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.
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...
Contents
Book of Hours, use of Toul. It is of French origin (Toul) and is from the 15th-16th century, but based on external evidence is probably from after 1499. Inserted into the first border there is a coat of arms of Anne of Brittany, Queen of France. She married Charles VIII of France in 1491 and later his successor, Louis XII in 1499. External evidence suggests that the book must have been written for her after her marriage with Louis XII. It is curious, however, that none of the prayers have...
Scope and Contents
Book of Hours in German from the 15th century.Kalendar: starts on f. 2r. Contains commemorations of Saints and Martyr, and other festivities (the most important are written in red). Its content points to the area of Cologne.30 January: Aldegunt iunffer (Aldegunda Virgin, hermitess and Benedectine abbess, from Hainaut); 1 March: Swicbertus, Bp. (Swithbert Bishop, founded a...
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...
Contents
This book is usually known as Summa Confessionalis, Summula de Confessionis or simply Confessionale. It is a guidebook for confessors in the Catholic doctrine written by Antoninus of Florence (1389–1459), a Dominican friar, archbishop of Florence, and considered Saint in the Catholic Church. There are different versions of the book. It was a compilation of several treatises by Antoninus but it...
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Contains two texts, written in different hands.ff. 1r-166r: 'De Perseverantia' by Maffeo Vegio [De Perseverantia Religionis]ff. 167r-190v: 'Ad Stagirium a Daemonio Vexatum' by John ChrysostomThe texts are described separately, under MS 84/ff. 1r-166r and MS 84/ff. 167r-190v. Writing The Vegius is written in a clear sloping italic hand which grows smaller at the end. The...
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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. ...
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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:...
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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...
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MS 133 is intriguing, as it seems to be the unique surviving manuscript of Leonini of Padua's Decas Loyca, although it is still only a part of the full text. Augustinian friar Leonino of Padua is first mentioned in 1332, holding a post at an annual meeting of the Augustinian Order in Venice. By 1360 he had become a Doctor of Theology as was teaching in Padua. His Decas Loyca was written probably in the late 1350s, in which he...
