Digital Library

• Browse the Digital Archive – see books, documents, photographs, and more.

Here you can view digitised material from the National Library of Scotland's outstanding collections. These special web features offer unique glimpses into a variety of chapters of Scotland's story.

	Golf in Scotland, 1457-1744 Take a swing through golf's early history. Key documents, including the first 'rules' of the game, show how golf developed in Scotland.			12 key Scottish plays, 1970-2010 Introducing 12 of the major plays and major playwrights of Scotland. See images from theatre productions and related archive material.
	Maps Further your family, local history or school project using this collection of thousands of zoomable maps of Scotland for the period 1560-1928.			The Word on the Street Discover early news stories and ballads that informed and entertained Scots between 1650 and 1910 as you browse around 1,800 broadsides.
	The Auchinleck Manuscript Middle English language and literature as Chaucer would have known it, contained in this rare document, with a full transcription.			The Murthly Hours View each page of this book of prayer dated 1280 – one of the most richly illustrated manuscripts in Scotland during the Middle Ages.
	Pencils of Light Delve into photographic history with 300 images taken in the 1840s by the Edinburgh Calotype Club – the world's first photography society.			A Guid Cause The history of women's suffrage in Scotland, with photographs, newspaper reports, diary entries and other sources. Activities for secondary schools.
	Scottish Science Hall of Fame A tribute to 10 great Scottish scientists of the past. Read transcripts of letters, papers and published works about or by them.			Bartholomew Archive Read about the remarkable record of mapmaking and printing by the world-famous Bartholomew firm in Edinburgh from 1820 to 2002.
	Slezer's Scotland Dozens of zoomable engravings show us Scottish towns, castles and palaces from the 17th-century, as seen by military surveyor John Slezer.			The Spread of Scottish Printing Trace the spread of printing across Scotland from 1508 to 1900. Read an early item produced in each of the first 33 printing towns.
	Experiences of War The nurse, the soldier and the general – three stories from the front and at home during the First World War. Features schools resources.			Scottish History in Print Together with details of thousands of works published by historical clubs, two major Jacobite sources are online as keyword searchable files.
	First Scottish Books See online, page by page, 'The Chepman and Myllar Prints' – nine of the earliest books printed in Scotland, in or around 1508.			Churchill: The Evidence The life and times of Winston Churchill, MP for Dundee before he became a wartime Prime Minister. Features schools resources.
	Robert Louis Stevenson See letters, sketches and photographs in our biography of story-teller and poet Robert Louis Stevenson – and view 'Kidnapped' page by page.			Robert Burns The life, work and legacy of Scotland's Bard, together with fascinating detail about original material in the Library's collections, and short song clips.
	Playbills of the Theatre Royal Edinburgh Find out about this important theatre in the 19th century by searching through our selection of playbills.			Muriel Spark Using material from her personal archive, we tell the story of the life and career of one of Scotland's greatest novelists, Dame Muriel Spark.
	The Write Stuff Modern Scottish writers – among them J K Rowling, Liz Lochhead and George Mackay Brown – through the lens of photographer Gordon Wright.			Mary Queen of Scots Read – in English and French – the last letter by Scotland's 16th-century queen, written only hours before her execution in Fotheringhay Castle.
	Propaganda – A Weapon of War A selection of images of British Government propaganda which was used at home and in Europe during the Second World War.			Scotland's Pages Move along the timeline of key events in Scottish history, and discover along the way some of the 'treasures' held by the Library.
	Phoebe Anna Traquair Examine in detail Traquair's exquisite illuminated manuscript of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's 'Sonnets from the Portuguese'.			Scottish Bookbinding Distinctive examples of bookbinding created in Scotland, from our pre-eminent collection of decorative bindings, which spans 500 years.
	The photographs of John Thomson Find out about the Scottish photographer and traveller who helped pioneer photojournalism on London's Victorian streets.			The Union of the Crowns A look at the union of the Scottish and English crowns in 1603, and the monarch who wanted to lead a peaceful, united Britain.
	Moir Rare Book Collection Learn about John William Moir's collection of rare books on all aspects of bees and beekeeping, including how bees 'sing'!			The Kirk Papers Out of Africa – the personal papers of Sir John Kirk, a British Consul in Africa who had explored the Zambesi with David Livingstone.
	Medical History of British India Search nearly 50 volumes of rare official documents recording disease prevention and public health in India in the 19th and 20th centuries.