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 676 to 690 of 697:
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| Title | Engineer and machinist's assistant: being a series of plans, sections, and elevations, of steam engines, spinning machines, mills for grinding, tools, etc., etc., taken from machines of approved construction at present in operation. |
| Imprint | Glasgow |
| Date of Publication | 1856 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | This is a 'new and improved edition' of a book first published by Blackie in 1847. Lavishly illustrated with 138 engravings, it was intended to provide a broad range of information and practical examples for the instruction of the many aspiring mechanical engineers and millwrights to extend what they had learned in theory during their arduous apprenticeships. The scale of the engravings are sufficiently large 'to render them available as working drawings for the reproduction of similar machines' (preface). The plates, with very detailed accompanying explanatory text, are preceded by essays on the steam engine, mill gearing, machine tools and water wheels.
Examples of the designs of the foremost British (and some French) manufacturers are portrayed at a time when Britain, in the wake of the Great Exhibition of 1851 was very much regarded as the 'workshop of the world'. The designs of James Nasmyth's steam hammer and steam pile driver and William Fairbairn's corn mills, steam frigates and water wheels are among those of Scots engineers whose work features. Also included are designs by Caird & Co, Greenock, James Smith of Deanston, and Robert Napier, Archibald Mylne, Robert Sanderson & Co. from Glasgow. The book belonged to John Fowler, probably of John Fowler and Co., the Leeds based builder of railway and rolling stock. |
| Shelfmark | ABS.10.201.01 |
| Acquired on | 26/07/00
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| Author | Scot, William |
| Title | Royaute de Charles Second roy de la Grand Bretagne, &c. reconnuë au parlement d'Ecosse, & proclamée par tout le Royaume |
| Imprint | Paris |
| Date of Publication | 1649 |
| Language | French |
| Notes | This item is probably a translation of the proclamation by the Scottish parliament declaring Charles II king of Great Britain. It was first printed as a broadside by Evan Taylor in Edinburgh, days after the execution of Charles I in London. It is signed on the final page by William Scot, also known as Lord Clerkington, secretary to the parliament. Scot was knighted by Charles I in 1641 and from 1645 he represented Haddington in parliament.
The proclamation was quite a political statement by the Scottish parliament in proclaiming Charles as king not just of Scotland, but of Great Britain as a whole. It signalled the end of the informal alliance with the English parliament, though it was intended that the new king should be no more than a figurehead. The proclamation marked the beginning of an intense period of negotiation between the new king and the various political and religious factions in Scotland. |
| Shelfmark | ABS.3.200.044 |
| Acquired on | 18/07/00
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| Author | Froude, James Anthony |
| Title | Thomas Carlyle: a history of his life in London 1834-1881. In two volumes. |
| Imprint | London |
| Date of Publication | 1885-1884 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | These four volumes comprise the 'authorised' biography of Thomas Carlyle, (1795-1881) the pre-eminent Victorian essayist, historian and man of letters. Known in later life as 'the sage of Chelsea', he retained his links with his Scottish birthplace, insisting on being buried in his native Ecclefechan rather than in the more prestigious Westminster Abbey. James Anthony Froude, primarily a historian of the Tudor period, was Carlyle's literary executor. He prepared for publication Carlyle's Reminiscences (1881) and Letters and Memorials of Jane Welsh Carlyle (1883). Froude modestly maintained that his biography was 'no 'Life', but only the materials for a Life'. The work was not simply an exercise in hagiography. He refused to overlook Carlyle's well-known defects of character and his somewhat strained relationship with his wife.
Part of the private library of the London bookseller William Foyle, these books have been enhanced with the addition of over 400 illustrations, including etchings, engravings and photographs of people and places associated with Carlyle's long and productive life. There are also five autograph letters, including three from Carlyle, one from Cardinal Newman and an autograph of Edward Irving (1792-1834), a charismatic preacher and a close friend of the Carlyles. The Library also holds copies of these volumes with annotations and corrections by Alexander Carlyle, the author's nephew. |
| Shelfmark | RB.s.2063 |
| Acquired on | 13/07/00
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| Author | Froude, James Anthony |
| Title | Thomas Carlyle: a history of the first forty years of his life 1795-1835. In two volumes. |
| Imprint | London |
| Date of Publication | 1882 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | These four volumes comprise the 'authorised' biography of Thomas Carlyle, (1795-1881) the pre-eminent Victorian essayist, historian and man of letters. Known in later life as 'the sage of Chelsea', he retained his links with his Scottish birthplace, insisting on being buried in his native Ecclefechan rather than in the more prestigious Westminster Abbey. James Anthony Froude, primarily a historian of the Tudor period, was Carlyle's literary executor. He prepared for publication Carlyle's Reminiscences (1881) and Letters and Memorials of Jane Welsh Carlyle (1883). Froude modestly maintained that his biography was 'no 'Life', but only the materials for a Life'. The work was not simply an exercise in hagiography. He refused to overlook Carlyle's well-known defects of character and his somewhat strained relationship with his wife.
Part of the private library of the London bookseller William Foyle, these books have been enhanced with the addition of over 400 illustrations, including etchings, engravings and photographs of people and places associated with Carlyle's long and productive life. There are also five autograph letters, including three from Carlyle, one from Cardinal Newman and an autograph of Edward Irving (1792-1834), a charismatic preacher and a close friend of the Carlyles. The Library also holds copies of these volumes with annotations and corrections by Alexander Carlyle, the author's nephew. |
| Shelfmark | RB.s.2062 |
| Acquired on | 13/07/00
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| Author | Brulefer, Etienne |
| Title | Venerabilis magistri fratris Stephani Brulefer ... Formalitatum textus unacum ipsius commento perlucido |
| Imprint | Basel : Jakob Wolff von Pforzheim |
| Date of Publication | 1501 |
| Language | Latin |
| Notes | Three early Duns Scotus-related volumes (others at RB.s.2065, RB.s.2066), bought at the most recent sale of books from the Donaueschingen Court Library in Germany. All three volumes are in contemporary blind-stamped pigskin bindings and in fine condition. All of them bear the ink stamp of the Fuerstliche Hofbibliothek Donaueschingen on the verso of the title page, but also show earlier marks of ownership.
Bound with (in front):
Brulefer, Etienne. Reportata clarissima in quattuor sancti Bonaventure ... Sententiarum libros Scoti subtilis secundi. Basel : Jakob Wolff von Pforzheim, 1501 (imperfect)
Note: Following several incunable editions, this is a rare early 16th-century edition of Brulefer's Formalitates in doctrinam Scoti, printed by the Basel printer Jakob Wolff, who began his business in ca. 1489. He printed the same work again in 1507, an edition that seems to be slightly more common. (The present edition not in Adams). His large and attractive printer's device -- an angel holding the Basel coat of arms and the printer's mark -- appears on the title pages of both works in the volume. The copy is bound in contemporary blind-stamped pigskin over wooden boards with a still functioning central clasp. The binding has been assigend to an anonymous binder in Ulm who has been credited with a number of other bindings. Amongst the tools used on the binding, there is a rather unusual one of a sitting owl. The spine in four compartments, lettered in ink in the second one. The first compartment shows traces of a label. The paper is clean and fresh, and the volume generally in excellent condition. |
| Shelfmark | RB.s.2067(2) |
| Acquired on | 14/06/00
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| Author | Johannes de Colonia |
| Title | Questiones magistrales in divina subtilissimi Scoti volumina |
| Imprint | Basel : Adam Petrus de Langendorff |
| Date of Publication | 1510 |
| Language | Latin |
| Notes | Three early Duns Scotus-related volumes (others at RB.s.2066, RB.s.2067), bought at the most recent sale of books from the Donaueschingen Court Library in Germany. All three volumes are in contemporary blind-stamped pigskin bindings and in fine condition. All of them bear the ink stamp of the Fuerstliche Hofbibliothek Donaueschingen on the verso of the title page, but also show earlier marks of ownership.
Note: Adams J230, which records one copy in Cambridge UL. A very rare compendium of Scotist theses, the second and last edition after one incunable edition. The title page shows an attractive woodcut border created by the Swiss engraver Urs Graf (1485-1529) with his initials, including the Basel coat of arms at the top. The volume is bound in contemporary pigskin over wooden boards, decorated with blind fillets and rolls arranged in a panel design. Remains of two clasps. The spine with five raised bands and a paper label in the top compartment. The initials LCV of the Franciscan Convent at Villingen added later in the top half of the upper board. Ownership inscription (18th-century?) of the Villingen convent on title page. An earlier inscription on the back free endpaper, dated [15]12, records the donation of the volume to a minorite friar Henricus Seratoris. |
| Shelfmark | RB.s.2065 |
| Acquired on | 14/06/00
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| Author | Brulefer, Etienne |
| Title | Reportata clarissima in quattuor sancti Bonaventure ... Sententiarum libros Scoti subtilis secundi |
| Imprint | Basel : Jakob Wolff von Pforzheim |
| Date of Publication | 1501 |
| Language | Latin |
| Notes | Three early Duns Scotus-related volumes (others at RB.s.2065, RB.s.2067), bought at the most recent sale of books from the Donaueschingen Court Library in Germany. All three volumes are in contemporary blind-stamped pigskin bindings and in fine condition. All of them bear the ink stamp of the Fuerstliche Hofbibliothek Donaueschingen on the verso of the title page, but also show earlier marks of ownership.
Note: Not in Adams. A complete copy of RB.s.2067(1), with Wolff's device on the title page hand-coloured. Bound in contemporary pigskin over wooden boards, with the remains of two clasps. Both boards are decorated with blind double fillets arranged in a panel design, with the large central panel filled with lozenge-shaped compartments. The top compartment on the upper board has been stamped (probably at a later date) with the initials LCV of the Franciscan Convent at Villingen (south-west Germany). The spine has five raised bands and a paper label in the top compartment. A second, short work has been removed from the volume, leaving the lower board detached from the text block. Otherwise this, too, is a clean copy with the text in superb condition. |
| Shelfmark | RB.s.2066 |
| Acquired on | 14/06/00
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| Title | Holy Bible |
| Imprint | North Hatfield |
| Date of Publication | 1999 |
| Notes | 2 vols. 1 of 400 copies
Over the years the Library has been building an impressive collection of Private Press books produced throughout the world. Many have been donated, for example, the Paterson and Gregynog Press collections, and others have arrived through legal deposit and purchase. In this area recently, and due to funding constraints, the Library has reduced its purchasing but has tried to acquire 'landmark' publications as well as works by Scottish authors published abroad. The present work falls into the former category, and has been described as the last great private press book of the 20th Century. It is an illustrated folio edition of the King James Bible on Zerkall paper (Germany) and printed in GALLIARD type, on a vellum spine binding with handmade paper over the boards. The 235 engravings by Barry Moser were done using a new medium called Resingrave, a white polymer resin, that has been championed by Mr Moser. The design, layout and feel of the publication recalls the famous Doves Press Bible of 1903-1905. The Pennyroyal Caxton Press is a partnership between Barry Moser and Bruce Kovner, a patron of the arts living in New York. |
| Shelfmark | FB.l.281 |
| Acquired on | 19/05/00
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| Author | Ferguson, Adam |
| Title | Institutes of moral philosophy |
| Imprint | Basle: Printed and sold by James Decker |
| Date of Publication | 1800 |
| Notes | This is a new edition, reprinted in enlarged form, of Ferguson's Institutes which was first published in Edinburgh in 1769, when the author was Professor of Moral Philsophy at Edinburgh University. In 1766 Ferguson had published a syllabus of his lectures, Analysis of pneumatics and moral philosophy for the use of students in the College of Edinburgh. He expanded on these in the Institutes, which is essentially an overview of his philosophical and political beliefs. The final part of the book which is entitled 'Of politics', deals with political economy and political law.
The Institutes was popular not only with Ferguson's students and the Edinburgh intelligentsia, but was, as this Basle imprint shows, much in demand abroad. It was translated into German in 1772, where the translator's Appendix was known by heart by Schiller and subsequently a Russian translation was used as a textbook in Russian universities. An edition was apparently published in Basle in 1789, but no copies have been traced. An Italian translation was published in Venice in 1790. Ferguson, who briefly held the position of Keeper of the Advocates Library, in 1757, succeeding David Hume, introduced the method of studying humankind in groups. He is regarded as the father of what is now known as sociology. |
| Shelfmark | ABS.3.200.043 |
| Acquired on | 18/05/00
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| Title | Arboflede, ou le mérite persécuté. Histoire Angloise. Première [-seconde] partie |
| Imprint | Imprimé à la Haye, & se vend à Liège, chez J.F. Bassompierre, libraire & imprimeur en Neuvice |
| Date of Publication | 1747 |
| Language | French |
| Notes | An unusual novel set in medieval England and Scotland, centering on the figure of Arboflede, a disgraced member of the English court who is forced to live in exile in a forest in the Scottish borders. The storyline, which involves the royal houses of Scotland, England, Denmark and Finland and which ends very tragically, is complicated and verges on the absurd. This, together with the fact that the author remains anonymous, could well be an indication of a satire on current European affairs, although with the tale being so phenomenally abstruse, it is hard to pin it down on anything in particular. The author may have been inspired by current Anglo-Scottish politics (?not the Jacobite Risings?)
The novel was first published in 1741, also in the Hague; one of the known copies of the 1741 edition has a slip pasted over the date reading 1745. Both editions are very scarce; no other copy of either traced in Scotland. |
| Shelfmark | RB.s.2064 |
| Acquired on | 17/05/00
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| Author | Durdent, R.J |
| Title | Epoques et faits memorables de l'histoire d'Angleterre |
| Imprint | Paris |
| Date of Publication | 1820 |
| Language | French |
| Notes | Although the Library has a number of bindings by Alexander Banks jnr (for example, NC.314.a.10; Hall.1.f ; ABS.2.80.64) we do not have one on green leather. His entry in SBTI reads: BANKS, Alexander junior bookbinder 5 North Bridge 1833-45 and stationer 29 North Bridge 1850. Green leather, covers with a gilt and blind roll-tooled design on the border of the covers. The spine is decorated in gilt to an arabesque design; oval morroco label with letters in gilt.
The binding is signed in the lower margin of the upper inner board. |
| Shelfmark | Bdg.s.862 |
| Acquired on | 02/05/00
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| Title | New history of the city of Edinburgh, from the earliest times to the present time |
| Imprint | Edinburgh |
| Date of Publication | 1800 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | There are two different printings of this work in 1800: ESTC N20175 &T110293). The Library has two copies of T110293 but does not have a copy of N20175. Apparently Brown published an edition in 1790 and another in 1797, but these are not recorded in ESTC. The book presents an interesting history of the city starting with a general part tracing its origins back to the Picts and then moves onto to discuss the main features of building and topography: Parliament House, New Town, Register Office, The South Bridge, Palace of Holyrood House etc. Towards the end, the book contains a section of 'Lists and Regulations' which have in part been annotated by a contemporary hand. The 'Regulations for keeping the streets clean' for example are 'violated every day' with such as 'water, ashes 'thrown from the windows... [and] carpets shaked from the windows'.
Although not called for in ESTC, the present copy contains the fold-out map.
Further interesting ink notes on the front pastedown. |
| Shelfmark | ABS.2.200.008 |
| Acquired on | 20/03/00
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| Author | Lamont, Sir James of Knockdow |
| Title | Lecture on the Civil War in America, delivered at the Rothesay Mechanics' Institute |
| Imprint | Glasgow |
| Date of Publication | 1864 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | An unrecorded (?) lecture stating the case for the Northern Government against the Southern States. The content is interesting for a number of reasons. The lecture begins "Ladies and Gentlemen, when I was crusing last winter in my yacht in the Mediterranean, I had the pleasure of passing an afternoon with the illustrious General Garibaldi." The venue and presumably the audience are interesting.
No copy in GUL online cat. |
| Shelfmark | APS.1.200.019 |
| Acquired on | 20/03/00
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| Author | Tawse, John |
| Title | Report on the present state of the Society in Scotland for propagating Christian knowledge |
| Imprint | Edinburgh |
| Date of Publication | 1833 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | Although the Library has a number of bindings by Alexander Banks jnr (for example, NC.314.a.10; Hall.1.f ; ABS.2.80.64) there is nothing to compare with this one. His entry in SBTI reads: BANKS, Alexander junior bookbinder 5 North Bridge 1833-45 and stationer 29 North Bridge 1850. Whereas the bindings by Banks in NLS are half or full leather, mostly in blind but with some gilt work, this one is in full crimson morocco with elaborate decorations in both blind and gilt. The main design is a rectangular panel in blind with a central image of the royal crown in gilt surrounding by a gilt wreath. Enclosing all is an elaborate arabesque design in gilt at each corner with each connected by single and triple fillet lines in gilt. The spine is decorated in gilt. The stunning inner boards have eight panel segments in gilt surrounding a green satin circle. The free endpapers are fully covered in the same green satin.
The binding is signed in the lower margin of the upper inner board. |
| Shelfmark | Bdg,s.864 |
| Acquired on | 17/03/00
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| Title | Holy Bible, containing the old and new testaments |
| Imprint | Cambridge |
| Date of Publication | 1769 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | A contemporary Scottish binding in fine condition of brown morocco, gilt tooled with a herringbone design in the centre of both boards; this is contained within a rectangular panel displaying elaborate tooling in gilt of thistles, arabesque, annular and plain dots, and fleurons. With worn marbled endpapers and corners bumped. Otherwise a very good example of an 18th-century Scottish binding. |
| Shelfmark | Bdg.s.863 |
| Acquired on | 17/03/00
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