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 178 Collections and/or Records:
Contents
Contains five texts written by three different hands.ff. 1r-48r: 'Confessionale: Omnis mortalium cura' or 'Specchio di coscienza' ('Confessional: all the concerns of humans' or 'Mirror of Conscience') by Saint Antoninus, Archbishop of Florenceff. 48v-70v: 'Trattato della mondizia del cuore' ('Treatise on the Purity of the Heart') by Domenico Cavalcaff. 71r-80r: 'Conflictus vitiorum atque virtutum' ('The Contest between Vices and Virtues') by Ambrosius...
Dates:
15th century
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
Contents
Contains fourteen texts mainly by Anselm of Canterbury, in several different hands.ff. 1r-39r: ‘Cur Deus Homo’ by Anselm of Canterburyff. 39r-55r: ‘De Conceptu Virginali’ by Anselm of Canterburyff. 55r-89v: ‘Monologion’ by Anselm of Canterburyff. 89r-101r: ‘De Fide Trinitatis’ by Anselm of Canterburyff. 101r-104v: ‘Meditatio Nostre Redemptionis’ by Anselm of Canterbury [Meditatio de Humana Redemptione]ff. 104v-107v:...
Dates:
12th century
Contents
Contains seven texts, all in the same hand.ff. 1r-7v: the beginning of the 'Decretum Gratiani,' by Gratianff. 8r-53r: 'Summa introductoria' by Bonaguida de Arezzoff. 53v-54r : A shortened English Kalendar (not Sarum)ff. 56r-67v: 'Practica sive usus dictaminis' by Lawrence of Aquileiaff. 68r-88v: Book VIII of 'Durandi Rationale Divinorum Officiorum' by Guillaume Durandff. 90r-103r: 'Speculum ecclesiae' by Cardinal Hugo de...
Dates:
early 14th century
Contents
MS 138 contains many small texts and fragments bound together, by different hands. This manuscript belonged to the Carthusian monastery at Erfurt, and seems to have been compiled initially in the mid-15th century. The evidence of the inclusion of various texts in different hands indicates that this volume was taken up and added to by different inhabitants of the monastery at Erfurt. The texts are described separately, but are generally quite fragmentary and difficult to...
Dates:
c 1455
Contents
This manuscript seems to contain a of compilation of astrological works, perhaps for teaching. It is 15th century. The different texts are listed below and detailed separately.ff. 1r-46r: Excerpts from assorted works by Michael Scot, including Liber quatuor distinctionum and Liber introductorius.ff. 46v-47v: De significatione septem planetarum in domibus by Gergis (or...
Dates:
15th century
Scope and Contents
The manuscript contains three different texts, all in the same hand.ff. 1r-96v: Liber de laudibus beate Marie Virginis ('Book of the praises of the Virgin Mary') attributed to Vincent de Beauvais;ff. 97r-118r: part of a breviary with the readings of the Officum Parvum Beatae Mariae Virginis ('Little Office of Our Lady' or 'Hours of the Virgin');ff. 119r-164r: a collection of excerpts from...
Dates:
13th century
Contents
Contains twenty-five texts, in many different hands. This manuscript is German, from the Monastery of Saints Peter and Paul at Erfurt. It was composed in the 15th century. The texts are various theological tracts in Latin. Some of the sections are divided by leather markers. The contents are as follows:Flyleaves: A small slip of paper pasted in at the beginning has a short note of contents. Some other manuscripts have been used in the binding, including part of an 11th-century...
Dates:
15th century
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
Contents
Contains two texts bound together, both in the same hand.ff. 1r-27r: 'Manuale'('Manual') attributed to Augustine of Hippoff. 27v-332v: 'Sermo de miseria humana' ('Sermon on human misery') attributed to Bernard of ClairvauxThe texts are described separately, under MS 103/ff. 1r-27r; and MS 103/ff. 27v-32v. Writing Written in good Italian minuscule. ...
Dates:
late 15th century
