SOME RARE SCOTTISH BOOKS IN THE OLD ROYAL LIBRARY

Abstract

The majority of early Scottish books in the British Library were acquired in the nineteenth century, when the British Museum under Panizzi was pursuing a vigorous and far-sighted acquisitions policy. Most of these books were acquired from libraries of Scottish collectors who had formed their libraries in Scotland. But some of the Museum's rare Scottish books were acquired at an earlier period, and by far the largest group came from the library of King James VI and I (and to a lesser extent from that of Charles I). The Old Royal Library was acquired in 1757 by the newly founded British Museum: it included printed books from the reigns of Henry VII to George II. It has been given the epithet 'Old' in order to distinguish it from the King's Library, the library of George III, acquired by the British Museum in 1823. Keywords: British Museum; Old Royal Library; Scottish books