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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 96 Collections and/or Records:

MS 212: Kalendar, 16th century

 Item
Identifier: MS 212
Contents

This manuscript contains a calendar of saints, which is a calendar of the liturgical or Christian year (also known as Kalendar) that assigns a feast day for on or more saints in most of the days of the year. This particular calendar seems to follow the English tradition, but it belonged to Dutch and French owners. Most pages contain notes in Middle French written on the lower margin.

Dates: 16th century
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Western Medieval Manuscripts

MS 213: Sermon by Arnoldus Creveterodt, 1521

 Item
Identifier: MS 213
Contents This manuscript contains a sermon by Arnoldus Creveterodt [or Crevecerodt]. Little is known of him and of this sermon, expect for what is said in the colophon, which reads: ‘This sermon was composed by lord Arnoldus Creveterodt [or Crevecerodt], Augustinian bishop in Meissen and suffragan of Hildesheim, which he delivered in the benediction of the Lord of the abbot of the monastery of Saint Michael, on the day of the ten thousand martyrs of 1521.’The colophon on f. 1r reads:...
Dates: 1521
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Western Medieval Manuscripts

MS 214: Sermons and other theological material, 14th century

 Item
Identifier: MS 214
Contents

This is a fragment (8 folios) of a 14th century manuscript that contains various short sermons and other theological material.



Writing

The script is French or Italian.

Dates: 14th century
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Western Medieval Manuscripts

MS 215: Composite manuscript containing two texts, 15th century

 Item
Identifier: MS 215
Contents

Unbound manuscript containing two texts in two different hands.


ff. 1r-6r: 'Algorismus' by Alexander de Villa Dei, also known as Carmen de Algorismo


ff. 6v-8v: 'Tractatus pro juvenibus informandis' (Latin grammar)


The texts are described separately, under MS 215/ff. 1r-6r and MS 215/ff. 6v-8v.

Dates: 15th century
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Western Medieval Manuscripts

MS 216: Fragment of Summary of the Decretals of Gregory IX, 13th century

 Item
Identifier: MS 216
Contents This is a fragment (12 folios) of a summary of the Decretals of Gregory IX, a collection of jurisprudence of Catholic canon law. It was compiled by Spanish Dominican friar Raymond of Penyafort, under the orders of pope Gregory IX. Contains 1 folio of Book I and 11 of Book III (Title xxxiv, De voti redemptione, to Title xli, De celebratione missarum). ...
Dates: 13th century
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Western Medieval Manuscripts

MS 218: Fragments of the Auchinleck Manuscript containing two texts, 1330s

 Item
Identifier: MS 218
Contents These fragments consist of four leaves of the famous Auchinleck Manuscript, held by the National Library of Scotland. This manuscript was written in the 1330s in London and contains a collection on Middle English works believed to provide unique insight into the 14th century, not least because some of the Middle English texts within it do not appear elsewhere. These fragments were separated from the main manuscript, and seem to have been used for covers for books.Two of the...
Dates: 1330s
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Western Medieval Manuscripts

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