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Laing, David, 1793-1878 (antiquarian, bookseller, and librarian of the Signet Library)

 Person

Biography

David Laing, eminent historian, antiquary and bibliographer, was the second son of the Edinburgh bookseller William Laing (1764-1832) and his wife Helen Kirk, and was born on 20 April 1793. He was educated at the Canongate Grammar School and later on attended Greek classes at the University of Edinburgh. At the age of fourteen, he became apprenticed to his father who, at the time, was the only bookseller in Edinburgh dealing in foreign literature. Laing was able, occasionally, to travel abroad in search of rare or curious books. In 1821, he became a partner in his father's business and throughout his life he was an avid collector of manuscripts and rescued many from destruction. The first published work of his own was Auctarium Bibliothecae Edinburgenae sive Catalogus Librorum quos Gulielmus Drummondus ab Hawthornden D.D.Q. Anno 1627 (1815). Among other works, Laing also reprinted Thomas Craig's Epithalamium on the marriage of Darnley and Mary Stuart (1821). When Sir Walter Scott founded the Bannatyne Club in 1823 for the printing of material and tracts relating to Scottish history and literature, Laing - a friend of Scott's - became Secretary of the Club and chief organiser until its dissolution in the 1860s. Laing was also associated with the Abbotsford Club, the Spalding Club, and the Wodrow Society, each of which had been set up for the publication of manuscripts and for the revival of old texts. When the keepership of the Advocates' Library fell vacant in 1818, Laing was a candidate but was not elected. He became Keeper of the Library to the Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet, a post which he occupied from 1837 until his death. On his appointment to the post, he gave up his business as a bookseller and disposed of the stock in a public sale. Laing died at Portobello, in Edinburgh, on 18 October 1878.

Found in 29 Collections and/or Records:

f. 239v
f. 239v

MS 27: Composite manuscript including two texts, early 14th century; early 15th century

 Item
Identifier: MS 27
Contents Contains two texts bound together, in five different hands.The manuscript is a Sarum Breviary with a full Sarum Litany, and a Kalendar. This is in four different hands.Additionally, ff.ir-iiv and ff.231v-232v feature a Chronicle of Scottish History.The texts are described separately, under MS 27/ff. ir-iiv, 231v-232v and MS 27/ff. 1r-482v. Writing The script is good and...
Dates: early 14th century; early 15th century
f. 40v, detail
f. 40v, detail

MS 40: Book of Hours (Use of Sarum), second half of the 15th century

 Item
Identifier: MS 40
Scope and Contents Book of Hours in Latin from the 15th century following the Use of Sarum. It was probably written for use in the diocese of Lincoln, but the illumination is French, and possibly the hand also (see local saints in the Kalendar for the connection with Lincoln).Kalendar: starts on f. 1r. Contains commemorations of Saints and Martyr, and other festivities (the most important are written in red). Miniatures illustrate activities linked to the season.The...
Dates: second half of the 15th century

MS 41: Book of Hours (Use of Sarum), 15th century

 Item
Identifier: MS 41
Scope and Contents Book of Hours in Latin from the 15th century following the Use of Sarum.Kalendar with Astronomical Tables: the months of the Kalendar start on f. 1r and always appear on the recto, the tables start on f. 1v and always appear on the verso.Additions to the Kalendar are all by one 15th century hand and show a connection with Yorkshire in this period. They are: 8 April Matrimonium factum fuit inter Johannem filium Briani...
Dates: 15th century

MS 57: Psalter, 1300-1330

 Item
Identifier: MS 57
Contents The manuscript is an English Psalter that was created in the 14th century, between 1300 and 1330, possibly in Worcester.There is a Title Page on f.1r. There is some custodial history information, as well as some scribbles and drawings, dating from later than the rest of the manuscript.The Litany of the Virgin starts on f.2r.The Virtutes Psalmorum Psalterii hec sint start on f.3r. This section...
Dates: 1300-1330

MS 90: Composite manuscript including five texts, 15th century

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Identifier: MS 90
Contents Contains five different texts, all five in the same hand.ff. 1r-13v: ‘Meditationes’ [incomplete] by Pseudo-Augustine of Hippoff. 14r-107r: ‘Meditationes’ by Anselm of Canterburyff. 107r-117v: ‘Speculum Peccatorum’ff. 118r-129r: Meditationsf. 129r: ‘Enarrationes in Psalmos’ [incomplete] by Augustine of HippoThe texts are described separately, under MS 90/ff. 1r-13v; MS 90/ff. 14r-107r; MS 90/ff. 107r-117v; MS...
Dates: 15th century

MS 91: Meditationes Vitae Christi by Pseudo-Bonaventure, 15th century

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Identifier: MS 91
Contents This manuscript is an anonymous prose translation of an early 14th century devotional text, Meditationes Vitae Christi. This work was traditionally attributed to St Bonaventure, but it has since been shown to have been composed by a Franciscan friar in Tuscany in the 14th century. The original text, from which the 15th century English translation derives, was a very popular Franciscan devotional text. Hundreds of manuscript copies exist of the Latin original,...
Dates: 15th century

MS 93: Collection of didactic, pastoral, and meditative devotional treatises, 15th century

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Identifier: MS 93
Contents This manuscript dates from the first half of the 15th century, and is a collection of didactic, pastoral, and meditative devotional treatises, as well as some fragments of works by late 14th-century English theologian, John Wycliffe. Generally, devotional texts were an important element of medieval piety, as they provided guidance for individuals to deepen their faith through study, meditation and prayer. This volume is perhaps best described as a medieval instructional manual....
Dates: 15th century

MS 100: Composite manuscript including four texts, 12th century

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Identifier: MS 100
Contents Contains four different texts, in two different hands.ff. 1r-53v: ‘Hexameron’ by Basil of Caesareaff. 53v-97v: ‘De Conditione Hominis’ by Gregory of Nyssaff. 98r-116r: ‘De Anima’ by Cassiodorusff. 116v-119v: Sermon on the Sacrament of the AltarThe texts are described separately, under MS 100/ff.1r-53v; MS 100/ff.53v-97v; MS 100/ff. 98r-116r; MS 100/ff. 116v-119v. Writing The first...
Dates: 12th century

MS 105: Composite manuscript including two texts, 11th-12th century

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Identifier: MS 105
Contents Contains two texts, in several different hands.ff. 1r-12v: ‘De Operibus Trium Dierum’ by Hugh of Saint Victor, also known as De Tribus Diebusff. 12v-35v: Collection of sermons, aphorisms, quotations, and sentences by several different authors including Hugh of Saint Victor, Martin of Braga, and HildebertThe texts are described separately, under MS 105/ff.1-12 and MS 105/ff. 12v-36v. ...
Dates: 11th-12th century

MS 107: Composite manuscript including twenty-four texts, 13th-14th century

 Item
Identifier: MS 107
Contents Contains twenty-four texts, in two different hands. This manuscript was made in England and dates from the 13th-14th century; the texts are various religious tracts in Latin, Old French, and Middle English.Flyleaves: Unidentified Latin text and the start of a Contents list in a 17th-century handff. 1r-28v: De Miseria Condicionis Humane (On the wretchedness of the human condition) by Pope Innocent...
Dates: 13th-14th century