website: http://www.nls.uk/

The National Library of Scotland is the successor to the historic Library of the Faculty of Advocates, which opened in 1689. In 1710 the Library gained the right to claim a copy of every book published in Great Britain, a privilege retained to this day. Over the centuries, by purchasing manuscripts and books to supplement those acquired by legal deposit, the Advocates' Library developed into a national library in all but name. In 1925 the Government accepted the Faculty's offer to present its library, with the exception of law books and manuscripts, to the nation and the National Library was formally constituted by Act of Parliament. The size and nature of the Library, with annual accessions of c.350,000 items, and collections dating back to the late 17th century, make it difficult to quantify all material relating to North American Studies.

Modern printed collections

Under the privilege of legal deposit the Library has a right to claim a copy of all current British and Irish publications, and presently many books distributed in this country by a number of American university presses and some other US and Canadian publishers are also received in this way. The Library actively complements its extensive legal deposit intake of British, Irish and North American publications by the additional purchase of works published in the USA and Canada.

All US and Canadian publications relating to Scotland and the Scots are acquired, and the Library's holdings include much on Scottish-North American links, Scottish emigration to the US and Canada, and genealogy. Purchasing concentrates on the humanities, and most important works in the fields of US and Canadian literature and history can be found in the collections. Books are also acquired more selectively in other areas, including politics, the social sciences, women's studies and minority studies.

Current collecting, mainly through the Graham Brown fund, is strong in mountaineering and polar exploration.The Library also subscribes to substantial numbers of US and Canadian periodicals, with the emphasis, in the humanities, on literature, including a number of specialized titles reflecting the interest in the Scots abroad, as well as having a significant number of standing orders to monograph series in the humanities and social sciences. Standard works of reference are acquired, including, for example, the recent 92-volume Bibliography of American Imprints to 1901.

Early printed material & special collections (incl. music)

The library holds a great number of 18th- and 19th-century works relating to the US and Canada, especially travel, topography and history. Current purchasing of antiquarian publications largely concentrates on US and Canadian editions of works by or about Scots. Over the years a number of individual antiquarian works of interest to North American Studies have been acquired, and there are also a number of US and Canadian newspaper titles. (see Holdings of US & Canadian Newspapers in Scottish Libraries above)

The Library holds some special printed collections of interest to North American Studies, notably the Hugh Sharp Collection (over 300 volumes) of first editions of English and North American authors, the Henderson Memorial Library of Books on America (over 700 volumes), containing 19th- and early 20th-century works mainly on history, description and travel, sociology and biography, and relating mostly to the Civil War. Also of note is the Combe Collection of over 600 19th-century books on phrenology. The Birkbeck Collection of works dealing with professional and amateur printing contains a significant number of US items. There are also some smaller collections dealing with typography and book design, notably the W.A. Dwiggins Collection and the Meriden Gravure Company Collection.

Canadian and US material can be found in numerous special collections dealing, in whole or in part, with exploration, travel and mountaineering, notably the Baume, Graham Brown, Castle Fraser, Grindlay, Newman, Savage, Hugh Sharp, Wordie and Bullock Workman Collections. [For more detail see: http://www.nls.uk/catalogues/index.html ] The music collections of the National Library contain a fair amount of music by American composers, although American music is purchased very selectively due to collection strengths in other areas. Books on American and Canadian music are part of the Library's music reference and general library collections. The collections contain a very limited amount of music by Canadian composers. However, traditional music with a Scottish background is an area of special interest, especially Cape Breton music, which is represented by both printed material and sound recordings.

Manuscripts & archives

The manuscript collections are rich in items relating to Scottish-American history, including, for example, the Darien Company affair. There is much material dealing with Scottish emigration to the USA and Canada, including individual and family correspondence, accounts of emigrants, collections relating to travel, trade and church activity in North America.

Of particular interest are the Melville Papers 1787-1819, relating largely to Canadian affairs; the papers of the 4th Earl of Minto, Governor-General of Canada; the correspondence and papers of General Sir George Murray; the Ellice Papers, which contain correspondence concerning the Hudson's Bay and North West Companies; the Yester papers, which contain material on Canadian military matters; and the correspondence and papers of John Buchan 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, author and Governor-General of Canada.
[Detailed information]

Microform & audiovisual collections

The Library's holdings of earlier works on North America are supplemented by approximately 35,000 full-text microfiche editions of Selected Americana from Sabin's Dictionary of Books Relating to America. It is hoped these titles will be integrated into the Library's main online catalogue by the end of the year 2000. As well as microfiche editions of numerous 19th-century US political and cultural journals, the Library holds a substantial number of microform collections of particular interest to North American studies, including personal papers, works of reference and themed collections.
[Detailed information]

The Library also has a full collection of the Academy of American Poets audiocassettes of poets reading their own work, and a number of CD-ROMS of interest, whether reference (e.g. The Bibliography of American Literature on CD-ROM) or individual titles of academic interest (e.g. Maya Angelou: Black Pearls; A Jack Kerouac Romnibus).

Official publications

From 1950 to 1994 the Library received a set of US official publications, amounting to approximately 10 percent of monthly output (a 'partial set'), through an exchange scheme with the Library of Congress. Although this scheme has officially ended, some material is still received through donation, and the Library remains a depository for United Nations, WHO, and, until the late 1990s, for UNESCO publications.
[Detailed information]

In addition, the Library subscribes to, or acquires through legal deposit, many of the major American documentary series, for example the Documentary history of the First Federal Congress of the United States of America, March 4, 1789-March 3, 1791 (14 v.; Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Unibersoty Press, 1972-c1887), the Documentary history of the first Federal elections, 1788-1790 (4 v.; Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1976-1989), and the Documentary history of the ratification of the Constitution (18+ v.; Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1976- ).

The Library has a full collection of British and Irish parliamentary and other official publications, many of which relate to North America.

Maps and visual resources

NLS Map Library collects maps, atlases, cartographic reference books and periodicals relating to all parts of the world, including USA and Canada. UK publications relating to North America are acquired through legal deposit, and these are supplemented by deposits, donations, and purchases from overseas. The Library acquires most national atlases. A particular aim is to collect items of Scottish association, which include a good number of North American maps.

The Library is a depository for current USA 1:24,000 maps and holds DeLorme atlases for all states (usually scales around 1:80,000-1:150,000 ). Depository status for maps of Canada has varied over the years, and there is good, but incomplete, coverage at 1:50,000, with complete coverage at 1:250,000, although current acquisition at these scales may be patchy. The library also holds a varied collection of thematic maps and atlases. CD-ROMs include Street Atlas USA and Omni Gazetteer. For earlier maps, the Library has a good collection of antiquarian atlases which include North American material. Facsimile atlases and maps (such as the historical maps series produced by the Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives) are also collected. Some early manuscript maps are held (eg. the Murray Papers include about 10 manuscript maps of the St Lawrence area ca. 1810).

The National Library has an active policy of purchasing photographs, photograph albums and photographically illustrated books, mainly of Scottish subjects or by Scottish photographers. Many of the photographic and other visual resources of North American interest deal with mountaineering and exploration, in particular the Rockies and the Canadian Arctic. The Scots-Canadian photographers William Notman and Alexander Henderson are both represented. Some manuscript collections also contain photographic material.

Back