45 research outputs found
"Blessed among my Kind":William Roughead, Poet
Get PDFWilliam Roughead is remembered as a pioneer of true crime, criminologist, and campaigner for justice but his first published book was on none of these things. 'Rhyme without Reason', a slim volume of verse. Roughead's poems have a variety of styles, settings, and voices. Unsurprisingly dark themes are not far away and murder and poison feature. Roughead's collection of crime books now resides in the Signet Library and his tribute to his library, 'To my Books' is printed in full
Her Majesty's Signet
Get PDFA survey of the WS Society's long relationship with the monarchy in honour of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee
Plus Ça Change, Plus C'est la Même Chose
Get PDFThe publication of Euan Sinclair and Ann Stewart, Conveyancing Practice in Scotland (6th edn, 2012) is a reminder of the enduring role of the WS Society's members in supporting best practice in property law for over 200 years. We look at how things began in the 18th century with the remarkable Robert Bell, WS (1760-1816). (Co-authored with Robert Pirrie.
Book Review:John Finlay, The Community of the College of Justice: Edinburgh and the Court of Session, 1687-1808 (EUP, 2012)
Get PDFLibrary Gems
Get PDFA brief introduction to three historical collections held in the Signet Library: the Mary Queen of Scots Collection, the John Napier Collection and the Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun Collection. Records for all of these have been added to the Library's online catalogue (https://sign.koha-ptfs.co.uk/)
Oscar Slater:Presumed Guilty
Get PDFA look at the trial and appeal of Oscar Slater with special reference to the role William Roughead, WS played as a recorder of events and as a key instigator in Slater's 1928 appeal. The Roughead Collection in the Signet Library contains Roughead's scrapbooks and correspondence
William Hunter's Library: a Transcription of the Early Catalogues: Transcription of Museum Records 1-3, Trustees Catalogues of Printed Books
Get PDFAbout the Project:
William Hunter (1718-1783) is a major figure in the history of eighteenth-century medicine. The leading obstetrician, teacher of anatomy, and physician of his day, Hunter amassed one of the finest private libraries and museums of his age. The quality of his library earned him international fame. Containing about 10,000 printed books and 650 manuscripts, his library is exceptional for being both a working medical library and an example of book collecting in the wider context of the Enlightenment. Most similar contemporary book collections have been dispersed but Hunter’s is a unique survival.
Hunter’s bequest of his collections – book and otherwise – to the University of Glasgow realised his enlightened vision of retaining his museum and library together for public use. Glasgow’s Hunterian Museum opened in 1807 as the first public museum in Scotland. It was an instant success.
Although the majority of books in the Hunterian Library today probably belonged to Hunter, many nineteenth-century additions were not made distinct from the core collection. The transcription of MR3 allows us to determine which books were in Hunter’s possession at the time of his death.
Nine inter-relating manuscript catalogues of the library (MR1-9), dating from before Hunter’s death in 1783 to the early nineteenth century are part of a series of Museum Records. These are crucial to our knowledge of Hunter’s book collection during his life and how its contents relate to the library held in Glasgow today. MR3, compiled by Hunter’s Trustees in 1785, is the most comprehensive of these catalogues.
This project is part of a wider project to bring together the collections of The Hunterian to reunite Hunter’s original library and museum. The Digital Hunter Portal will be a virtual version of Hunter’s enlightened vision.
Project Team:
Principal Investigator:
Julie Gardham, Senior Librarian and Head of Special Collections
Project Manager:
Karen Baston
Project Assistants:
Michelle Craig, Hannah Grout, Lucy MacIver, David McOmish, Jade Scott, Katelyn Smith, Jennifer Young, Jasna Zwimpfer
