Advocates Library

Last updated

Interior of the Advocates Library Edinburgh Advocate's Library 2.JPG
Interior of the Advocates Library

The Advocates Library, founded in 1682, is the law library of the Faculty of Advocates, in Edinburgh. [1] It served as the national deposit library of Scotland until 1925, at which time through an Act of Parliament [2] the National Library of Scotland was created. All the non-legal collections were transferred to the National Library. Today, it alone of the Scottish libraries still holds the privilege of receiving a copy of every law book entered at Stationers' Hall.

Contents

The library forms part of the complex that includes Parliament House, located on the Royal Mile.

History

The Library was formally opened in 1689. It was an initiative of George Mackenzie. [3]

The present library building was designed by William Henry Playfair in 1830, and is a category A listed building. [4]

Librarian Samuel Halkett began an ambitious catalogue, based on the rules of John Winter Jones for the British Museum catalogue of 1839, but with extensive biographical information on authors. It was published in six volumes, from 1858 to 1878. [5] Halkett's successor, Thomas Hill Jamieson, had to deal with a fire that damaged some thousands of books on 9 March 1875. [6]

By 1923 the library held around 725,000 books and pamphlets. [7]

Keepers

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Jamieson</span> Scottish lexicographer

John Jamieson was a Scottish minister of religion, lexicographer, philologist and antiquary. His most important work is the Dictionary of the Scottish Language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Master of the Rolls</span> Second most senior judge in England and Wales

The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and Head of Civil Justice. As a judge, the Master of the Rolls is second in seniority in England and Wales only to the Lord Chief Justice. The position dates from at least 1286, although it is believed that the office probably existed earlier than that.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dollar Academy</span> Day and boarding school in Scotland

Dollar Academy, founded in 1818 by John McNabb, is an independent co-educational day and boarding school in Scotland. The open campus occupies a 70-acre (28 ha) site in the centre of Dollar, Clackmannanshire, at the foot of the Ochil Hills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom</span> Honorary position in the United Kingdom

The British Poet Laureate is an honorary position appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom, currently on the advice of the prime minister. The role does not entail any specific duties, but there is an expectation that the holder will write verse for significant national occasions. The origins of the laureateship date back to 1616 when a pension was provided to Ben Jonson, but the first official holder of the position was John Dryden, appointed in 1668 by Charles II. On the death of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who held the post between November 1850 and October 1892, there was a break of four years as a mark of respect; Tennyson's laureate poems "Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington" and "The Charge of the Light Brigade" were particularly cherished by the Victorian public. Three poets, Thomas Gray, Samuel Rogers and Walter Scott, turned down the laureateship. The holder of the position as at October 2022 is Simon Armitage who succeeded Carol Ann Duffy in May 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lieutenant of the Tower of London</span>

The Lieutenant of the Tower of London serves directly under the Constable of the Tower. The office has been appointed at least since the 13th century. There were formerly many privileges, immunities and perquisites attached to the office. Like the Constable, the Lieutenant was usually appointed by letters patent, either for life or during the King's pleasure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justice of the Common Pleas</span>

Justice of the Common Pleas was a puisne judicial position within the Court of Common Pleas of England and Wales, under the Chief Justice. The Common Pleas was the primary court of common law within England and Wales, dealing with "common" pleas. It was created out of the common law jurisdiction of the Exchequer of Pleas, with splits forming during the 1190s and the division becoming formal by the beginning of the 13th century. The court became a key part of the Westminster courts, along with the Exchequer of Pleas and the Court of King's Bench, but with the Writ of Quominus and the Statute of Westminster, both tried to extend their jurisdiction into the realm of common pleas. As a result, the courts jockeyed for power. In 1828 Henry Brougham, a Member of Parliament, complained in Parliament that as long as there were three courts unevenness was inevitable, saying that "It is not in the power of the courts, even if all were monopolies and other restrictions done away, to distribute business equally, as long as suitors are left free to choose their own tribunal", and that there would always be a favourite court, which would therefore attract the best lawyers and judges and entrench its position. The outcome was the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873, under which all the central courts were made part of a single Supreme Court of Judicature. Eventually the government created a High Court of Justice under Lord Coleridge by an Order in Council of 16 December 1880. At this point, the Common Pleas formally ceased to exist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh</span> Scottish lawyer, Lord Advocate, essayist and legal writer

Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh was a Scottish lawyer, Lord Advocate, essayist and legal writer.

The Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography was a biographical dictionary of the nineteenth century, published by William Mackenzie in Glasgow.

Events from the year 1579 in the Kingdom of Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1696 Jacobite assassination plot</span>

The 1696 Jacobite assassination plot was an unsuccessful attempt led by George Barclay to ambush and kill William III and II of England, Scotland and Ireland in early 1696.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Archibald Cadell</span>

William Archibald Cadell FRS FRSE FGS MWS (1775–1855) was a Scottish industrialist and mathematician, also known as a travel writer.

Events from the year 1721 in Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Lawson (minister)</span> Scottish minister of the Secession Church (1749–1821)

George Lawson D.D. (1749–1820) was a Scottish minister of the Secession Church, known as a biblical scholar. Thomas Carlyle, in an 1870 letter to Lawson's biographer John Macfarlane, called him "a most superlative steel-grey Scottish peasant ".

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Brewer, E. Cobham (1978) [reprint of 1894 version]. The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Edwinstowe, England: Avenel Books. p. 17. ISBN   0-517-25921-4.
  2. ↑ 15 George IV, c.73
  3. ↑ Jackson, Clare. "Mackenzie, Sir George, of Rosehaugh". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/17579.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. ↑ Historic Environment Scotland. "Parliament Square, Advocates' Library, including wall and railings (Category A Listed Building) (LB51179)" . Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  5. ↑ Cadell & Matheson, pp. 211–2.
  6. 1 2 Brown, Iain Gordon. "Jamieson, Thomas Hill". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/14644.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  7. ↑ "Gift to nation. National Library for Scotland. Generous Edinburgh donor". The Glasgow Herald. 29 June 1923. p. 10. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Cadell & Matheson, pp. 292–6.
  9. ↑ "Spottiswoode, John". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26168.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  10. ↑ Cadell & Matheson, p. 41.
  11. ↑ Oz-Salzberger, Fania. "Ferguson, Adam". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/9315.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  12. ↑ Ovenden, Richard. "Irving, David". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/14472.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  13. 1 2 "Edinburgh exhibition postponed". Otago Witness . No. 2712. 7 March 1906. p. 13. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  14. ↑ Bell, Alan. "Dickson, William Kirk". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/72368.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 St Clair and Craik p76
  16. ↑ "Obituary: Stephen O'Rourke, Principal Crown Counsel and Keeper of the Advocates Library".

Coordinates: 55°56′56″N3°11′29″W / 55.94889°N 3.19139°W / 55.94889; -3.19139

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.