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, which describes the rival claims of the French and British to the region. Writing for prospective settlers, the anonymous author in the preface says he has drawn on his own observations and those of the French Jesuit priest turned historian Pierre Charlevoix when writing his book. He stresses the importance of Nova Scotia to British trade and the security of the other British North American settlements in view of increasing tensions with French settlers (which eventually led to war). The book also includes descriptions of the Indians living in the area and their relations with the European settlers. |
| Shelfmark | RB.s.2704 |
| Reference Sources | Bookseller's catalogue |
| Acquired on | 11/04/08 |
| Author | McKerrell, John |
| Title | A grammar of the Carnataca language |
| Imprint | Madras: College Press |
| Date of Publication | 1820 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | This is the first published grammar of the Kannada language of India. The author was a member of the McKerrell family of Hillhouse in Ayrshire. He travelled to India in 1805 and later became master of the mint in Madras. In his preface he explains that he was initially employed in a "judicial situation" in the region of British Carnara (Karnataka - formerly known as the kingdom of Mysore) and was required to learn the Carnataca (Kannada) language of the local inhabitants. He proposed compiling a grammar as early as 1809, but ill health and demands of work delayed the publication of this book until 1820. A new grammar of the Kannada language, based on McKerrell's earlier work, was published in 1859 in Bangalore. |
| Shelfmark | AB.8.209.05 |
| Acquired on | 02/03/09 |
| Title | A health, the Duke of Richmond and the Earl of Clare made their hired mobb[sic] drink in the Court of Requests, and places adjacent, on Friday 10th of June, 1715. |
| Imprint | [S.l., s.n.] |
| Date of Publication | 1715 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | This is a curious piece of anti-Jacobite printed ephemera: a small handbill with the text of a toast proposed by two Whig peers, the Earl of Clare and Duke of Richmond. The toast wishes ill-will to, amongst others, the Pretender (James, son of the late, deposed James II/VII), the French king and all those who do not love King George I. At the time a Jacobite rebellion against the Hanoverian king, organised by leading Tory noblemen, seemed imminent, but it never came to fruition in England. In Scotland, however, events took a different course and an organised armed rebellion took place in the autumn of that year. |
| Shelfmark | AP.2.209.029 |
| Acquired on | 30/01/09 |
| Author | Sir Robert Lambert Playfair (1828-1899) |
| Title | A history of Arabia Felix or Yemen, from the commencement of the Christian era to the present time including an account of the British settlement of Aden |
| Imprint | Bombay: Printed for the Government at the Education Society's Press, Byculla |
| Date of Publication | 1859 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | Sir Robert Lambert Playfair (1828-1899), colonial administrator and author, was born at St Andrews, Fife. He was the grandson of James Playfair, principal of the University of St Andrews, and the third son of George Playfair (1782-1846), chief inspector-general of hospitals in Bengal. After studying at St Andrews University and at Addiscombe College, he entered the Royal (Madras) Artillery in 1846. Between 1848 and May 1862, Playfair was involved in a various official duties in the Middle East: from November 1848 to May 1850 he was in a quasi-political mission to Syria; from March 1852 until September 1853 he served as assistant executive engineer at Aden; and from 1854 to 1862 he served as the assistant to the first political resident in Aden. Playfair was a qualified interpreter of Arabic, and used his time at Aden to research the history of that part of the Arabian Peninsula. In his 'History of Arabia Felix, or, Yemen ...' (1859), Playfair concentrates on an historical overview of Yemen from the Christian era onwards as he felt that the history of Arabia anterior to Christianity had already been extensively covered. In his preface, Playfair stresses that his goal was to produce a generalist history which could function as both a ready reference, and also as a starting point for more detailed work by future historians. |
| Shelfmark | RB.m.650 |
| Reference Sources | DNB |
| Acquired on | 16/05/07 |
| Author | Goldsmith, Oliver; James Stewart and Harrison Weir |
| Title | A history of the earth and animated nature. |
| Imprint | London, Blackie & Son, Paternoster Buildings, Glasgow and Edinburgh |
| Date of Publication | 1876-79 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | 'A history of the earth' by the poet Oliver Goldsmith was first published in 1774, and was republished throughout the 19th century. The 1853 edition (NLS copy at T.351.h) and subsequent editions published by W. G. Blackie of Glasgow include numerous fine illustrations, and the original artwork for some of these illustrations has now been acquired by NLS. Blackie's chose to publish an edition of Goldsmith's work as part of their programme of scientific publications. To accompany their edition, Blackie's commissioned these high-quality illustrations, which were reproduced to a high standard using chromolithography. A comparison of the original watercolours and the published plates shows that the reproductions were very accurate. There are 24 watercolours, all by James Stewart, except one by Harrison Weir depicting horses. The images measure 5 × 8 inches (127 × 204 mm) on sheets of 7 × 10 inches (177 × 254 mm), and are in new mounts. James Stewart (1791-1863) was born in Edinburgh and studied under Robert Scott. He exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Royal Scottish Academy and the British Institute, and worked on portraits, landscapes and (with Robert Scott) as an engraver. Harrison William Weir (1824-1906) was born in Lewes, and worked chiefly as an animal painter. Charles Darwin was one of his friends. The editor for the improved edition of 1876 was William Keddie F.R.S.E. who had recently been appointed science lecturer at the Free Church College in Glasgow. Included with the watercolours is a the publisher's own file copy of the 1879 impression of this edition, partly unopened and in the original binding of decorated cloth, each volume with the Blackie bookplate. This is a later impression to the set already in NLS at shelfmark Cp.2, where both volumes are dated 1876. Most of what remains of Blackie & Son's archive is now in Glasgow University Archives, and it is good to make these missing items available to the public as well. |
| Shelfmark | RB.s.2649 |
| Reference Sources | Blackie, Agnes. 'Blackie & Son 1809-1959: a short history of the firm'. London & Glasgow: Blackie & Son Ltd., 1959 http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk/news/blackie.html DNB |
| Acquired on | 06/02/07 |
| Author | Girvin, John |
| Title | A letter to Adam Smith |
| Imprint | Dublin: Printed by P. Byrne, no. 8, Grafton-Street |
| Date of Publication | 1786 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | The library tries to collect works on Adam Smith comprehensively. This is an early reply to Smith's 'Wealth of Nations' (1776) of which there are no other copies in public ownership in Scotland. It does not seem to have been known by the main Smith bibliographers. John Girvin (1734-1804) was a Dublin merchant who wrote extensively on trade policy. He seems to have been using the 4th Dublin edition of the 'Wealth of Nations', printed in 1785, for this book. He takes issue in particular with Smith's analysis of the herring industry. He argues that Smith does not understand the trade, and expresses concern for the Irish trade if Smith's arguments for changing the bounty arrangements are accepted. This is a good copy, uncut and unopened. |
| Shelfmark | RB.s.2623 |
| Reference Sources | ESTC N33556 'Vanderblue Memorial Collection of Smithiana', 1939 Lai, Cheng-chung, 'Adam Smith across nations', 2000 Tribe, Keith, 'A critical bibliography of Adam Smith', 2002 |
| Acquired on | 13/04/06 |
| Title | A list of the sporting ladies who is [sic] arrived from all the principal towns in Great Britain and Ireland, to take their pleasure at Leith races, on Monday the 3d June 1776. |
| Imprint | [Edinburgh : s.n.] |
| Date of Publication | 1776 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | This is an 18th-century broadside containing an 86-line poem about the prostitutes lately arrived in Edinburgh to entertain gentlemen at the Leith races, held on the East Sands. It reviews the names and qualities of the "sporting ladies", recommending some, warning potential customers away from others, beginning with a Miss Clerk plying her trade at the back of Edinburgh's Bess Wynde, then other "ladies" from Aberdeen, Perth, Dunfermline, Inverness, Montrose, Dundee, etc., working Miln's Square, Niddery's Wynd, Gray's Close, and the Lawn-Market, concluding with two who could be found at Castle Wynd. Leith race week, establshed in the 17th century, was an important week in neighbouring Edinburgh's social calendar, sometimes leading to a partial suspension of work and business in the city. "On the approach of the race ... a great many fashionable families ... flocked into the town ... This influx of wealthy and idle people kept the city, during the whole of race week, in a state of feverish excitation, and converted it into one continual scene of gaiety and dissipation." (Campbell, p. 185). It was only to be expected that prostitutes would ply their trade for the benefit of the race-goers. The writer of this broadside concludes, tongue in cheek: "N.B. As there will be published a new List every day during the Races, Ladies who incline to be Booked, will loose no time in giving in their Names." This work is not recorded by the usual reference works, nor online catalogues. The only references to it can be found in Thomas Stevenson's "The bibliography of James Maidment" (Edinburgh, 1883 - p. 30) as having been sold on the 3rd day's sale of the antiquary James Maidment's collection on 29 April 1880 and T. Chapman & Son's catalogue of the sale where it is listed as part of lot 1000 "Collectanea curiosa", which sold for 80 shillings. Lot 1000 also included another Leith races broadside printed for 1777 (not recorded anywhere), and a broadside the "Sporting ladies' reply" (now in NLS - shelfmark: LC.1268(002)). This copy may well be Maidment's own copy but there are no marks of provenance to link it to him. |
| Shelfmark | IN PROCESS |
| Reference Sources | Alexander Campbell, The History of Leith, Leith, 1827. Bookseller's notes. |
| Acquired on | 17/02/12 |
| Author | George Reavely |
| Title | A medley, history, directory, and discovery of Galashiels |
| Imprint | Galashiels: T.F. Brockie |
| Date of Publication | 1875 |
| Language | Galashiels: T.F. Brockie |
| Notes | The author of this work, George Reavely (1815-1895) was a native of Galashiels, whose life is briefly described in Robert Hall's 1898 history of the town. Reavely worked initially in local textile mills in his home town and Stow, and also ran coach services in the Borders. In a long and varied working life he also worked as an auctioneer and barman, as well as spending time in North America. A true local eccentric, he was a keen inventor in his spare time, producing a variety of contraptions, including a flying machine, which proved to be, according to Hall, "a disastrous failure". Reavely's history of the town is not drawn from research into the ancient past but from the author's own extensive personal knowledge of events and personalities of the last l00 years or so; indeed the history part is "not so much of the town and trade of Galashiels, as of incidents connected with men and things generally". The book thus contains gossipy anecdotes on local worthies as well as some criticisms on the current state of the town; Hall comments wryly that, "at public meetings George was generally to the front, advocating his peculiar ideas about things in general; the kindly feelings with which he was regarded always secured for him a good-humoured, if, at times, a somewhat demonstrative reception". It is therefore no surprise that the printer of his book, Brockie, has seen fit to include a footnote to Reavely's "Apology" at the start of the work, disclaiming any responsibility for the book's contents. In the "Apology" Reavely mentions that 12 instalments were to be printed, to then be bound into a pamphlet. He may have run out of funds to produce the intended 12 numbers, as the book ends somewhat abruptly. The book was also supposed to cover, according to the title page, "a water scheme for power, domestic, and sanitary purposes, supplementing the use of fire engines, for the year 1875". However, the water scheme is only discussed briefly in the final 2-3 pages, almost as an afterthought. The provision of fresh water was indeed something of a hot topic in the town, as at the time Galashiels was dependent on various wells for its water supply; these were often polluted and blamed for an increased death rate, with three outbreaks of cholera between the years 1849 and 1853. Moreover, the population of the town had increased rapidly in the previous 20 years due to the development of the local textile industry, placing further pressures on the existing water supply. The recently established Town Council was due to decide on a new water supply for the town so Reavely advocates in his book the construction of a reservoir using water from the Lug(g)ate Water, to the north of the town, hoping that "unlettered men" in the Council were in the minority and that the rest would see the efficacy of the scheme he was proposing. The Council had other ideas; in 1876, a year after the publication of this book, an act of parliament was passed which authorised the construction of a water supply system fed by the Caddon Water, with contracts being undertaken the following year for the construction of reservoirs, including one at Meigle Hill to the west of the town. Piped water became available in the town in 1879. |
| Shelfmark | AB.1.212.01 |
| Reference Sources | Robert Hall, "History of Galashiels", Galashiels, 1898. |
| Acquired on | 16/12/11 |
| Important Acquisitions - page no. | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 |