Introduction to artists' archives

The National Library of Scotland is home to over 100 archives of Scottish artists and influential figures in the art world, dating from the early 19th century to the present day. Many of the artists in our collections work across multiple disciplines. We collect the archives of painters, sculptors, printmakers, designers, decorative artists, and illustrators.

The collections we hold range from single letters and sketchbooks to extensive private archives. The Library specialises in the written records of professional artists and national arts organisations active in Scotland.

Artists' archives often contain rich visual materials. Alongside literary and business records, these collections may also include drawings, sketches, watercolours, prints, photographs, and artists' proofs.

Starting with the 19th century, lists of these artists, collectors, critics, and organisations are found below, with links to their catalogue entries and descriptions of what their collections include.

Scottish artists' manuscripts and letters have been collected since the establishment of the National Library of Scotland in 1925. An early acquisition of an artist's private written archive was the collection of family correspondence and personal papers of Phoebe Anna Traquair alongside two of her illuminated manuscripts, in 1955.

The acquisition of archives relating to living Scottish artists increased from the 1960s onwards. These collections developed in parallel to the Library's modern literary archives, reflecting the close connections between artists and figures such as Christopher Murray Grieve (Hugh MacDiarmid). The Library has long collected the archives of writers who also created visual works, including W. S. Graham and Alasdair Gray.

Another focus of manuscript acquisitions in this area has been the art of the book in Scotland, including the archives of fine art printmakers and illustrators. The Library was one of the first public institutions to exhibit the work of Jessie Marion King, in 1976, after which it acquired a small collection of her papers.

Alongside archives of artists, the Library has also collected records relating to the commercial art world and to arts administration in Scotland. These include the personal papers of Scottish art critics, curators, dealers, and private collectors, and the archives of national arts organisations and charities.

Recently, the Library has been making an active effort to expand its collections of 20th and 21st-century women artists' archives.

Henry Aston Barker (1774 to 1856)

The Library holds sketchbooks and notebooks of Henry Aston Barker, including an account of his voyage to Constantinople in 1799.

William Brodie (1815 to 1881)

The Brodie family collection comprises biographical scrapbook albums compiled by Brodie's wife and daughter, which contain press cuttings and fragments of his correspondence.

William Skeoch Cumming (1864 to 1929)

The William Skeoch Cumming archive contains correspondence and papers relating to commissions, working papers, sketchbooks, financial records, and family papers. The archive includes letters of his wife Belle Skeoch Cumming, née Sutton (1884 to 1964), painter.

Francis Grant (1803 to 1878)

The Francis Grant collection includes a fragment of his correspondence, sketchbooks, and a biographical portrait.

Amelia Robertson Hill (1820 to 1904)

The Library holds assorted correspondence of Amelia Robertson Hill.

David Octavius Hill (1802 to 1870)

The Library's materials relating to David Octavius Hill include correspondence, sketches, and Hill's Royal Scottish Academy diploma. The collection also contains letters of Ian H. MacDonald on the organisation of Hill's archive.

John Alfred Hipkins (1851 to 1933)

The John Alfred Hipkins archive contains his albums of caricatures of celebrities from the artistic, musical, and literary worlds, as well as other d/Deaf artists, from the 1870s to the 1920s. The collection also includes scrapbooks, which contain drawings and ephemera by his sister, Edith Hipkins (1854 to 1945), painter.

Janet Johnston (active between 1863 and 1897)

An illustrated manuscript artist's book by Janet Johnston entitled 'Nature's Gifts', including examples of her paintings of wild flowers.

John Kinross (1855 to 1931)

The Kinross family archive contains a small collection of Kinross's correspondence and papers relating to the Royal Scottish Academy.

Arthur Melville (1855 to 1904)

The Arthur Melville collection comprises Melville's letters to his brother George Melville. The Library also holds the papers of Arthur Melville's biographer, Agnes Ethel Mackay (1889 to 1980).

Joseph Noël Paton (1821 to 1901)

The Joseph Noël Paton archive includes correspondence, poetry, diaries, ephemera, and autobiographical materials.

David Roberts (1796 to 1864)

The David Roberts archive includes drawings and sketches, diaries, correspondence with other artists, including David Wilkie; the diary of Roberts's daughter, Christine Bicknell; and biographical research papers of Roberts scholar and collector Helen Guiterman (1916 to 1988).

Hope James Stewart (1816 to 1881)

The Hope James Stewart archive contains correspondence, accounts, and financial papers.

Phoebe Anna Traquair (1852 to 1936)

The Phoebe Anna Traquair archive contains the artist's surviving personal correspondence, including many family letters discussing the artistic and literary inspirations behind her work; poetry manuscripts, press cuttings, and photographs.

The collection includes two complete illuminated manuscripts by Traquair: 'Sonnets from the Portuguese' by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (c.1895 to 1897) and 'The House of Life' by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (c.1898 to 1902).

The Library also holds examples of Traquair's bookbindings and early printed editions of her work.

Ottilie Maclaren Wallace (1875 to 1947)

The Wallace family archive includes Ottilie Maclaren Wallace's personal correspondence and family papers, with papers of her husband William Wallace (1860 to 1940), composer.

William Walls (1860 to 1942)

The William Walls archive includes personal and professional correspondence, notes on pictures exhibited and sold, and genealogical records.

David Wilkie (1785 to 1841)

The David Wilkie collection includes correspondence, sketches, and papers relating to appointments.

Phyllis Bone (1897 to 1972)

The Phyllis Bone archive contains sketches, notebooks, and correspondence.

David Young Cameron (1865 to 1945)

The David Young Cameron collection includes correspondence, sketchbooks, drawings and prints of drawings for publications, diaries, photographs, press cuttings, papers relating to academic and royal appointments, manuscript notes for articles and speeches concerning art and Renaissance artists; and materials for an unpublished biography by George Renfrew Wilson (born 1900).

Katherine Cameron (1874 to 1965)

The Cameron family archive contains correspondence, notebook recording her sales of etchings, sketchbook, papers relating to exhibitions, autobiographical notes, photographs, press cuttings, and family material. The collection also includes papers of her husband, Arthur Kay (1862 to 1939), art collector.

John Duncan (1866 to 1945)

The John Duncan archive comprises a sketchbook and series of notebooks containing notes on artists, art techniques, spiritualism, and related subjects.

Edinburgh Group

• The William Oliphant Hutchison (1889 to 1970) collection includes correspondence, sketchbooks, speeches and papers relating to his BBC broadcasts.

• The John Richmond (1869 to 1963) collection includes correspondence, literary papers, and papers relating to art collecting.

• The Eric Robertson (1887 to 1941) collection includes correspondence and diaries. Please note that some materials in this collection are closed during the lifetime of the depositor.

• The Mary Newbery Sturrock (1892 to 1985) collection collection includes a sketchbook and correspondence.

• The Alick Riddell Sturrock (1885 to 1953) collection includes a sketchbook and correspondence.

• The David Macbeth Sutherland (1883 to 1973) collection includes personal and professional letters, with correspondence of his wife, Dorothy Johnstone (1892 to 1980).

• The Adam Bruce Thomson (1885 to 1976) archive includes personal and professional correspondence, diaries, family papers, sketchbooks, and press cuttings.

William Russell Flint (1880 to 1969)

The William Russell Flint archive contains literary and personal correspondence, and papers relating to the loan of Flint's paintings to exhibitions.

Annie French (1872 to 1965)

The Annie French collection comprises letters from French to Dr Elinor Black (1905 to 1982).

William George Gillies (1898 to 1973)

The William George Gillies collection includes notes on Gillies' artistic career and paintings, with biographical materials compiled by Robert Alexander Lillie (1889 to 1977).

James Guthrie (1859 to 1930)

The James Guthrie collection comprises letters to other artists.

James J. Guthrie (1874 to 1952)

The James J. Guthrie archive contains correspondence on the art of fine printing and the Pear Tree Press, drawings, and proofs.

Beatrice Huntington (1889 to 1998) and William MacDonald (1883 to 1960)

The Beatrice Huntington and William MacDonald archive contains personal and professional correspondence, drawings and a sketchbook of Beatrice Huntington, press cuttings, photographs, and personal ephemera. The collection also contains a portfolio of drawings by Huntington's friend Violet Dreschfeld (1890 to 1975), sculptor.

Charles d'Orville Pilkington Jackson (1887 to 1973)

The Charles d'Orville Pilkington Jackson archive contains sketchbooks, drawings, personal and professional correspondence, press cuttings, a library of photographs of sculptures, and financial accounts. Elsewhere in the collection are papers relating to the Scottish National War Memorial of Pilkington Jackson and Robert Lorimer (1864 to 1929), architect.

Jessie Marion King (1875 to 1949)

The Jessie Marion King collection contains drawings and designs for books and book plates; sketchbooks, literary manuscripts, diaries, and fragments of King's correspondence, including with her friend Cecile Walton (1891 to 1956).

James Pittendrigh Macgillivray (1856 to 1938)

The James Pittendrigh Macgillivray archive contains correspondence, literary manuscripts, speeches, broadcast script of a radio programme about the sculptor, and press cuttings.

Sir William MacTaggart the Younger (1903 to 1981)

The MacTaggart the Younger archive contains personal and professional correspondence; papers relating to Second World War touring exhibitions of work by Scottish artists; typescripts of articles, broadcasts, and speeches; financial papers; photographs; and papers relating to Edinburgh Festivals and exhibitions. The collection also includes assorted correspondence and papers of MacTaggart's wife, Fanny Aavatsmark MacTaggart (1899 to 1981), artist, civil servant, and journalist.

Francis Newbery (1855 to 1946) and Jessie Newbery (1864 to 1948)

The Francis and Jessie Newbery collection comprises personal letters to their daughters, Margaret and Mary Newbery, and a letter of Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868 to 1928) to Francis Newbery.

John Quinton Pringle (1864 to 1925)

The John Quinton Pringle collection consists of correspondence and papers on Pringle's work collected by his friend and fellow artist William Meldrum (1865-1942) and his son James Meldrum.

Scottish Colourists

• The F. C. B. Cadell (1883 to 1937) collection contains correspondence, papers, photographs, and exhibition catalogues.

• The J. D. Fergusson (1874 to 1961) collection contains letters to various artists and writers, and transcript of a BBC documentary on him.

• Materials connected with Leslie Hunter (1877 to 1931) are found in the archive of T. J. Honeyman (1891 to 1971), along with papers relating to Three Scottish Colourists.

• The S. J. Peploe (1871 to 1935) collection contains correspondence and sketchbooks.

Stewart Sim (1898 to 1988)

The Stewart Sim collection includes papers relating to Sim's art education, architectural drawings, sketches, watercolours, and photographs.

R. Macaulay Stevenson (1854 to 1952) and Stansmore Dean Stevenson (1866 to 1944)

The R. Macaulay and Stansmore Dean Stevenson collection contains notebooks, exhibition prospectuses, and correspondence.

Cecile Walton (1891 to 1956)

The Cecile Walton archive contains unpublished memoirs and correspondence on personal and artistic matters with Eric Robertson and Jessie Marion King. Please note that some materials in this collection are closed during the lifetime of the depositor.

Edward Arthur Walton (1860 to 1922)

This E. A. Walton archive contains correspondence, speeches, plans for a proposed artist's studio, press cuttings, and personal ephemera.

John Byrne (1940 to 2023)

The John Byrne collection comprises letters to Douglas Percy Bliss on his early career, and letters to Ian Rankin.

Byrne's pop-up book stage set for 7:84 Theatre Company's 'The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black, Black Oil' (1973) is on long-term loan to V&A Dundee.

Joyce Gunn Cairns

The Joyce Gunn Cairns archive includes Cairns's correspondence with her portrait subjects, many of them Scottish literary figures.

Margery Clinton (1931 to 2005)

The Margery Clinton archive contains correspondence, business records, working papers, sketches for ceramic designs, and Clinton's recipes for lustre glazes.

Helen Douglas

The Helen Douglas collection contains letters to her friend Sylvia Thompson and photographs. The Library also holds a large collection of Douglas's artist's books.

Dorothy Dunnett (1923 to 2001)

The Dorothy Dunnett archive contains correspondence relating to artwork and her portrait subjects, papers relating to public service in the arts in Scotland, sketches connected with her literary characters, and hand-painted badges of 'Alice in Wonderland'.

Joan Eardley (1921 to 1963)

The Joan Eardley collection comprises a letter to Naomi Mitchison and letters to Lady Audrey Walker (1910 to 1996), photographer. The collection also includes biographical materials by Walker on her relationship with Eardley, annotated exhibition catalogues, photographs, and press cuttings.

Alec Finlay

The Studio Alec Finlay archive contains correspondence and research materials relating to artistic commissions, photographs, artwork, and ephemera.

Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925 to 2006)

The Ian Hamilton Finlay collection includes literary manuscripts, working papers, broadcast scripts of interviews, proofs, unpublished maquettes, and photographs of artworks. The Library has also acquired Hamilton Finlay's correspondence with his friends and artistic collaborators, including Tom Bee, Katy Gardiner, Duncan Glen, Michael Harvey, James Hendry, Heather Scott, and Christine Shaw. These reveal insights into the creation and dissemination of Hamilton Finlay's artistic projects.

Alan Fletcher (1930 to 1958)

The Library holds assorted materials relating to Alan Fletcher, mostly collected by his friend and colleague Alasdair Gray (1934 to 2019).

W. S. Graham (1918 to 1986)

The W S. Graham archive includes literary manuscripts, notebooks, cards, drawings, and correspondence with other artists in St Ives.

Alasdair Gray (1934 to 2019)

The Alasdair Gray archive at the Library was established in 1984 and represents every aspect to his work. Artistic materials include Gray's illustrated ledgers, diaries, notebooks, and sketchbooks; papers relating to public art projects; prints and original artworks for novels and short stories; poster designs for exhibitions, plays, and books; visual and other research materials collected by Gray; and photographs, slides, and colour transparencies of artworks.

The archive also includes literary manuscripts including drafts, working papers, corrected typescripts, and proofs; scripts for film and television adaptations of novels; personal, family, and professional correspondence with writers, cultural figures, publishers, agents, and film directors; press cuttings; and annotated books from Gray's library.

Gray's literary and artistic work and correspondence is also contained within the archives of his friends and contemporaries at the National Library of Scotland, such as James Kelman, Tom Leonard (1944 to 2018), Liz Lochhead, and Agnes Owens (1926 to 2014).

Jen Hadfield

The Jen Hadfield archive contains commonplace books, sketchbooks, drawings and watercolours, and literary manuscripts.

Katie Horsman (1911 to 1998)

The Katie Horsman archive contains photographs, scrapbooks, sketchbooks containing designs for ceramics, diaries, and papers relating to teaching and pottery exhibitions.

Bernat Klein (1922 to 2014)

The Bernat Klein collection includes working papers, samples of patterns, photographs, catalogues and typescripts, with knitting patterns designed by Klein's wife, Margaret Klein, née Soper (died 2008), designer.

Angela Lemaire (1944 to 2025)

The Angela Lemaire archive includes correspondence relating to artist and fine press books, including Lemaire's work with the Old Stile Press and Folio Society; unpublished novels; sketchbooks; press cuttings; and a complete library of the artist's proofs of her prints and engravings.

Hew Lorimer (1907 to 1993)

The Lorimer family archive contains personal and professional correspondence; business and financial records relating to commissions; papers relating to Hew Lorimer's work for the National Trust for Scotland and civic conservation charities; drawings and plans; photograph albums; papers relating to Kellie Castle, including visitors' books; juvenilia and ephemera; with assorted correspondence and papers of other artists in the Lorimer family.

Lucinda Mackay (1941 to 2024)

The Lady Lucinda Mackay archive includes correspondence with friends, artists, portrait subjects, and patrons; papers relating to artistic practice, writing, and teaching; papers relating to academic education and training; family papers; and a library of photographs of artworks.

Clare Melinsky

The Clare Melinsky archive comprises portfolios of work produced for commercial commissions with notes and correspondence.

Eduardo Paolozzi (1924 to 2005)

The Eduardo Paolozzi collection contains assorted studio materials, ephemera, and correspondence. The Library also holds a collection of papers of Paolozzi's Edinburgh College of Art contemporary, John Armstrong (died 2003), artist and writer.

Agnes Miller Parker (1895 to 1980)

The Agnes Miller Parker archive includes professional correspondence, sketchbooks and drawings, research papers, a library of artist's proofs of prints and wood-engravings, and designs and working papers for book illustrations.

The Library also holds a collection of examples of Parker's engraved woodblocks and a selection of her engraving tools.

Ann Ross Paterson

The Ann Ross Paterson archive contains examples of posters and artists' proofs.

Edith Simon (1917 to 2003)

The Edith Simon archive contains personal and professional correspondence, handmade Christmas cards, notebooks, literary manuscripts, research material, press cuttings, art diaries, juvenilia, ephemera, and a library of photographs of artworks.

Aitken Dott & Son, fine art dealers, Edinburgh

The Aitken Dott collection represents a small proportion of the business records of the firm. It includes stock books, framing records, correspondence relating to exhibitions, and a staff photograph. The collection also includes assorted materials relating to Peter McOmish Dott (1856 to 1934), including notes on pictures seen at the Tate and National Gallery, essays on socialism and art appreciation, and economics.

Ashburton Papers

The Ashburton papers contain correspondence and accounts of William Bingham Baring, 2nd Baron Ashburton (1799 to 1864), and his first and second wives, Harriet Mary Baring, Baroness Ashburton (1805 to 1857) and Louisa Caroline Baring, Baroness Ashburton (1827 to 1903), with material regarding their art collecting and literary circles. The papers of Louisa, Baroness Ashburton, contain an extensive series of correspondence with Harriet Hosmer (1830 to 1908), sculptor.

William Buchanan (1777-1864), art dealer

The William Buchanan collection comprises letters sent by Buchanan to his associate in London regarding the import, buying, and selling of paintings from Italy during the early 19th century.

Crawford Papers

The muniments of the Earls of Crawford & Balcarres contain correspondence relating to art, book and manuscript collecting and early photography. They also include extensive administrative papers of James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford and 9th Earl of Balcarres (1847 to 1913) relating to the formation of the Bibliotheca Lindesiana, the Lindsay family's private library.

The collection includes the personal papers of:

• Lady Anne Barnard (1750 to 1825)

• Sir Coutts Lindsay (1824 to 1913)

• Lady Caroline Lindsay (1845 to 1912)

• David Lindsay, 27th Earl of Crawford and 10th Earl of Balcarres (1871 to 1940) relating to the National Art-Collections Fund and National Gallery (London)

• David Lindsay, 28th Earl of Crawford and 11th Earl of Balcarres (1900 to 1975) relating to UK museum and art gallery trusteeships

Please note that permission is required for access to this collection.

Stanley Cursiter (1887 to 1976), painter and gallery director

The Stanley Cursiter collection includes letters, including correspondence with William Hardie, Margaret Mackenzie Scott, and Edwin and Willa Muir; with sketchbooks, press cuttings, and typescripts for Cursiter's articles on art and art galleries.

Dowell's Ltd (established 1830), auctioneers

The Dowell's auctioneers archive contains roup rolls, annotated sale catalogues, and assorted manuscript inventories relating to the sale of artworks, furnishings, and decorative arts through Dowell's Rooms, Edinburgh, between 1892 and 1950.

William Hardie (1941 to 2021), museum curator, art dealer, and art historian

The William Hardie archive comprises the business records and correspondence of William Hardie Ltd., Fine Art Dealers and Valuers, with Hardie's literary and personal papers relating to his research, publications, and teaching.

Thomas J. Honeyman (1891 to 1971), art dealer and gallery director

The T. J. Honeyman archive contains correspondence with dealers and artists including Alexander Reid and A. J. McNeill Reid regarding the Reid & Lefèvre Gallery, Stanley Cursiter, R. Macaulay Stevenson, J. D. Fergusson and Meg Morris, F. C. B. Cadell, S. J. Peploe, and Leslie Hunter; papers relating to Kelvingrove Art Gallery; scripts for television and radio broadcasts; press cuttings, photographs, diaries, and papers relating to books, lectures, and articles.

Robert Alexander Lillie (1889 to 1977), art collector

The R. A. Lillie collection comprises correspondence with artists and other cultural figures, literary papers, notebooks, press cuttings, and Lillie's research and biographical materials on William George Gillies (1898 to 1973).

Bet Low (1924 to 2007), painter and curator

The Bet Low archive relates to the establishment of the New Charing Cross Gallery, Glasgow. It also contains photographs, including of open-air art exhibitions at Glasgow Botanic Gardens.

A. J. McNeill Reid (1893 to 1972), art dealer

The Reid family archive contains personal ephemera; lists of pictures and sale prices; family and biographical materials relating to McNeill Reid's father, Alexander Reid (1854 to 1928), art dealer.

George Buchan Simpson (1820 to 1892), art collector

The George Buchan Simpson collection comprises letters from artists and collectors.

W. Gordon Smith (1928 to 1996) and Jay Gordonsmith (d. 2021), art collectors

The W. Gordon Smith and Jay Gordonsmith archive includes diaries and journals of W. Gordon Smith and Jay Gordonsmith; literary manuscripts and working papers on Scottish art history; autobiographical materials; typescript drafts of plays by W. Gordon Smith as well as correspondence with theatres, and papers relating to their production; files relating to exhibitions and picture sales; and correspondence with artists including John Byrne, Ivor Cutler, and Pat Douthwaite.

Alfred Edward Borthwick (1871 to 1955), painter, stained glass artist, and printmaker

The A. E. Borthwick archive includes correspondence and papers relating to exhibitions, papers from Borthwick's membership of committees promoting art appreciation, diaries, sketches, photographs, press cuttings, and Borthwick family material.

Marshall Anderson (1990 to 2000), artist, critic, and curator

The Marshall Anderson collection contains journals, drawings, collaborative bookworks of Anderson Glob made with the ceramicist Lotte Glob, ephemera, and letters and papers of artists including Alec Finlay, Chris Crozier, and Rob Fairley. These papers form part of the multi-institution 'Attic Archive' established by Pete Horobin and continued by aitch and Peter Haining.

William Johnstone (1897 to 1981), artist, writer, and advocate for art education

The William Johnstone collection includes correspondence on literary and artistic matters; papers on art teaching for London County Council; manuscripts for books, articles, and lectures on art education and commercial design; drafts, proofs, and plates for lithographs for 'Twenty Poems by Hugh MacDiarmid'.

D. S. MacColl (1859 to 1948), art critic and painter

The D. S. MacColl collection comprises letters to Ronald Gray (1868 to 1951), artist, with a literary draft.

Iain Macnab (1890 to 1967), printmaker and art educationalist

The Iain Macnab archive contains papers relating to the Grosvenor School of Modern Art (1925 to 1940), a private art school which became influential in the development of avant-garde and modernist printmaking in Britain. The collection also includes the artist's proofs of his prints and wood-engravings, sketchbooks, drawings, press cuttings, and examples of Macnab's engraved woodblocks.

William McCance (1894 to 1970), artist and art critic

The William McCance archive includes unpublished literary manuscripts, papers relating to teaching and art journalism including for the Spectator, and letters on artistic and literary matters from Scottish correspondents including Neil Gunn and Hugh MacDiarmid.

John Murray (established in 1768), publishers

The John Murray Archive contains business records, correspondence, manuscripts, typescripts, illustrations, and photographs relating to the development, design, and publication of the publishing house's range of titles. The archive touches upon book design and book illustration broadly, containing papers relating to historians of art and architecture and illustrators.

Fiona Pearson, art historian and curator

The Fiona Pearson collection comprises papers relating to Pearson's exhibitions, papers for talks, and literary manuscripts.

Federation of Scottish Sculptors (1983 to 1988)

The Federation of Scottish Sculptors archive includes papers relating to membership, correspondence, the Federation's Slide Index, and financial records.

Saltire Society (established in 1936)

The Saltire Society archive contains records relating to the Saltire Society's Art in Architecture and Craft Awards, with photographs, architects' brochures, and correspondence; the Advisory Council for the Arts in Scotland; art galleries and museums; papers relating to chapbooks; and papers relating to exhibitions and festivals.

Scottish Craft Centre (1949 to 1990)

The Scottish Craft Centre archive comprises meeting and committee minutes, membership records, correspondence with artists, customers, patrons, and other organisations; papers relating to exhibitions and events, financial records, brochures, and photographs; with papers on its closure and the proposed Scottish Crafts Council.

Scottish Society for Art History (established in 1984)

The Scottish Society for Art History archive includes meeting minutes, agendas, and reports; annual accounts; papers relating to the organisation of public events and study days; newsletters; publicity materials; and papers relating to membership and research grants.

Scottish Sculpture Trust (1978 to 2004)

The Scottish Sculpture Trust archive contains meeting papers, papers relating to specific projects and exhibitions, and photographs.

In our collections

Visual materials can be found across the Library's archive and manuscript collections, from illuminated medieval manuscripts to the illustrated diaries of contemporary Scottish authors and political activists.

Sources for the study of Scottish art and artists can also be found in other parts of the Library's collection:

• Antiquarian and topographical drawings

• Artists' Books

• Calligraphy

• Early manuscripts

• Estate papers

• Maps

• Posters

• Sport

• Theatre

• Travel manuscripts

The Library also collects manuscripts of amateur and anonymous artists, especially where these hold research value for the study of tourism, sport, social history, and the natural environment in Scotland.

Beyond our collections

The National Galleries of Scotland Archive contains over 180 archive collections relating to artists, collectors, and art organisations and a collection of over 6,000 artists' books.

The National Archives maintains a directory of archives of art and artists in UK government records and in other specialist repositories around the UK.

The British Library National Life Stories collection contains interviews with contemporary Scottish artists.

The Scottish Society for Art History was founded in 1984 to advance the study and appreciation of art in Scotland, and offers research grants and regular events on art, design, architecture, and photography.