On this page
Welcome
National Librarian and Chief Executive, Amina Shah.
We have had an amazing year engaging with our readers and visitors and it has been wonderful seeing so many people returning to our buildings after the difficulties of lockdown.
An extensive programme of audience development work is under way to ensure we become more of an inclusive and audience-focused organisation, while our newly revamped multimedia room, now called the Discovery Room, provides a more welcoming space to access our digital and online collections in Edinburgh.
The Library's current strategy, 'Reaching People', is more relevant now than ever before and underpins our drive to attract new and diverse audiences.
Newspaper archives have always proven to be very popular. Our newspaper collections include millions of pages from all over the country, capturing Scotland's social history over the decades and centuries. Our latest appeal to save our historic newspapers has been an overwhelming success. We would like to thank everyone for their contributions. The funding has already supported the conservation, preservation and digitisation of hundreds of newspapers.
The launch of our map transcription project has been an outstanding achievement. More than 400 people volunteered their time to transcribe the names on the Roy Military Survey Map of Scotland (1747 to 1755). These can now be found online.
Moving Image Archive colleagues based at Kelvin Hall in Glasgow have been busy preserving the Library's audio-visual magnetic tape collections. The project spans numerous formats to ensure images and sounds are saved for future viewing and listening, capturing the people and voices of Scotland.
A growing number of new and returning visitors have been enjoying our permanent exhibition, 'Treasures of the National Library of Scotland'. The collections on display are rotated twice a year so there is always something new to discover and enjoy. Over the past year we added the complete working manuscript for 'Rob Roy' in the hand of Sir Walter Scott, the first edition of 'The Scotsman' newspaper and a selection of photographs depicting the construction of the Forth Bridge (1882 to 1892).
Our 'Pen Names' exhibition closed in April 2023. The displays focused on authors who work under other names and the various reasons why they choose to do so.
It was an honour to include Sir Ian Rankin's collection of literary archives and manuscripts, along items on display, as part of our 'Rankin Files' exhibition. Visitors have really enjoyed the insights into the crime writer's processes and inspirations that can be gained from his archive, which Rankin donated to the Library in 2019.
We could not possibly include all the Library's projects and initiatives during 2022 to 2023, but hope you enjoy the snapshot included here. We would like to thank you for your continued support, which allows us to keep collecting, preserving and sharing Scotland's stories, now and in the future.
Amina Shah
National Librarian and Chief Executive
Safeguarding collections
Acquisitions
'Wealth of Nations', 1866
We acquired the second translation of Adam Smith's 'Wealth of Nations' by P.A. Bibikov (1832 to 1875), who went on to translate Smith's 'Theory of Moral Sentiments'.
The first translation of 'Wealth of Nations' into Russian was published between 1802 to 1806 and is virtually unobtainable.
In his preface, Bibikov states: "The works reinforce each other. That is why, having published in Russian Adam Smith's great work of political economy, I decided to translate and publish his other work, which is no less remarkable, and yet known even less to Russian society than the first."
This is a major addition to our extensive holdings of translations of Scottish Enlightenment authors and there are no recorded copies of this work in UK libraries.
This acquisition was made possible with assistance from the Friends of the National Libraries, with thanks.
'The Musical Companion', circa 1672 to 1673
'The Musical Companion' consists of two books of songs, collected and published by London's John Playford (1623 to 1686). This is a fine example of block type music printing in table book format.
The publication was very influential and instrumental in disseminating the best of English song at the time.
Moncreiffe and Trinity Gask estate plans, 1826 and 1867
The Moncreiffe and Trinity Gask estates in Perthshire were owned by the Moncreiffe family, who commissioned two volumes of 20 maps.
The earlier plans were skilfully created by local land surveyor John Douglass. The later volume was compiled by Archibald Sutter from large-scale Ordnance Survey maps trimmed to the shape of each farm, pasted on linen-backed paper and then hand-coloured and annotated.
This is an unusual, transitional technique, making the most of the newly available survey while retaining the traditional land surveyor's artistic skills.
'Thaddeus of Warsaw', 1803
This important first edition is by influential author Jane Porter (1776 to 1850), who moved to Edinburgh at the age of three or four and lived there until 1785.
Set during the Second Partition of Poland in the 1790s, 'Thaddeus of Warsaw' is one of the earliest examples in English of the historical novel, introducing the new stock figure of the noble exile.
Despite being commercially published, this work did not have a large initial print run. However, it became enormously popular and successive editions were rapidly produced.
This book was acquired with financial assistance from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Elizabeth Soutar Charitable Trust, with thanks.
The 'Insulted Pedlar' and other working-class voices
This volume of 11 poems and chapbooks from the late 18th and early 19th centuries was printed in Scotland and contains at least four unrecorded printings of popular Scottish poems and songs, including one (Glasgow, 1791) of the 'Insulted Pedlar' by Paisley weaver Alexander Wilson (1766 to 1813).
The poem tells us, in amusing detail, about an altercation between a pedlar and a wealthy landowner whose land he is deemed to be trespassing on. It raises issues about land ownership being concentrated in the hands of a few powerful landowners and the lack of rights of the working man.
Wilson's political beliefs led to conflict with the authorities and he emigrated to America in 1794, forging a new career as an ornithologist.
His poem was originally published anonymously, then under his own name as part of an 1844 collected edition of his works.
Papers of John 'Jock' Murray
We are delighted to have acquired the papers of John 'Jock' Murray (1909 to 1993), the sixth Murray to run his family's publishing house, also named John Murray.
John Murray VI, born John Grey, was the nephew of John Murray V and changed his surname when he joined the firm in 1930.
The John Murray Archive chronicles the history of the publishing house, from its founding by Scotsman John McMurray in the 18th century to the early 2000s.
The collection contains the papers of authors closely associated with John Murray VI, including Patrick Leigh Fermor, Freya Stark, John Betjeman, George Mackay Brown and Dervla Murphy.
Smillie Archive
Robert Ramsay 'Bob' Smillie (1916 to 1937) was a volunteer member of the Independent Labour Party's (ILP's) international military brigade during the Spanish Civil War. His letters to his parents serve as a detailed diary of his time spent on the front line fighting Franco's forces in Spain, between November 1936 and his imprisonment in May 1937.
This archive also contains his family's correspondence with the Spanish authorities and members of the ILP following Bob's imprisonment and his death in custody in June 1937, plus original photographs, political ephemera and the literary manuscripts of Bob's father and grandfather.
This acquisition was made possible with support from the Magnus and Janet Soutar Trust and the Friends of the National Libraries, with thanks.
The 'Eiger Direct' Archive
This archive adds to our significant collections about mountaineering and provides fascinating insight into a historically important ascent of the Eiger, in the Swiss Alps, in 1966 by a team of British and American climbers (John Harlin, Dougal Haston, Chris Bonington, Mick Burke, Layton Kor and Don Whillans).
Radio communications between the support team and those climbing the north face of the mountain form part of the archive relating to the challenge and a subsequent book, 'Eiger Direct', by Scots climber Haston and author Peter Gillman.
Other items include photographs, route descriptions, invoices (such as one showing the purchase of a rope that would later break and cause the death of climber John Harlin), correspondence and manuscripts.
The records were recently purchased by the Library through the Graham Brown Fund.
Glasgow Lads novel series by Avery Cockburn
We have acquired several books by American author Avery Cockburn – the pen name of Jeri Smith-Ready – about the exploits of a fictional Glasgow LGBT+ football team, the Warriors. Although most of the titles focus on the relationships between the footballers and the challenges the team faces, there are spin-off titles that stray into curling and Christmas holidays.
Correspondence of George Mackay Brown
This collection's 337 letters are between George Mackay Brown (1921 to 1996), one of Scotland's best-loved writers of the 20th century, and fellow Orkney resident Renée Simm, and were exchanged from 1978 until his death.
Also included is Simm's own explanatory calendar of the letters, 15 acrostic birthday poems, manuscripts of seven poems, typescripts of 'The Magi: Three Stories', 14 Christmas cards, letters written to Brown, an autographed shopping list, photographs, cassettes, a watercolour miniature portrait and two woolly hats and scarves.
Artists' books
More than 30 Scottish and international book artists were invited by Edinburgh's Upright Gallery to create works responding to the climate crisis, against the background of the COP26 conference in Glasgow. We have now acquired 21 of these artists' books, which cover a range of environmental themes and concerns, and use a wide range of techniques.
This thought-provoking collection also provides prompts for future workshops and discussions about the climate emergency.
Conservation and digitisation
Partnership aids work on MacKinnon Collection
Our Conservator Claire Thomson visited the conservation studio at National Galleries of Scotland to observe and learn from Lisa Cumming, a Conservator at National Museums Scotland. Lisa had been commissioned to work on the MacKinnon Collection daguerreotypes after a survey identified glass disease.
Claire learned how to separate the intricate parts of these extremely delicate objects, treat the glass disease and reseal them. Without this treatment, the deterioration would continue and destroy these wonderful objects.
This project was supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Scottish Government and Art Fund for MacKinnon.
A lighter kind of dusting
Our conservators have been looking at innovative methods of preventative conservation and cleaning, to protect our collections while they are in storage, on display and in use.
We're using light to measure how much dust gathers on our collections. A small machine called a glossmeter is used to shine light on surfaces, such as shelves or tops of cabinets, and measures the amount of light reflected back. The less light coming back, the dustier the surface.
After taking a baseline reading and repeating over a few weeks, we were able to form a picture of how much dust is falling on our collections. This monitoring was successfully trialed during recent building works at our Causewayside building.
The year in numbers
- 2,484,183 additions to our collections
- 96,977 hidden collections catalogued
- 59,726 items from our collections digitised
- 133,654 bibliographic records created
- 112,733 records upgraded for ease of access
- 2,631 newspapers digitised
- 5,200,000 website visits
- 35,320 Reading Room visits (excludes Kelvin Hall)
- 30,186 General Collections Reading Room visits
- 4,862 Special Collections Reading Room visits
- 845 people attended our in-person events
'Save Scotland's Newspapers' appeal a success
Our appeal for help to save our vast collection of historic Scottish newspapers was a huge success thanks to the generosity of the public, with more than £100,000 raised within six months.
Our 'Save Scotland's Newspapers' campaign launched in December to raise funds to protect and preserve nearly 1,000 titles from across the country – some copies nearly 400 years old.
Hundreds of people contributed, which is enabling our conservators to carry out repairs and prepare these fragile pages for digitisation.
Newspapers offer an invaluable window into our collective past and are one of the few, if not only, chronicles of both major events in our history and the everyday moments.
The pages provide a vital connection to our past and identity and are especially useful for people exploring their genealogy and local history.
We have been collecting newspapers since 1925 but our collections date as far back as 1641 with the earliest newspaper printed in Scotland, 'The heads of several proceedings in the present Parliament', which reprinted news from London. We also have a copy of the first edition of 'The Scotsman', from 25 January 1817.
However, newspapers are not designed to be kept and are printed on cheap, fragile paper that degrades quickly. Much of this vast collection has suffered significant deterioration due to the inherent instability of the paper. The demand for use of our newspapers also results in unintentional wear and tear.
An estimated 65 per cent of our newspapers – and the unique stories they tell – risked being lost.
Many of the older papers came to us in an already poor condition. Our climate- and PH-controlled storage can only slow their degradation, not stop it outright.
However, thanks to the generosity of our donors, our conservators can carry out repairs and prepare pages for digital scanning, so that the stories can be saved for people now and in the future.