LETTERS OF FATHER THOMAS INNES ABOUT THE ARCHIVES OF THE CHURCH OF GLASGOW

Abstract

It is unnecessary in the pages of this Review to say much by way of introduction to the letters which follow. Several descriptions already exist of the work of Father Thomas Innes in looking after the documents taken in 1560 by Archbishop Beaton from Glasgow to Paris.1 But these letters are valuable for the details which they add to the story. They give, for example, a description of the documents as found by fnnes including (in Letter 2, paragraph 1) an indication that they were originally preserved in series under the respective lands concerned. This arrangement would be the natural one for the medieval custodians of the Glasgow archives, but it presented difficulties for Innes in his work of arrangement. The letters also reveal Innes' approach to problems of document preservation and charter study. He paid much attention to the physical safety of the documents, and especially of their seals. He outlines a simple but effective reference system, which enables one document to be consulted without touching, tossing or casting the next. He tackles the problems of transcription and adopts a rule about spelling based on contemporary authorities