April 2021 is the 250th anniversary of the publication of the sentimental novel The Man of Feeling by Henry Mackenzie in which the naïve Harley, in a series of fragmented episodes, encounters and weeps over the misfortunes of others and falls prey to the artfulness of more worldly characters. The book was a huge success […]
Author: Robert Betteridge
Curators’ Favourites: Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of the Honourable Col. James Gardiner
The choice: Philip Doddridge, Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of the Honourable Col. James Gardiner. (London, 1748). Chosen by: Robert Betteridge, Rare Books Curator (Eighteenth-Century Printed Collections) Read or download this book from our Digital Gallery. Welcome to the latest of our new fortnightly series where we introduce you to some favourites from our collections for you to […]
Curators’ Favourites: The Travels of Cyrus
The choice: Andrew Michael Ramsay, A New Cyropaedia; or The Travels of Cyrus. (Edinburgh, 1729). Chosen by: Robert Betteridge, Rare Books Curator (Eighteenth-Century Printed Collections) Read or download this book from our Digital Gallery. Welcome to the latest of our new fortnightly series where we introduce you to some favourites from our collections for you to enjoy reading, […]
Rare Book Electronic Resources
When you register with the National Library of Scotland you have free access to an extensive range of electronic resources. If your main address is in Scotland you can also use many of these resources from any computer outwith the National Library simply by logging into your Library account. Among these resources are two that […]
The Tale of Two Lovers
As this post goes out on Saint Valentine’s Day your thoughts may be turning amorous. But are they turning to a bestselling 15th-century erotic epistolary novel written by a Scotland-visiting future Pope and once owned by a relic-collecting Catholic convert before being bought by the Library in the middle of World War II? Perhaps not, […]
Bound for King James VI
The Library has recently acquired a book bound in vellum for King James VI, probably in the 1580s. This is one of a small group of books that are known to exist in bindings that were produced for James before the union of the crowns in 1603 and is a significant purchase. Of the nine […]
Astronomicum Caesareum
Peter Apian’s Astronomicum Caesareum (Ingolstadt, 1540) is one of the finest printed books in the National Library of Scotland, hand coloured throughout and featuring ingenious and beautiful volvelles. Apian, humanist mathematician and astronomer and born Bienewitz in Leisnig, Saxony (Biene is German for bee, hence the Latinizing of his name to Apian), was the son […]
Rare Books Edinburgh 2017
This week sees the inauguration of a new festival running from the 20th to the 30th of March. Rare Books Edinburgh is dedicated to rare, collectable, and important books and the history of the book and is promoting a series of events and talks across the city. The National Library of Scotland is one of […]
Robert Naismith: Scotland’s town planner
2016 marks the centenary of the birth of architect and town planner Robert James Naismith (1916-2004). A small collection of his books and pamphlets were donated to the Library after his death and form an interesting collection of works relating to Sir Patrick Geddes (1854-1932) and to town planning. Geddes, the celebrated social evolutionist and […]
Robert Adam, Rome and Piranesi
Robert Adam arrived in Rome on the 24th of February 1755 and was immediately captivated by the city. He wrote to his sister Peggy that “Rome is the most glorious place in the universal world. A grandeur and tranquillity reigns in it, everywhere noble and striking remains of antiquity appear in it”. He was able […]