Scottish Authors A-B

Manuscripts of Scottish writers including Marion Angus, Joanna Baillie, J. M. Barrie, James Boswell, Walter Bower, Robert Burns, and Lord Byron.

Sir Whitelaw Ainslie (1767-1837)

Thomas Aird (1802-1876)

James Aitchison (1938- )

Mary Baird Aitken (20th century)

William Alexander (1567 or 1568-1640)

Alexander Anderson (1845-1909)

  • Third Anniversary Address to the Alexander Anderson 'Surfaceman' Club, c 1913, MS notebook (Coll-1848/19-0061)

Henry Anderson (fl. early 17th century)

Andrew of Wyntoun (1350?-1420?)

Marion Angus (1865–1946)

Self-Standing Materials
  • Letter to P.E.N., n.d. (Gen. 1733/144)
Materials in Other Collections

J. K. (James King) Annand (1908-1993)

Self-Standing Materials
  • Letter from Laurence Graham, 10 September 1992 (E95.05)
Materials in Other Collections

John Arbuthnot (1667-1735)

William Edmondstoune Aytoun (1813-1865)

Self-Standing Materials
  • 'The Buried Flower’, poem (Gen. 793)
  • The Blanket-Man: An Excellent Song’ (Gen. 1730/A/14)
  • ‘Huzza for the Scarlet Woman: A New Song’ (Gen. 1730/A/14)
  • 'The Queen in France: An Ancient Scottish Ballad (Coll-1535)
  • Letter to H. Leach, 1865 (Gen. 1981/18)
  • Letter to H. J. Rollo, 1863 (Gen. 1981/17)
  • Letter to George Seton, 27 January 1855 (Gen. 1730/A/37)
  • Letter to Messrs Spottiswoode and Robertson, 22 May 1852 (Gen. 1730/A/19)
  • Letter to Thomas Staley, 16 October 1863 (Gen. 1733/46)
  • Letter to P. G. Tait, 1862 (Gen. 2169/10)
  • Letter to Oliver Yorke, editor of 'Fraser’s Magazine', 1833 (Dc.4.101-103)
  • Letter to ‘My dear Willie’, 1861 (Gen. 1730/A/14)
Materials in Other Collections

Grizel Baillie (1665-1746)

Joanna Baillie (1762-1851)

Self-Standing Materials
  • 2 letters, 1 to Mrs Bartley and 1 to Sir J. Sinclair, 1833 and undated (Dc.4.101-103)
  • Letter to George Bartley, ca. 1810 (Gen. 1730/B/27)
  • Letter to J. W. Croker, 1824 (Gen. 1730/B/34)
  • 2 letters, 1 to Mrs Eliot and 1 to Mrs Olden, [1825?-1842?] (Gen. 1730/B/23-24)
  • Review of Joanne Baillie’s 'Metrical Legends of Exalted Characters' [fragmentary] by Anne Grant, 182-? (Gen. 1995/31)
Materials in Other Collections

Alexander Balfour (1767-1829)

James Ballantine (1806-1877)

Self-Standing Materials

  • Letter from Ballantine to D. R. Hay, [18--] (Dc.2.58)

  • Letter from Ballantine to Joseph Watson, 25 September 1854 (Gen. 1730/B/19)

Materials in Other Collections

R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne (1825-1894)

James Barke (1905-1958)

J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie (1860-1937)

Self-Standing Materials
  • Letter to Lord Blackburn about chancellorship of Edinburgh University, 11 June 1930 (Dc. 4.101-103)
  • 8 letters to Arthur Logan Turner, 1930-1933, and one letter to Sir William Turner, 1909 (Dc.4.102)
  • Letter to illustrator Alexander Stuart Boyd ('Twym'), 7 July 1884 (Gen. 1730/B/31)
Materials in Other Collections

Peter Bayne (1830-1896)

Self-Standing Materials
  • Letter from Bayne to his cousin, Elizabeth, undated (Gen. 1981/21)
Materials in Other Collections

James Beattie (1735-1803)

Self-Standing Materials
  • Lectures on Moral Philosophy at Marischal College, Aberdeen University, 1777-1778 (Dc.2.64-65)
  • 'The Minstrel', with three anonymous poems, [1803?] (Dk.5.28)
  • ‘Observations on Logic’, [17--?] (Dk.3.2, pp. 201-209)
  • ‘Principles of Natural Religion’, 1778 (Dc.2.63)
  • ‘A View of the Practical Part of the Moral Philosophy of the Stoics’, dictated by Beattie to his pupils, 1778 (Dc.8.28)
Materials in Other Collections

Henry Glassford Bell (1803-1874)

J. J. (John Joy) Bell (1871-1934)

Thurso Berwick (Morris Blythman) (1919-1981)

Robert Birnie (1608-1691)

D. M. (David Macleod) Black (1941- )

William Black (1841-1898)

John Stuart Blackie (1809-1895)

Self-Standing Materials
  • Annotations: In an interleaved copy of ‘Greek-English Lexicon, 5th edition’ (Liddell and Scott, 2 vols, 1861), with a letter from Liddell to Blackie, attached to the fly-leaf of vol. 1 (Dk.7.13-14)
  • Letter to Mr Gibson, ca. 1870 (Dk.6.19/4)
  • Letter to D. R. Hay, [185-] (Dc.2.58)
  • Letter to R. Herdman, 1869? (Gen. 1730/B/33)
  • 6 letters and a postcard, ca. 1868-1887?, and undated, to recipients including John Inglis, Lord Glencorse, C. Bennet, and Mrs G. Allen (Dc.4.101-103)
  • 3 letters, 1 to R. J. Muir and 1 possibly to Mr Hall the publisher, 1872-1888, and undated (Gen. 1733/71, 72 & 100)
  • Letter to Sir C. J. Pearson, 1890 (Gen. 756, no. 47)
  • Letter to G. Barnett Smith, 5 August [1877] (Gen. 1730/B/17)
  • 3 autograph letters (Coll-1514)
  • Letter (Dc.2.76/14, f. 1)
  • Letter, 1889 (Dc.2.76/5)
  • Letter to unidentified correspondent (Gen. 1730/B/2)
  • Letter to unidentified correspondent, ca. 1861 (Gen. 1730/B/28)
  • Letter to unidentified correspondent, 1892 (Gen.1429/10/6)
  • Photograph of Blackie (Dc.4.101-103)
  • Photograph of Blackie (JY 1202)
  • ‘A Sabbath on the Hills’, poem, partly autograph, signed (Dc.1.101/7)
  • ‘The Song of Mrs Jenny Geddes’, signed (Gen. 1927/10)
  • Testimony in favour of J. H. Stirling, 1868 (Dc.4.104/3, ff. 43-44)
  • Translation of verse by C. L. von Littrow, 1877 (Dc.10.50/14)
Materials in Other Collections

Thomas Blacklock (1721-1791)

Self-Standing Materials
  • 'Kalokagathia, or, The Doctrine of Practical Ethics and Natural Theology' [imperfect] (Dc.3.45)
  • ‘To Mr Beattie with the author’s poems’, poem on the flyleaf of a copy of Blacklock’s ‘Poems’ (Dh.5.99)
Materials in Other Collections

Hugh Blair (1718-1800)

Self-Standing Materials
  • Document admitting Blair to the use of Edinburgh University Library, 1735 (Da.2.1, p. 60)
  • Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres, [vol. 1], copies made by John Bruce, 1765 (Dc.10.6)
  • Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres, [vol. 2], 1779 (Gen. 1990)
  • Notes of Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres (Dc.3.42)
  • Letter to T. Cadell, 1794 (Dc.4.101-103)
  • Letter to the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, [1798?] (Dc.4.101-103)
  • 5 letters to Nancy Ord, ca. 1777 (Gen. 1730/B/29)
  • 4 letters, 2 to William Strahan, 1 to A. Constable and 1 [to T. Cadell], 1778-96, 1 original, 3 copies (Dc.2.76/10)

  • Letter, March 1763, referring to James Macpherson's Ossian poems (Coll-1405)

  • Note from Blair to J. Black (Gen. 875/111/29v)
Materials in Other Collections

Robert Blair (1699-1746)

Self-Standing Materials
  • Document admitting Blair to the use of Edinburgh University Library, 1718 (Da.2.1, p. 50)
Materials in Other Collections

George Blake (1893-1961)

Self-Standing Materials
  • 2 letters to William Fowler, 31 January, 12 February 1929 (Gen. 784/4/20-21)
Materials in Other Collections

Alan Bold (1943-1998)

Self-Standing Materials
  • Manuscript of poem 'Cities' (1972) (Coll-1771/SC-Acc-2016-0127)
  • Proofs and working materials for volume 'In This Corner' (1983) (Gen. 2180/1-2)
  • Worksheets for poems 'Loch Katrine' and 'The Public Wash House' (1983) (Gen. 2180/10-11)
  • Letters and postcards to Edinburgh University Library, 6 April 1977, 8 May 1979, 22 May 1980 (Gen. 1733/11-13), 2 August 1990 (E90.87), 22 February 1991, 27 February 1991 (E91.30-31)
Materials in Other Collections

Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)

Self-Standing Materials
Materials in Other Collections

Sir Alexander Boswell (1775-1822)

Self-Standing Materials
  • 3 poems (Gen. 750D)
  • 2 letters to Sir Walter Scott, 1811-1821 (MS 3880, f. 53; MS 3892, f. 45)
Materials in Other Collections

James Boswell (1740-1795)

Robert Boswell (1746-1804)

Self-Standing Materials
  • ‘Epitaph on the Late Jas Boswell, Esqr, of Auchinleck', poem, 1795 (Gen. 750D, f.14)
  • 15 poems (Gen. 750D)
Materials in Other Collections

Walter Bower (1385-1449)

Self-Standing Materials
Materials in Other Collections

Edward Boyd (1916-1989)

John Brandane (1869-1947)

F. V. (Frederick Victor) Branford (1892-1941)

James Bridie (1888-1951)

Self-Standing Materials
  • Letter addressed 'Dear Ellis' about Citizens' Theatre, 5 April 1944 (Gen. 1981/30)
Materials in Other Collections

George Douglas Brown (1869-1902)

George Mackay Brown (1921-1996)

John Brown (1810-1882)

Self-Standing Materials
  • 3 letters, 1 to his cousin Dr John Brown and 2 to Mary Brown, his cousin’s wife, 1879-1880 and undated, with 2 photographs of Brown, a lock of his hair, a letter from his son John, and a coloured postcard of his birthplace (Dk.7.60)
  • 2 letters, 1 incomplete, the other to William Dickson, [1859?-1881] (Dc.4.101-103)
  • 2 letters to J. M. Gully, [1861 and undated] (Dc.4.101-103)
  • 2 letters, 1 to [Charles Kingsley?], 1 to Mr Stirling, 1862 and undated (Gen. 1730/B/15-16)
  • Letter to ‘M.D.’ (Gen. 1981/34)
  • 7 letters to Harry Smith, 1861-1863 and undated (Dc.4.101-103)
  • Letter, 1852 (Dc.2.58)
  • Letter to unidentified correspondent, 1882 (Gen. 1981/33)
  • Obituary notice of Sir Robert Christison, 1882 (Dc.2.96/2)
  • Testimonial in favour of Dr G. H. Pringle, 1854 (Dc.4.98/6)
Materials in Other Collections

Thomas Brown (1778-1820)

  • Bound volume of MS poems and correspondence (Coll-1986)
  • Letter to John Playfair, 1815? (Gen. 1730/B/18)
  • Letter to Reddie, 1818? (Gen. 1730/B)
  • Note from Brown certifying David Waddell’s attendance at lectures, 1818 (Gen. 1730/B)
  • Notes from Lectures by Thomas Brown on the Philosophy of the Human Mind and on Moral Philosophy, 1809-1814, some possibly autograph (Dc.2.10-13; Dc.3.21/3; Dc.5.27-28)

George Bruce (1909-2002)

Self-Standing Materials
  • Manuscript of poetry collection 'Sea Talk' (Gen. 1783)
Materials in Other Collections

James Bruce (1730-1794)

Michael Bruce (1746-1767)

  • Letter to Mr Arnott of Portmoak, 1765 (Dc.2.76/2)

Mary Brunton (1778-1818)

  • Letter (fragmentary) from Brunton, 181-? (Dk.6.19/4)

Bill Bryden (1942- )

John Buchan (1875-1940)

Peter Buchan (1790-1854)

Tom Buchan (1931-1995)

George Buchanan (1506-1582)

Self-Standing Materials
  • Commentary on Buchanan's 'De Sphaera' by Adam King (Dk.7.29)
Materials in Other Collections

Robert Buchanan (1785-1873)

  • Notes of lectures on logic and rhetoric, made by Robert Buchanan, 1850-1851 (Gen. 636)

Robert Burns (1759-1796)

Self-Standing Materials
  • 'Epistle to Captain William Logan at Park’, autograph (Dc.6.111)

  • Antique forgery of a letter from Robert Burns to James Johnson (Coll-1166)

  • Manuscript biography of Robert Burns by Gabriel Setoun, pseudonym of Thomas Nicoll Hepburn (Coll-1922)

Materials in Other Collections

Ron Butlin (1949- )

George Gordon Byron, Baron Byron (1788-1824)

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