Missing, and wishing, and hoping?: Sources for identifying printed books held by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 1780-1830

Abstract

• This paper will analyse the variety of sources available for reconstructing the contents and context of the library available to, frequented by and enhanced by key figures of the Scottish enlightenment. The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland was founded in 1780 “to investigate both antiquities and natural and civil history in general, with the intention that the talents of mankind should be cultivated and that the study of natural and useful sciences should be promoted”. The Society collected a very broad range of objects, archives and books towards this aim. While most of the Society’s library stock and archival records still reside at National Museums Scotland (NMS), a significant amount was dispersed to emerging media-specific national institutions during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Consequently, is not currently possible to identify and search the Society’s historic printed holdings sufficiently for them to be included in any analysis of the institution, or of its members. The first part of this paper, “Missing”, will use the Society records as a case study in how missing book lists compiled for administrative purposes might be harnessed as sources for identifying the contents, focus, and perhaps even use of a library where other sources (catalogues, borrowing records) are lacking. The second, “Wishing”, will explore whether title “wish lists” might also be used as a source for the same purpose. These lists were compiled intermittently and, in the case of the Society, distributed to members as an encouragement to donate. Finally, “Hoping” will outline how an investigation of the dispersal of these printed books in the early 20th centuries might make it possible to digitally reconstruct the Society’s printed collections. The paper will conclude with a suggestion of how this information might be made available to and used by scholars in future.