Advocates Library
| Advocates Library | |
|
Midlothian | |
|---|---|
 Interior of the Advocates Library | |
| Type: | Library |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NT25707351 |
| Location: | 55°56’56"N, 3°11’29"W |
| City: | Edinburgh |
| History | |
| Built 1830 | |
| By: | William Henry Playfair |
| Library | |
| Information | |
| Owned by: | The Faculty of Advocates |
The Advocates Library, founded in 1682, is the law library of the Faculty of Advocates, in Edinburgh, Midlothian.[1] It served as the national deposit library in Scotland until 1925, when the National Library of Scotland Act 1925 transferred this duty to the new National Library of Scotland, and all the non-legal collections were transferred to the new library).
Today, the Advocates' Library alone of the Scottish libraries still holds the privilege of receiving a copy of every law book entered at Stationers' Hall.
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.[2]
The present library building was designed by William Henry Playfair in 1830, and is a Category A listed building.[3]
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.[4] Halkett's successor, Thomas Hill Jamieson, had to deal with a fire that damaged some thousands of books on 9 March 1875.[5]
By 1923 the library held around 725,000 books and pamphlets.[6]
See also
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Advocates Library) |
- The Advocates' Library: Faculty of Advocates
References
- ↑ Brewer, E. Cobham (1978). The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Edwinstowe: Avenel Books. p. 17. ISBN 0-517-25921-4.
- ↑ Template:ODNBweb
- ↑ Parliament Square, Advocates' Library, including wall and railings (Category A) - Listing detail (Historic Environment Scotland)
- ↑ Cadell & Matheson 1989, pp. 211–2.
- ↑ Template:ODNBweb
- ↑ "Gift to nation. National Library for Scotland. Generous Edinburgh donor.". The Glasgow Herald: p. 10. 29 June 1923. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ipdAAAAAIBAJ&pg=3497%2C7826255.
- For the Encouragement of Learning: Scotland's National Library 1689–1989. Edinburgh: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1989. ISBN 978-0-11-493483-5. OCLC 20219586.
- St Clair, John; Craik, Roger Craik (1989). The Advocates' Library: 300 Years of a National Institution 1689–1989. Edinburgh: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 978-0-11-493499-6. OCLC 22888860. https://archive.org/details/advocateslibrary0000facu.