Institutional records of New College Library

Collection

Identifier: AA2

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Contains the institutional records of New College Library, Edinburgh University Theological Library, Church of Scotland General Assembly Library, Church of Scotland Lending Library and Longforgan Free Church Ministers' Library.

Dates

Creation: 1755-present

Conditions Governing Access

Generally open for consultation to bona fide researchers at Centre for Research Collections, University of Edinburgh Main Library, George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9LJ. Contact repository in advance: is-crc@ed.ac.uk

Biographical / Historical

New College Library begain in 1843, with the formation of the Free Church of Scotland's New College. The original Library was founded upon donations, including many rare books from libraries, churches and individuals from across Europe. The Library also grew by amalgamation, incorporating, for example the library of the United Presbyterian Church in 1900 and the library of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1958. In 1962, an agreement was ratified by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in which New College Library's collections were presented to the University of Edinburgh on ermanent loan. New College Library holds more than 250,000 volumes of which approximately 90,000 are special collections. The libraries which were amalgamated into New College Library and for which there are archival records are: Edinburgh University Theological Library, General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Library, Church of Scotland Lending Library and Longforgan Free Church Ministers' Library.

Extent

26 boxes

109 items: bound volumes

7 Files

Additional Description

Arrangement

The arrangement of the collection has been inherited historically, the basic structure dividing it into the constituent libraries. No archival hierarchy was imposed on the collection so that the structure is broadly: catalogues; donations and acquisitions registers;accounts; minute books; correspondence and borrowing registers (where any of these groups of material exist). There are a number of instances where some sequential numbers are 'not used'creating gaps.