In 2017, the University of Aberdeen became the custodian of the Chapeltown of Glenlivet Library. This collection was once the working library of the ‘Hidden Seminary’ at Scalan in the Scottish Highlands. Founded in 1716, the seminary at Scalan educated more than 100 priests for the Scottish mission before its relocation in 1799. The library was only re-discovered in the late 1970s in the rectory at Glenlivet, near the site of the original college. Its several hundred volumes provide a rare insight into Catholic clerical education in 18th century Scotland. They also represent in themselves a fascinating and somewhat eclectic collection of printed matter sourced from across the print-centres of Europe, comprising classical and humanist works as well theological volumes and promise to be a valuable resource for study.
To mark its loan by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Aberdeen, the Centre for Early Modern Studies and the Catholic Memory Project, both at the University of Aberdeen, will join the Center for Renaissance Studies at the Newberry Library of Chicago in hosting a two-part conference on the theme of ‘Reading the Ministry’, the first of which will be held in Aberdeen on 29 November to 1 December 2018, and the second at the Newberry in October 2019.