Laing, David, 1793-1878 (antiquarian, bookseller, and librarian of the Signet Library)
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:
Esther Inglis, "Les Quatrains du Sieur de Pybrac", 1607 (dated)
Esther Inglis, "Livret traittant de la grandeur de Dieu et de la cognoissance qu’on peut avoir de luy par ses oeuvres", 1592
[Facsimile of sonnet 'Damon to Alexis' in Drummond's hand, with accompanying letter dated 26 May 1622], 1857
[Facsimile of sonnet 'Damon to Alexis' in Drummond's hand, with accompanying letter dated 26 May 1622]. Lithograph. 1857. Drummond, William, 1585-1649, Author; Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Publisher; Laing, David, 1793-1878, Editor.
Published in: Archaeologia Scotica, vol. 4 (1857).
Note: Numbered: 'Vol IV, Plate VIII'. Accompanies Laing's article 'A Brief Account of the Hawthornden Manuscripts …'.
Fragment of Summary of the Decretals of Gregory IX, 13th century
Fragment of the Old Norwegian General Law of King Magnus IV, 1300-1320
Fragments, 9th-15th century
MS 211 is a collection of approx. 55 manuscript fragments, mainly rescued from bindings in which they were used as waste. They were collected by Laing over the course of many years. There are 35 main fragments, and 17 more in MS 211/XXXVI (these were deemed too small to be catalogued by Catherine Borland).
Each of them is described separately. See individual catalogue entries for more details.
Fragments of the Auchinleck Manuscript containing two texts, 1330s
Gospel Lectionary, 12th century
Gospels, 15th century
