Book Owner Details

National Library of Scotland

Biography: The Advocates Library in Edinburgh was founded in the early 1680s, and formally opened in 1689. It became a legal deposit library under the 1710 Copyright Act, and also added to its collections with purchases. By the 1920s, the upkeep was too much for a private body, so, with an endowment of £100,000 from Sir Alexander Grant of Forres, the library was presented to the nation. It was formally constituted by Act of Parliament in 1925. Sir Alexander Grant donated a further £100,000 (about £3m today) for a building on George IV Bridge in Edinburgh, which was completed in 1956.

Book List