Small collections and single letters.
Scope and Contents
The contents include:
letters signed by the Earl of Arran as Regent in favour of John Mure of Rowallan, 1551;
orders to the authorities of Ayrshire to keep order, with special reference to the rescue of the Covenanter David Houston, 1688;
a statement regarding the conduct of the Earl Marischal on the death of Queen Anne at Sheriffmuir, 1768;
letters of Sir James Hall, chiefly to Dr Alexander Marcet, 1804-1813;
papers relating to Gretna Green marriages, 1812-1827;
letters of Sir David Brewster to James Skene of Rubislaw, 1819-1831;
letters of geologists, 1838-1923, including several addressed to David Milne (afterwards Milne-Home, of Milne Graden);
correspondence concerning the printed Catalogue of the Advocates' Library, 1872-1881.
Among the writers of the other letters are Colin MacLaurin, John Wilkes, Hugh Blair, Robert Burns, Ernest, Duke of Cumberland (afterwards King of Hanover), Henry Mackenzie, Thomas Campbell, James Hogg, Mrs Grant of Laggan, Lord Jeffrey, Sir Walter Scott, Sir Alexander Burnes, William IV, Charles Lyell, the Dantist, Joanna Baillie, Hugh Miller, Charles Darwin, Dr James Braid, J F Ferrier, Robert Buchanan, and William Sharp ('Fiona Macleod').
Dates
- Creation: 1551-1923.
Conditions Governing Access
Normal access conditions apply.
Conditions Governing Use
Normal reproduction conditions apply, subject to any copyright restrictions.
Extent
261 Leaves ; Folio and under.
Language of Materials
Undetermined
Arrangement
261 folios.
Custodial History
The letters were bought by the National Library of Scotland with the aid of the Reid Fund.
The manuscript has been formed from several separate accessions:
folios 1-2, bought Sotheby’s, 19 May 1947, lot 195;
folios 3-6, 11-12, 56-58, 165-166, 249-250, bought, 1949, John Grant Limited, Edinburgh;
folios 7-8, 15-16, 59-62, 112-115, 119-120, 193-195, 206-207, 210-211, bought, 1951, Myers and Company, London;
folios 9-10, 53-55, bought, 1949, Ifan Fletcher, London;
folios 13-14, 128-131, 135-139, bought, 1949, Maggs Brothers, London;
folios 17-18, 24-35, 63-65, 75-101b, bought 1950, Myers and Company, London;
folios 19-21, bought, 1950, Bernard Halliday, Leicester;
folios 22-23, bought, 1951, Park Bernet Gallery, New York, through the good offices of Bernard Quaritch;
folios 36, 122-127, 198-199, 258-259, bought Sotheby’s, 24-25 June 1940, lots 487 and 503;
folios-37-38, bought, 1950, Ifan Fletcher, London;
folios 39-52, 132, 140-164, 167-172, 215-218, 247-248, 255-257, bought, 1950, Henry Sotheran Limited, London;
folios 66-74, 133-134, bought, 1949, Myers and Company, London;
folios 102-105, bought, 1949, William Parker, Edinburgh;
folios 106-111, bought, Sotheby’s, 19 July 1949, lot 349;
folios 116-118, bought, 1950, H A Anderson, Edinburgh;
folios 121, 214, 244-246, 260, bought Sotheby’s, 10 July 1950, lot 266;
folios 173-174, 200-202, bought, 1951, Victor Degrange, Paris;
folios 175-192, bought, 1949, Arthur Rogers;
folio 197, bought, 1950, Percy Dobell and Son;
folios-203-204, bought, 1949, Alan Keen Limited;
folios 205, 208-209, bought, 1949, J G Gibbons, Worthing Sussex;
folios 212-214, bought, 1949;
folios 219-243, bought, 1950, C Horn, Blackshiels, Midlothian;
folios 251-254, bought, 1950, Maggs Brothers, Limited, London.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Bought, 1947-1951.
- Title
- National Library of Scotland Catalogue of Manuscripts
- Author
- National Library of Scotland Archives and Manuscripts Division
- Description rules
- International Standard for Archival Description - General
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the National Library of Scotland Archives and Manuscripts Division Repository
Archives and Manuscript Division
National Library of Scotland
George IV Bridge
Edinburgh EH1 1EJ
0131 623 3700
manuscripts@nls.uk