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.
Contents
The manuscript contains the New Testament. The text between Book of Revelation chapter 17, verse 8 to First Letter of Peter chapter 2, verse 13 is missing. The manuscript includes the apocryphal Letter to the Laodiceans (f. 253r). A letter written "to the Laodiceans" or "from Laodicea" (depending on the different interpretation of the Latin text) is mentioned in the ...
Scope and Contents
The manuscript contains the text of the New Testament according to the Vulgate. The four canonical Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles and the Book of Revelation are preceded by prologues. The prologues of the Gospels belong to the monarchian tradition, so called because it relates to the monarchian doctrine, which saw God as one person. They accompany several extant copies of the Vulgate, although their text is not derived from...
Contents
The manuscript contains the text of the four Gospels according to the Vulgate.Prologues: start on f. 1v. They consists of three prologues: the first is the letter Saint Jerome wrote to Pope Damasus and which acts as prologue to all four Gospels, starting with the words Novum opus facere me cogis (ff. 1v-4r); the second prologue, taken from Saint Jerome's 'Commentary to the Gospel of Saint Matthew', begins with the words ...
Contents
The manuscript contains the gospel of Saint John according to the text of the Vulgate and a set of glosses [i.e. annotations and comments] to the whole text. These include both marginal and interlinear glosses. The text is not complete, but ends at John 19:, verse 36.The gospel is preceded by the monarchian prologue, so called because it relates to the monarchian doctrine, which saw God as one person. It accompanies several extant copies of the Vulgate, although its text is not...
Content
It contains the text of the letters of Saint Paul. There is no prologue and the text immediately begins with the first letter. The text is accompanied by a set of glosses [i.e. annotations and comments] to the whole text. These include both marginal and interlinear glosses. Marginal glosses can be found also on the superior and inferior margins.The majority of the letters are preceded by an argumentum, a short text which records Paul's reason for...
Contents
The manuscript is a Diurnal, which means that it includes the daytime liturgical texts for the Hours of the Divine Office. This version is from the 15th century and could have originated in Bohemia and been intended for use in a nunnery dedicated to Saint Katherine. It is also specifically Dominican.The Kalendar starts on f.1r. It is missing January and February.The Table of Golden Numbers starts on f.6r. This section refers to...
Scope and Contents
A Gradual (or graduale) is a book which contains the chants sung during the Mass. It includes the music notation together with the words. Like the Breviary, it is divided into distinct parts according to the two main cycles of the liturgical year, which contain respectively all the parts of the liturgy which vary in accordance to a specific observance (proprium de tempore, 'proper of time' and...
Scope and Contents
Book of Hours in Latin from the 15th century, of French origin. The Use is not identified, but is not Besançon or Clermont. It may be peculiar to the Abbey of S. Claude, Condat, to which both Kalendar and Litany particularly belong (see the local saints reported under their respective headings).Golden Numbers: on fly-leaf. These are numbers assigned to each year in sequence in a 19-years cycle and are used in order to calculate the date of Easter. Each number...
Scope and Contents
Book of Hours in Latin from the 16th century, of Italian provenance. The Use is that of Rome. It was probably copied in Bologna and the Kalendar also seems to support this origin (see local saints reported).The scribe has written the Greek word telos ('end') at the end of the Hours of the Virgin (f. 119v), Penitential Psalms (f. 122v) and Office of the...
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...
