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 571 to 585 of 697:
|
Ordered by title
Order by author
| Order by date
acquired |
| Author | Greensmith Downes & Son |
| Title | The book of Scotch-made underwear |
| Imprint | Edinburgh: Greensmith, Downes & Son |
| Date of Publication | 1910 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | This trade catalogue provides us with a lot of very useful information about fashion in the early 20th century. It is attractively illustrated with colour plates and black and white drawings and photographs to accompany the price lists and descriptions of the clothes. At the back of the volume there is a pattern book incorporating over 30 pieces of fabric of the type used by Greensmith Downes & Son in their garments. The shop in George Street, Edinburgh was well known for selling quality (and expensive) clothing and was in business until at least the 1970s. As well as underwear the there are also sections in the catalogue on hunting jackets, waistcoats, elbow warmers, socks and rugs. There is also an extensive introductory section describing the manufacturing process, a discussion of the merits of woollen underwear as well as short pieces on The problem of shrinkage and Sweating: how far is the British public responsible. A couple of pages are also devoted to the Scottish Antarctic Expedition of 1902-04 during which the members of the expedition “all wore complete outfits of ‘Australlama’ which speciality gave the utmost satisfaction, and was acknowledged by them to be infinitely superior to the foreign makers of underwear hitherto tried”.The Library also has a 1926 Greensmith Downes trade catalogue at shelfmark HP1.87.1881. |
| Shelfmark | ABS.1.206.067 |
| Acquired on | 04/04/05
|
| Author | [Andrew Bennett] |
| Title | The book of St Andrews Links |
| Imprint | St Andrews: J.& G. Innes |
| Date of Publication | 1898 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | A rare early book on golf, printed in St Andrews, which the author describes as the 'mecca of golf'. The author, not named in the publication, was Andrew Bennett, (1871-1958), who would later serve as Secretary of St Andrews University and who, in addition to his interest in golf, was a keen amateur poet and artist. The book contains the rules and regulations of the game, information on the Old and New courses in St Andrews (including a colour map showing their location) and a selection of golfing rhymes. Only 1,000 copies of this edition were printed.
|
| Shelfmark | RB.s.2724 |
| Reference Sources | Donovan & Murdoch, "The game of golf and the printed word, 1566-1985 : a bibliography of golf literature in the English language " (Endicott, NY, 1988)no. 690
JSF Murdoch "The Murdoch golf library" (Droitwich, 1991)no. 57 |
| Acquired on | 05/09/08
|
| Title | The case of the Bishop of Ross, resident of the Queen of Scots, who was seized and committed to the Tower by Queen Elizabeth, for traiterous practices, and endevouring to raise a rebellion against her. |
| Imprint | London: Printed for Edward Symon...sold by J. Roberts... |
| Date of Publication | 1717 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | A rare work attempting to construct a case against Count Karl Gyllenborg’s treasonable communications with Jacobites, by drawing on the case of John Leslie, Bishop of Ross’s support for Mary Queen of Scots' right of succession to the throne of England. The text revolves around the retelling of the events of 1584 with emphasis on pinpointing a legal parallel between the two cases of treason. Gyllenborg was imprisoned until the threatened rebellion blew over, more as a guaranteed safe custody or protection than as a punishment. |
| Shelfmark | RB.m.618 |
| Acquired on | 11/04/05
|
| Author | Stuart, John Knox |
| Title | The chemical experimentalist; or, an attempt to allure by experiment. Third edition. |
| Imprint | Paisley: Caldwell |
| Date of Publication | 1834-37 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | With the running title of "Stuart's Useful Information for the People", this book is an excellent example of early 19th-century attempts to popularise science for the masses. The author aims to guide the reader "towards the cultivation of the simple and sublime science - chemistry", using simple language and lots of diagrams. The book appears to have been issued in individual numbers which form seven parts. Of particular interest are the rather crudely produced illustrations, including an advertisement for the author's own popular medicines, as well as a cloth sample on p. 121. |
| Shelfmark | AB.3.208.01 |
| Acquired on | 14/01/08
|
| Author | [Anon] |
| Title | The child's catechism in two parts. The first, treating of God... The second, of mans recovery... By a well-wisher to the education of children. |
| Imprint | Edinburgh: [s.n.], |
| Date of Publication | 1751 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | Learning the catechism was an essential part of religious education in the 18th century. Catechisms accordingly were a staple of Scottish printing houses from the 17th century onwards. In the 1690s a catechism for children by the late Robert Leighton, bishop of Dunblane, was printed in Edinburgh. Leighton's catechism was followed in the first half of the 18th century by a number of similar children's catechisms, with shorter and simplified text, were printed in Scotland. This particular version of 1751, by an anonymous 'Well-wisher to the Education of Children', was originally composed for a four-year-old girl, and was continued for her with additional sections until she was twelve. The last eight pages comprise "Some forms of prayers for children." Only three known copies of this particular printed catechism have been recorded, none of them in the UK. |
| Shelfmark | AP.3.210.09 |
| Acquired on | 13/08/10
|
| Title | The complete cellar-book or butler's assistant in keeping a regular account of his liquors. |
| Imprint | Edinburgh : Printed for Thomas Veitch |
| Date of Publication | [1842] |
| Language | English |
| Notes | One of the many duties of butlers working in large households was to keep an account of the beverages in the cellar. This is an example of a cellar book which helped butlers to maintain an adequate stock for their masters. The preface provides instruction on how to use the book. The first line contains the number of bottles of each drink at the beginning of the week, the next line the number of bottles of each drink added. Then there are separate lines for each day of the week showing what was drunk on each day. At the end of the week the butler would simply subtract the number of bottles used from the total at the beginning of the week and with the new figures proceed to the page for the following week.
Unfortunately we do not know who owned the establishment in question here. This cellar book records what was drunk from August 1842 to September 1843. Port, sherry and hock were the most popular drinks. Whisky, rum and liqueurs were rarely drunk while the columns for porter, ales and 'cyder' were not added to throughout the year. There were two weeks during the year when a lot of stock was consumed Christmas and the week of 5 March 1843. During the latter week, 2 bottles of port were drunk, 6 of sherry, 1 of madeira, 2 of claret(1819), 7 of hock, 5 of St. Julien, 2 of sherry, 1 of claret (1815) and 1 of claret (1825).
|
| Shelfmark | AP.4.207.10 |
| Acquired on | 20/02/07
|
| Title | The complete pocket book or, gentleman and trademan's daily journal, for the year of our Lord 1764. |
| Imprint | London: Printed for J. Johnson |
| Date of Publication | 1763 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | This work, of which only one copy is recorded in the UK, contains a fascinating record of accounts and appointments of a relative or employee of James Duff, the second Earl of Fife (1729-1809). This unnamed individual seems to have been based in London sorting out the business affairs of Lord and Lady Fife. He records his correspondence with them and the payments he makes on their behalf.
The Earl of Fife was MP for Banff between 1754 and 1780. He married Lady Dorothea Sinclair (Lady Fife) in 1759. In 1763, the year in which this volume was published, he succeeded his father in the title and estates, mainly in Aberdeen and Moray. The Earl devoted himself to the improvement of the property, which he greatly increased by the purchase of land in the north of Scotland.
Most of the entries, however, concern the expenses of the Earl's man in London. For example, he was a frequent visitor to the Smyrna Coffee House in Pall Mall, a popular meeting place for Whigs during this period. He also went regularly to the theatre and the opera - both Drury Lane and Covent Garden are mentioned throughout. This was a man who was also concerned with his appearance: nosegays, shaving powder and toothpicks as well as payments to his hairdresser are recorded. He hired coaches and chairs, the 18th-century equivalents of black cabs. He also bought snuff, gloves, sealing-wax, fruit, woodcocks, teal and turkey and gave money to charity almost on a weekly basis.
|
| Shelfmark | RB.s.2633 |
| Acquired on | 16/10/06
|
| Author | [William Douglas] |
| Title | The cornutor of seventy-five. Being the genuine narrative of the lives, adventures and amours of Don Ricardo Honeywater. The second edition. |
| Imprint | London: J. Cobham |
| Date of Publication | [1748] |
| Language | English |
| Notes | A very rare satirical pamphlet by William Douglas (b. 1710/11?), a Scottish doctor who had a prominent medical career in London; at one time he was employed as physician to Frederick, Prince of Wales. Douglas's main claim to fame, or rather notoriety, was not his skill as a physician but the vindictive attacks he made in print on some of the leading physicians of his day. Having already attacked his fellow Scots William Smellie and Thomas Thompson, he turned his attention to the wealthiest, most famous and respected physician in England, Richard Mead (1673-1754). Although already in his seventies, Mead had acquired a reputation for womanising, or rather nocturnal 'impotent fumblings' with young girls of much lower social status. His extra-marital activities and alleged inflated status in the medical world were targeted by Douglas in the first edition of this pamphlet, where Mead punningly became 'Don Ricardo Honeywater'. In 1748 Douglas also produced this expanded second edition, with mock-learned footnotes and enlarged preface and an attack on Mead's translator, Dr Thomas Stack, 'Dr Chimney'. Douglas's pamphlet attracted a powerful response in defence of Mead: "Don Ricardo Honeywater Vindicated", a work attributed to another Scottish doctor and man of letters, Tobias Smollett. It seems to have put an end to Douglas's career as satirist; he later gave up his medical career in London and by 1758 he had returned to Scotland and, according to William Smellie, had gone mad. |
| Shelfmark | RB.s.2638(1) |
| Reference Sources | ESTC; DNB; R.A. Day, The cornutor of seventy-five and Don Ricardo Honeywater vindicated, The Augustan Reprint Society publication no. 224-225, Los Angeles, 1987 |
| Acquired on | 24/11/06
|
| Author | Heddle, Matthew Forster |
| Title | The county geognosy and mineralogy of Scotland. |
| Imprint | Truro: Lake & Lake |
| Date of Publication | 1878-1880 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | MF Heddle was born in Orkney in 1828 and educated at Edinburgh, becoming a student of the University and later practising medicine in the city. His real love, however, was geology and in particular mineralogy; even when he was later appointed professor of chemistry at St Andrews - a post he held for over 20 years - his main passion remained collecting rock samples in the north of Scotland and the Hebrides and publishing papers on his discoveries for various scientific societies.
Heddle was a powerfully built man, who in the course of collecting minerals probably climbed most of the Scottish mountains, and was a Member of the Scottish Mountaineering Club. His physical toughness and stamina were necessary for his fieldwork in inhospitable places, carrying 28 lb hammers, dynamite and wedges to obtain his rock samples.
Heddle's most famous work, "The Mineralogy of Scotland ", was published posthumously in 1901, four years after his death. "The County Geognosy" appears to be a forerunner of Heddle's magnum opus, which was at the time regarded as the most comprehensive mineralogical survey of a single country. Consisting of reprints from his contributions to "The Mineralogical magazine", and printed in the unlikely location of Truro in Cornwall, this was probably printed for private distribution to Heddle's acquaintances and academic colleagues. The main text ends at p. 520 and includes a number of geological maps and attractive coloured plates which endeavour to recreate the microscopic structure of rocks. Included in this copy and also in the one held by GUL are a number of 'extras', offprints of articles which pre- and postdate the main text and which were probably added by the owners of the book. Included in this copy is an "Addendum" a humorous poem presumably about Heddle written by A.G. - his fellow scientist Sir Archibald Geikie, a photograph of Heddle, appropriately holding a rock sample, taken during his time at St Andrews, and a copy of a newspaper obituary tipped in to the back of the book.
The provenance of the book is also worthy of note. The MS inscription on the front flyleaf is "Edwin Traill". This is very likely Heddle's nephew, i.e. a son of Heddle's sister Henrietta, who was born in Orkney in 1854. |
| Shelfmark | ABS.2.204.030 |
| Acquired on | 22/07/04
|
| Author | L'Heritier de Villandon, Marie-Jeanne |
| Title | The discreet princess; or, the adventures of Finetta. A Novel. |
| Imprint | Edinburgh: G. & J. Ross |
| Date of Publication | 1806 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | This volume of eight chapbooks, six of which are of Scottish origin, has the bookplate of Crewe Hall Library. Of the chapbooks, the following were previously unrepresented in NLS collections in these editions: The Discreet Princess; The Valentine's Gift (Edinburgh: G. & J. Ross, 1806); The Way to be Happy: or, the History of the Family at Smiledale. To which is added, The Story of Little George (Edinburgh: G. & J. Ross, 1807); The Life and Perambulation of a Mouse. In Two Volumes (London: John Marshall, c.1805); Garden Amusements for Improving the Minds of Little Children (London, Darton and Harvey, 1806); Worlds Displayed, for the Benefit of Young People (6th edition, Edinburgh: J. Ritchie, 1804). Most of these chapbooks are illustrated with woodcuts, some with crude hand-colouring. The signature of Barbara Peddie appears on the recto of the frontispieces to The Life and Perambulation of a Mouse, vol. ii, dated January 1806, and The History of the Holy Bible Abridged, dated 1805. This may be the Barbara Peddie 'daughter of Dr. James Peddie, a family long associated with many religious movements in Edinburgh.' She married Dr. James Harper, minister of the United Presbyterian Church at North Leith and Principle of the UPC Theological College, now New College (University of Edinburgh), with whom she had fifteen children. Given the similar publication dates of most of these chapbooks, it may be that they were collected originally by Barbara Peddie. |
| Shelfmark | AB.1.209.057(1) |
| Reference Sources | The Sunday At Home (1882) p.212. |
| Acquired on | 14/08/09
|
| Author | Macvicar, Symers Macdonald |
| Title | The distribution of hepaticae in Scotland |
| Imprint | [Edinburgh] |
| Date of Publication | [1910] |
| Language | English |
| Notes | This is an annotated proof copy of Macvicar's (1857-1932) work on Scottish non-vascular plants known as liverworts. The text is complete although there are no preliminaries. The inkstamp "Neill & Co. Edinburgh First Proof" appears on a number of pages and there are numerous manuscript corrections and annotations by Macvicar throughout the text. An inscription on the front pastedown indicates that the book was bound during Christmas 1945 and presented to Mr. A. D. Banwell by the bryologist P. W. Richards (b. 1908). |
| Shelfmark | S3.205.0691 |
| Acquired on | 09/08/05
|
| Title | The Edinburgh Almanack and Scots Register for 1807 |
| Imprint | Edinburgh: David Ramsay & Son |
| Date of Publication | 1807 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | This Edinburgh Almanack belonged to Fletcher Norton (1744-1820), second son of Fletcher Norton, first Baron Grantley, Speaker of the House of Commons. 'Fletcher Norton, Abbey Hill, Edinburgh' as he signs himself in this book, was appointed one of the Barons of the Scottish Exchequer in 1776 and set up residence in the Scottish capital. According to James Grant's book Old and New Edinburgh, Norton 'stood high in the estimation of all' as 'husband, father, friend, and master'. A founding member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Norton was a supporter of Scottish culture, playing a key role in ensuring the publication of Albyn's Anthology, an important collection of Scottish music. Norton gave his name to East and West Norton Place, Abbeyhill, the streets now located on the site of his old Edinburgh home.
This almanac, whose blank pages were used by Norton to keep a record of his expenditure, provide an interesting insight into the daily life of a member of Edinburgh's social and cultural elite in the early 19th century, recording the 18 shillings spent on tooth powder, and the £2.9.0 spent on a chaise to London, among other notes. Our perception of movement between England and Scotland during this period is largely one of Scots emigrating - this book bears witness to an Englishman who successfully moved to Scotland and integrated himself with its cultural life. |
| Shelfmark | AB.1.209.016 |
| Reference Sources | Oxford DNB; James Grant, Old and New Edinburgh, vol.5 chapter 13 (http://www.oldandnewedinburgh.co.uk/volume5/page138/single) |
| Acquired on | 06/04/09
|
| Title | The Edinburgh Rose. |
| Imprint | London: Joseph Myers |
| Date of Publication | c.1860 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | This is a remarkable piece of paper engineering from the mid-nineteenth century. At first glance it looks like a cleverly sculpted paper rose coloured in pink and green. However, once opened the viewer sees 28 vignette engravings of Edinburgh and its surroundings including Calton Hill, the Castle, Holyrood Palace, Roslin Chapel and Tantallon Castle. It is contained within an envelope, entitled 'The Edinburgh Rose' with an engraving of the Scott Monument. On one side the imprint reads, 'Joseph Myers & Co., London', and on the other 'C. Adler, Hamburg'. Myers and Adler produced a series of over 100 roses depicting views of places throughout Britain and Europe. |
| Shelfmark | RB.s.2697 |
| Acquired on | 29/10/07
|
| Author | Bible. N.T. Ephesians |
| Title | The epistle of Paul to the Ephesians. |
| Imprint | Edinburgh: James Gall |
| Date of Publication | c. 1837 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | The Library, thanks to the donation of a collection of the Royal Blind Asylum and School in Edinburgh in 1989, has a good collection of early printing done for the blind in Scotland. One of the key figures in this field was the Edinburgh printer and publisher James Gall (c. 1784-1874). While visiting Paris in 1825, Gall saw examples of embossed type books for the blind and decided to design a script which could be used by blind and sighted people alike. He introduced his Gall Type in 1827; its triangular forms were regarded as being more easily discernible by touch than existing rounded types. Capital letters were excluded, meaning that there were only 26 characters to be learnt. The Gospel by St. John for the blind (Edinburgh, 1834) was the first major work to be printed in Gall's type. In 1835 he founded the School for Blind Children at Craigmillar Park, which adopted his tactile alphabet. This particular book, of which only one other copy, in the British Library, is recorded, is a fine example of printing from Gall's press on Niddry Street. It is in its original binding and the label reveals that the book was printed "on the largest type" and cost one shilling and sixpence. |
| Shelfmark | RB.s.2822 |
| Acquired on | 20/05/11
|
| Author | Gray, John. |
| Title | The essential principles of the wealth of nations. |
| Imprint | London: T. Cadell |
| Date of Publication | 1797 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | This is one of the earliest critiques of Adam Smith's seminal economic text 'An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations' (1776). Gray criticises Smith's work on a number of counts: he accuses Smith of misinterpreting the French economists' viewpoint on labour and productivity. Gray maintained that the French had in fact recognised that not all the so-called unproductive classes were barren to the same degree. Gray also argued that Smith was wrong to state that the manufacturing industry alone was responsible for contributing to Britain's real national wealth, saying that agriculture was the only true source of wealth. There is some Scottish content in the form of the appendix, which consists of a general plan of a lease by Henry Home, Lord Kaimes, "with remarks upon it by Dr. Anderson in his agricultural report for the county of Aberdeen". Coincidentally, Kaimes was Smith's literary patron. Very little is known about John Gray to whom this work, published anonymously in 1797, is attributed. He may have lived from 1724-1811 - obituary notices in contemporary periodicals merely state that he died in May 1811 in his 88th year and that he had been one of the Commissioners of the Lottery. John Gray may have been assistant private secretary to the Duke of Northumberland in Ireland in 1763 and 1764 and 'An essay concerning the establishment of a national bank in Ireland' (1774) may have been written by him. The Library of Congress catalogue attributes to Gray 'The right of the British legislature to tax the American colonies' (1775). However, Palgrave's 'Dictionary of economics' attributes 'The essential principles' to Simon Gray (fl.1795-1840). |
| Shelfmark | RB.s.2578 |
| Reference Sources | The New Palgrave: a dictionary of economics, vol.II, 1987.
Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, vol.46, 1952, p.275-6. |
| Acquired on | 04/07/05
|
