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Address. North St., St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TR [Map]
Telephone. (01334) 46 22 81
Fax. (01334) 46 22 81
e-mail. [library@st-and.ac.uk]
Internet. http//www.library.st-and.ac.uk/
Governing body or responsible institution. University of St
Andrews. - The Librarian is responsible for all matters
affecting the day to day administration of the library but on
wider policy issues reports to the Proctor, who is a member of
the University's executive.
Function. University library.
Subjects. All subjects taught at the University of St
Andrews.
Access. All manuscripts and pre-1701 printed books, and some
later printed books of especial rarity, may be consulted only in
the room set aside for their consultation. Previous reservation
of desired materials advisable. A simple
form of identification is all that is required of visitors.
Opening hours
(Mid-September to May, excluding Christmas and New Year
period):
Monday to Thursday 8.45 a.m. - 10 p.m.; Friday 8.45
a.m. - 6 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Sunday 1 p.m. - 7
p.m.; (Vacation): Monday to Friday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Saturday 9
a.m. - 1 p.m.
Manuscript and rare book service: Monday to Friday 9 a.m. - 1.
p.m.; 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. - 12.15 p.m. during
term.
Printed information. Numerous information leaflets on the
library's collections and services.
Special facilities. The Rare books and manuscripts
reading room: photocopier; microfilm reader;
magnification
and ultraviolet lamps; photography by arrangement (subject to
the suitable condition of the originals).
Travel directions. The nearest railway station on the East
coast line (London/Edinburgh-Aberdeen) is Leuchars, which is five
miles distant from St Andrews; regular bus service (no. 59, 60
and 95) to St Andrews. Taxis are usually available.
1.1 Though there are some indications of a pre-Reformation Common Library of the University, the present University Library dates from 1611/12, when it was refounded by James VI at the instigation of George Gledstanes, Archbishop of St Andrews, the nucleus of the collection consisting of donations made by the Royal Family, by George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury (1562-1633), and by other leading figures of the period. Many of these donations are still in the library. Before 1612, and indeed for some time afterwards, the chief libraries in the University were those of the colleges. The library of St Leonard's College was particularly important, having the advantage of a tradition whereby the principals of the college regularly bequeathed their books to the College Library, and both St Leonard's and St Salvator's Colleges benefited considerably from donations made by former students and regents.
1.2 Between 1612 and 1643, when what is now the Upper Hall in the Old Library became ready for occupation, the University Library was housed in St Mary's College and the duty of looking after it probably devolved on a regent or student of that college. The completion of the original library building in South Street was made possible by the munificence of Alexander Henderson (1583-1646), the Covenanter, a former student and regent in the University and one of the University Commissioners of 1642 who established the office of Librarian as a bursary in St Mary's College. After 1643, and almost certainly before 1687, the library of St Mary's College probably found its way together with the Common Library books to the new site. In 1710 the library became entitled to copyright deposit privileges under the Act of the preceding year, and by 1764 the growth of the collection made it necessary to remodel and extend the library building, to which in 1783 the libraries of St Leonard's and St Salvator's Colleges were transferred. In 1837 the copyright privileges were replaced by an annual Parliamentary grant of £630, later consolidated in the recurrent grants from the University Court which now constitute the main source of revenue.
1.3 The library has been enriched by donation to the College of books from the libraries of many famous St Andrews men, including George Buchanan (1506-1582), James Stewart, Earl of Moray, Regent of Scotland (c. 1531-1579), Sir John Scot of Scotstarvit (1585-1670) and Sir John Wedderburn (1599-1679), the personal Physician to King Charles I. More recently the library has been fortunate to acquire the libraries of Principal Sir James Donaldson (1831-1915), Baron Friedrich von Hügel (1852-1925) and Principal James David Forbes (1809-1868) amongst other notable bequests and to receive on deposit the Bishop Low (David Low, 1768-1854) and George Hay Forbes (1821-1875) libraries.
1.4 After more than three hundred years of continuous occupation of the historic building which fronts onto South Street, used in conjunction with more modern additions to the rear, the library moved in the summer of 1976 to its present building, which was planned as the first stage of a library more than twice as large. This, however, has not come to pass: but minor modifications have been made to accommodate the growth of stock.
Chronological outline
and analysis by language
2.1 Today the University Library contains over 700,000 books, pamphlets and periodicals, together with substantial collections of manuscripts, maps, photographs, prints and drawings, theses, slides, microfilms and other microtexts. The holdings range in date from the beginnings of printing to the present day with c. 170,000 vols of rare printed books. There are 150 incunabula, c. 3,500 16th-century books, over 1,000 STC and c. 2,500 Wing items, and over 30,000 18th-century items. Apart from English there are substantial holdings in other languages, especially Latin. The German-language holdings and German-imprint holdings amount to c. 10 per cent (very approximately).
Subject outline
2.2 The library is particularly strong in philosophy and in Biblical texts. The earliest incunable is a copy of St. Augustine's De arte praedicandi (Strasbourg, not later than 1466), and there are numerous examples of early printers, both British and foreign, including the Germans Gunther Zainer, Johann Zeiner, Anton Koberger, Johann Froben, Johann Amerbach, Johann Quentel, Friedrich Peypus and Johannes Oporinus. The library is also strong in classical authors (including numerous Renaissance editions); in early medical and scientific works; and, more generally (because of the copyright privileges from 1710 to 1837), in works published in the United Kingdom during the 18th and early 19th centuries. The description follows the Special Collections, in which most of the historic holdings are to be found, in alphabetical order.
2.3 Abbot Collection. The collection is a gift in 1611 of George Abbot (1562-1633), Archbishop of Canterbury, one of the Foundation Gifts to the new Common Library. It comprises 14 vols, mainly of a theological content. Among them are Procopius of Gaza's In octateuchum siue priores octo Veteris Testamenti libros (Zürich 1555), Erasmus's In Nouum Testamentum annotationes (Basel 1540), Petrus Canisius's Commentariorum de Verbi Dei corruptelis liber primus (Dillingen 1571) and Bartholomaeus Anglicus's Opus de reru[m] proprietatibus. Jam denuo summa cura recognitu[m] (Nuremberg 1519).
2.4 Alchemy Collection. The collection is owned by the Department of Chemistry and housed in the University Library. It comprises around 350 printed items and some manuscripts, which are almost entirely devoted to alchemy and older chemistry texts. The printed books are nearly all pre-1851; there is one incunable, around 150 pre-1701 items. The collection is especially notable for first and early editions, 14 in total, of works by Michael Maier (1568-1662), among which are his Examen fucorum pseudo-chymicorum detectorum (Frankfurt a. M. 1617), Atalanta fugiens, hoc est emblemata nova de secretis naturae chymica (Oppenheim 1618) and Tripus aureus, hoc est tres tractatus chymici selectissimi, etc. (Frankfurt a. M. 1618) as well as Philipp Ulstad's Coelum philosophicum, seu de secretis naturae liber (Strasbourg 1528), Leonhardt Thurneisser's Megale chymia, vel magna alchimia (Berlin 1583), Adam von Bodenstein's Isagoge in Arnoldi de Villa noua, Rosarium chymicum paraphrastice & magna diligentia tradita (Basel 1559), Geber's De alchimia, libri tres (Strasbourg 1531) and Alchemiae solertissimi libri (Bern 1545) and Hieronymus Braunschweig's Das Buch zu Distillieren (Strasbourg 1519).
2.5 Annandale Collection. This is a gift dating from around 1630 of John Murray, the 1st Earl of Annandale (c. 1570-1640), to St Leonard's College. It consists of 35 vols, mainly of a theological nature, including a set of the collected works of the Spanish Jesuit, Francisco de Suarez (Mainz 1616-[16]30). Also noteworthy are St. Bonaventura's Opera (Mainz 1609) and Christopher Clavius's Opera mathematica (Mainz 1611-1612).
2.6 Buccleuch Collection. It was presented to St Leonard's College, around 1645 by Francis Scott, the 2nd Earl of Buccleuch (1626-1651), who had been a student at the College around 1640. It consists of 113 vols, mainly theological in content, but books by Julius Caesar and Joseph J. Scaliger are also well represented. In addition to the works by the Scaligers one may mention Didacus Alvares's Manuale concionatorum (Cologne 1632) and De incarnatione Divini Verbi disputationes LXXX (Cologne 1621), Alphonsus Salmeron's Commentarii in evangelicam historiam et in Acta Apostolorum (Cologne 1612-1615) as well as two oriental dictionaries, namely Valentin Schindler's Lexicon pentaglotton Hebraicum, Chaldaicum, Syriacum, Talmudico-Rabbinicum, & Arabicum (Hanau 1612) and Johannes Buxtorf the elder's Lexicon Chaldaicum, Talmudicum, et Rabbinicum (Basel 1640).
2.7 Buchanan Collection. The collection was developed by the library during the present century from existing stock, with additional purchases from time to time. It contains over 250 vols of works by and about George Buchanan (1505-1582), with the emphasis on early and older editions; while most are pre-1851, around 150 date from before 1701. The collection's wealth of early imprints from the German-language areas of Europe can be demonstrated by the following titles: Psalmorum paraphrasis poetica (Herborn 1595 and 7 later editions; Strasbourg, 1566, 1568, 1572), Rerum Scoticarum historia (Frankfurt a. M. 1584 and 3 later editions), Sphaera (Herborn 1586) Baptistes (Frankfurt a. M. 1579) and Franciscus et fratres ([Heidelberg] 1669; Basel [1568?]).
2.8 Crombie Collection. The library of Rev. Frederick Crombie, Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism 1868-1889, was presented in 1890 and consists of around 5,000 vols, chiefly from the 19th century, of theological and classical works. The collection is very rich in 19th-century theological works by German scholars, both in the original language and in English translations. Typical examples of the former are Franz Ludwig Steinmeyer's Zeugnisse von der Herrlichkeit Jesu Christi (Berlin 1847), Christian von Palmer's Evangelische Homiletik (Stuttgart 1857) and Franz Hettinger's Die Krisis des Christenthums, Protestantismus und Katholische Kirche (Freiburg 1881). Of the earlier imprints may be mentioned Johann Lorenz von Mosheim's German translation of Origen's Contra Celsum (Hamburg 1745).
2.9 Donaldson Collection. The library of Sir James Donaldson (1831-1915), Principal of the United College of St Salvator and St Leonard at St Andrews 1886-1915, was bequeathed in 1915. It contains around 10,000 vols and includes two incunabula, 75 books of the 16th century; around 600 from before 1801, but mostly 19th-century books on philosophy, religion, the classics (especially) and education. Donaldson's interests in ancient philosophy are revealed in his ownership of such works as Iamblichus, De vita Pythagorica liber (Leipzig 1815-1816), Christian August Brandis, Uebersicht über das aristotelische Lehrgebäude und Erörterung der Lehren seiner nächsten Nachfolger (Berlin 1860), Michael Baumgarten's Lucius Annaeus Seneca und das Christenthum in der tief gesunkenen antiken Weltzeit (Berlin 1860), Hugo Koch's Pseudo-Areopagita in seinen Beziehungen zum Neuplatonismus und Mysterienwesen (Mainz 1900) and Christian Gottlob Leberecht Grossmann's De ascetis Judaeorum veterum ex Philone epistola (Altenburg [1833]).
2.10 G. H. Forbes Collection. This was chiefly the library of George Hay Forbes (1821-1875), an eminent liturgiologist and clergyman, who ran the private Pitsligo Press for the printing of liturgical and other theological works. After his death the library passed to the trusteeship of the Episcopal Church of Scotland and was maintained, with some additions, by the Church in Edinburgh until 1969, when it was deposited by the trustees in St Andrews University Library on indefinite loan. The collection was transferred permanently to St Andrews in 1984. It contains over 4,000 vols, mostly pre-1851, with four incunabula. Theological books predominate, with the emphasis on liturgy, ecclesiastical history and patristics - strong in 17th and 18th-century works in these fields. Forbes's interests in liturgy and church history can be seen in his ownership of such titles as G. F. Hezel, Novi foederis volumina sacra e scriptoribus Graecis illustrata (Halle 1788), E. Zigabenus's Commentarius in quatuor Evangelia (Leipzig 1792), Gottfried Voigt, Thysiastesiologia, sive, de altaribus (Hamburg 1709) and Jacques Joseph Duguet, Conférences ecclésiastiques, ou dissertations sur les auteurs des premiers siècles de l'Eglise (Cologne 1742).
2.11 J. D. Forbes Collection. This was the library of James David Forbes (1809-1868), an eminent scientist, especially in the field of glaciology, and Principal of the United College of St Salvator and St Leonard in the University of St Andrews from 1859. A graduate of Edinburgh University, where he obtained in 1833 the Chair of Natural Philosophy, which he held until 1860, Forbes established his scientific reputation by research and publications on radiant heat, meteorology, astronomy and geology. He is best remembered now for pioneer travels in the Alps and detailed investigations of the movement of glaciers. He owned a wide collection of materials on glaciers, but a surprising feature of his library is the lack of materials on the Ice Age. The greatest number and range of his books in fields other than geology are a reminder that he was first and foremost a physicist. His books on astronomical, meteorological and magnetic observations are partly contemporaneous, but he also owned many earlier works by writers such as Copernicus, Kepler and Brahe. His interest in scientific instruments and mensuration is seen in his ownership of such works as Girolamo Sirtori's Telescopium siue ars perficiendi nouum illud Galilaei visorium instrumentum (Frankfurt a. M. 1618). Although Forbes's mathematical knowledge at the time of his matriculation at Edinburgh University was rather poor, he developed a great interest in the subject, as can be seen from his extensive ownership of works by Leonhard Euler and many others. Noteworthy items include Copernicus's De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, libri VI (Nuremberg 1543), Kepler's Astronomia nova Aitiologetos, seu physica coelestis ([Heidelberg] 1609), Brahe's Astronomiae instauratae mechanica (Nuremberg 1602), Wolfgang Sartorius von Waltershausen's Physisch-geographische Skizze von Island mit besonderer Rücksicht auf vulkanische Erscheinungen (Göttingen 1847), Hermann von Schlagintweit-Sakünluenski's Untersuchungen über die physicalische Geographie der Alpen (Leipzig 1850), Johann Christoph Sturm's Collegium experimentale, sive curiosum in quo primaria seculi superioris inventa (Nuremberg 1685-1701), Heinrich Wilhelm Matthaeus's Abhandlung über die leichtste und bequemste Methode die Bahn eines Cometen aus einigen Beobachtungen... (Weimar 1797) and Leonhard Euler's Theoria motus corporum solidorum seu rigidorum (Greifswald 1790).
2.12 Mackay Collection. Formed by the mathematician, John Sturgeon Mackay (1843-1914), who was mathematical master at Edinburgh Academy for many years, it contains 52 vols, mostly mathematical works of the 16th to 19th centuries; all but four items are pre-1851, 36 are pre-1801. It is strong in Euclid items, 19 in total, in various languages - mostly separate editions of the Elementa, including the first Greek edition (Basel 1533).
2.13 Moore Collection. This is a bequest made in 1681 to St Salvator's College by William Moore (c. 1640-1684), Archdeacon of St Andrews and former student of that College. It consists of around 2,500 vols of works of the 16th and 17th centuries, chiefly theological in content. It cannot be estimated how many of the original volumes from this bequest have disappeared over the years, as a catalogue drawn up towards the end of the 17th century no longer exists. The collection as it exists today contains no volumes of general literature, although that is hardly surprising, or of history or science, and only 5 or 6 vols of classical literature. The last fact is a powerful argument for the disappearance of not a few volumes from the bequest. What remains is in effect a theological library. Of these may be mentioned David Pareus's Corpus doctrinae Christianae ecclesiarum reformatarum (Hanau 1634), Johann Arnold Corvinus's P. Molinaei Novi anatomici mala cheiresis seu censura anatomes Arminianismi (Frankfurt a. M. 1622), William Whitaker's Disputatio de Sacra Scriptura contra hujus temporis Papistas, inprimis R. Bellarminum & T. Stapletonum (Herborn 1590), Conrad Vorst's Anti-Bellarminus contractus (Hanau 1610) and three works by Wolfgang Musculus, In Epistolam Apostoli Pauli ad Romanos commentarii (Basel 1555), In Epistolas Apostoli Pauli ad Galatas & Ephesios (Basel 1569) and In Euangelistam Matthaeum commentarii (Basel 1556). There are several works in the collection on medicine, of which Caspar Wolff's Gynaeciorum, sive de mulierum affectibus commentarii (Basel 1588) and André Du Laurens's Historia anatomica humani corporis (Frankfurt a. M. [1599]) are only two.
2.14 Murray Collection. The collection is a bequest of 1670 to St Leonard's College from Mungo Murray (1599-1670), Regent of St Leonard's College, and later Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College and Rector of Wells. There are 48 vols, so far identified as certainly originating from this bequest, of the 16th and 17th centuries, chiefly theological. A contemporary manuscript catalogue lists the full original extent of the bequest. Typical titles illustrative of Murray's theological and mathematical interests are: Melchior Adam, Vitae Germanorum theologorum (Heidelberg 1620), Sulpitius Severus, Sacrae historiae libri II (Hanau 1602), Henricus de Herph, Theologiae mysticae libri tres (Cologne 1556), J. Sleidanus, Commentariorum de statu religionis & reipublicae libri XXVI (Strasbourg [1557?]) and Bartholomaeus Pitiscus, Trigonometriae, sive de dimensione triangulorum libri quinque (Frankfurt a. M. 1612).
2.15 Royal Collection. This is an amalgamation of two gifts from the Royal House of Stewart, consisting of a gift of around 1560 of James Stewart (c. 1531-1570), the Earl of Moray, Regent of Scotland, and Commendator Prior of St Andrews, to St Leonard's College, where he was a student in 1545, and of a gift of James VI and his family to mark the foundation of a new Common Library for the University in 1611/12 (the ``Foundation Gift'). It contains over 200 vols and there are over 50 ``Regent Moray' volumes. The collection comprises books of the 16th and early 17th centuries from continental presses, and the main subject areas are theology, notably the Christian Fathers, and the classics. The two most striking features of the material in this collection are the number of 16th-century editions of the complete works of the Church Fathers, as noted above, and the fact that almost all of them emanate from presses in Basel. These include St. Jerome, St. Augustine, Tertullian, St. Ambrose, St. John Chrysostom, Eusebius, St. Basil and St. Hilary. Of those printed in other places are St. Gregory's De creatione hominis liber (Cologne 1537) and St. Vigilius's Opus contra Euthycen aliosque haereticos (Tübingen 1528). The collection also includes editions of works by noted Protestant writers such as Johann Brenz, In Evangelion secundum Lucam (Frankfurt a. M. 1557), Martin Chemnitz, Loci theologici (Wittenberg 1610) and Peter Martyr Vermigli, In Epistolam S. Pauli Apostoli ad Romanos (Basel 1558) as well as several works by Wolfgang Lazius, including his Reipublicae Romanae in exteris provinciis, bello acquisitis, constitutae, commentariorum libri duodecim (Frankfurt a. M. 1598). There are also works on classical literature and history, mathematics, e. g. Johann Schöner, Opera mathematica (Nuremberg 1551), and on philosophy, e. g. Jacob Schegk, In reliquos naturalium Aristotelis libros commentaria (Basel 1550).
2.16 Scot Collection. Presented to St Leonard's College in 1620 and 1646 by Sir John Scot of Scotstarvit (1585-1670) and his friends, it was the 1620 gift for the formation of a ``class library' in the humanities. It contains 64 vols of continental works of the 16th and 17th centuries, chiefly in the humanities (classics and history). As the purpose of the donation suggests, the collection is strong in texts by such classical authors as Lucanus, Pharsalia (Basel 1578), Martialis (M. Rader's edition of his Epigrammata, Mainz 1627), Xenophon, Plutarch and Dionysius of Halicarnassus. Marianus Nizolius's Observationes in M. T. Ciceronem (Basel 1536) should also be noted. There are also more general works such as Theodor Zwinger, Theatrum humanae vitae (Basel 1604), Sebastian Münster, Cosmographiae universalis libri VI (Basel 1550) and Giovanni P. V. Bolzani, Hieroglyphica, sive de sacris Aegyptiorum aliarumque; gentium literis commentariorum libri LVIII (Frankfurt a. M. 1613-1614).
2.17 Simson Collection. This is a bequest of 1770 of James Simson (1740-[17]70), the second Chandos Professor of Medicine at St Andrews representing his working library, including many items previously owned by his father, Thomas Simson (1696-1764), the first Chandos Professor. It contains over 200 vols of medical books of the 16th to 18th centuries, but chiefly the 18th. It includes a coloured copy of Dioscorides, De medicinali materia (Frankfurt a. M. 1549). Two prolific writers, Andreas Ottomar Gölicke and Georg Wolfgang Wedel, are represented in the collection by their Historia medicinae universalis (Frankfurt/Oder 1719-1721) and De medicamentorum facultatibus cognoscendis et applicandis, libri duo (Jena 1678). Other medical works now less well known are Johann Bohn, Circulus anatomico-physiologicus, seu oeconomia corporis animalis (Leipzig 1686), Johann Schröder, Messis medico-spagyrica (Cologne 1687), Johann Jacob Wepfer, Historia cicutae aquaticae (Basel 1716), and Martin Schurig, Syllepsilogia historico-medica, hoc est conceptionis muliebris consideratio physico-medico forensis (Dresden 1731) and Embryologia historico-medica (Dresden 1732). One of the 16th-century imprints referred to above is Eucharius Rösslin's De partu hominis (Frankfurt a. M. 1532).
2.18 Typographical Collection. The collection has been developed by the library during the 20th century from existing stock with additional purchases from time to time. It contains around 4,000 vols, representing an assembly of early printed books not in other special collections. It is arranged by country and town of printing, and normally includes continental books to 1600. Over 500 items were printed in Germany before 1601, including some 40 incunabula, the earliest being Augustine's De arte praedicandi (Strasbourg 1466). There are extensive holdings of Reformation material with some rare vernacular pamphlets, such as Pamphilus Gengenbach, Ein frischer Combiszt (Strasbourg c. 1540), Michael Styfel, Von der christförmigen rechtgegründten leer Martini Luthers (Strasbourg 1522), and Hans Sachs, Vnderweysung der vngeschickten vermeinten Lutherischen (Strasbourg 1524). There are two versions of the Psalter in German, that printed in Ulm c. 1489 by Johann Zainer, and Ottmar Nachtigall's translation (Augsburg 1524). Early chronicles are well represented, with two copies of Schedel's Liber chronicarum (Nuremberg 1493), Rolewinck's Fasciculus temporum (Cologne 1479), Franck's Geschytbibel (Strasbourg 1531) and Münster's Cosmographia (Basel 1550). Other aspects of humanism are exemplified by Albrecht von Eyb's Spiegel der Sitten, incorporating a translation of Plautus's Menechmae (Augsburg 1511), the Locher/Badius version of Brant's Narrenschiff (Basel 1506), Dürer's De symmetria partium (Nuremberg 1532) and a fine example of Gesner's Historia animalium (Zürich 1551-1558). There are some interesting early provenances, e.g. the Zainer Psalter has manuscript entries establishing that it belonged to the lay brothers of the Würzburg Charterhouse in the 1490s. There are a number of books which have been in St Andrews since the late 15th or early 16th centuries, in the possession of the Augustinian priory and its canons, many of whom were regents in St Leonard's College. Erasmus's New Testament (Basel 1522) was owned by the Dominican priory of St Andrews, while Albrecht von Eyb's Margarita poetica (Strasbourg 1487) belonged to John Duncanson, the principal of St Leonard's c. 1560, and Luther's In primum librum Mose enarrationes (Nuremberg 1550) was in St Leonard's College Library by 1588.
2.19 Von Hügel Collection. The library of Baron Friedrich von Hügel (1852-1925), Hon. LL.D. St Andrews 1921, philosopher of religion, was bequeathed to St Andrews and received in 1926. It contains around 5,000 vols, and represents a working library of mainly 19th and 20th-century works on philosophy, religion and history. It is related especially to mysticism and the Catholic Modernist Movement. The collection contains many of the publications of the Görres-Gesellschaft, as one would expect, as well as works on the early church, on medieval theology, e.g. a complete edition of the sermons of Berthold of Regensburg (Vienna 1862-1880) and on the 17th-century ascetical writer, Denis Petau.
2.20 Wedderburn Collection. This is a bequest of Sir John Wedderburn (1599-1679), Regent of St Leonard's College and physician to Charles I, made in 1679 to St Leonard's College. At present there are 136 vols, but others may be identified and transferred from other collections. They include books of the 15th to 17th centuries, chiefly medical. There are 7 incunabula. The collection is stronger in 16th-century imprints than the Simson. Particular notice may be made of the following titles: a coloured copy of Hieronymus Beck, De stirpium nomenclaturis (Strasbourg 1552), Otto Brunfels's Onomastikon medicinae. Continens omnia nomina herbarum, fruticum, suffruticum, arborum pharmacorum morborum, etc. (Strasbourg 1534), Israel Spach, Gynaecorum sive de mulierum tum communibus tum gravidarum, parientium, et puerperarum affectibus et morbis libri, etc. (Strasbourg 1597), Joannes Manardus, Epistolarum medicinalium libri viginti (Basel 1549), Santes de Ardoynis, Opus de venenis (Basel 1562) and Thomas Erastus, Disputatio de putredine (Basel 1580). Evidence of the continuing belief in the influence exerted by supernatural forces and celestial phenomena can be seen in Wedderburn's copies of Erastus's De astrologia divinatrice epistolae (Basel 1580) and De cometis dissertationes novae ([Basel] 1580), while evidence of the scientifically more worthwhile influence of Arabic medicine on European can be seen in Muhammed ibn Zakariya's De simplicibus (Strasbourg 1531). Although Wedderburn relied mostly on rather old textbooks, he also owned copies of Felix Plater's Observationum, in hominis affectibus plerisque ... libri tres (Basel 1641) and Petrus Forestus's Observationum et curationum medicinalium sive medicinae theoricae & practicae, libri XXVIII (Frankfurt a. M. 1602).
3.1 Modern general catalogues
General guardbook catalogue of printed books to 1972
Online catalogue
[from 1973; SAULCAT; also all material acquired in 1982 or later, regardless of publication date]
Sheaf catalogue of former owners of printed books
Catalogue of incunabula. St Andrews 1956 (St Andrews University publications 53)
The incunables are recorded in the Incunabula Short Title Catalogue (ISTC).
3.2 Special Collections
Abbot Collection:
Shelflist in classified order
[LC (Library of Congress classification)]
Alchemy Collection:
Author catalogue of printed items [sheaf catalogue]
Annandale Collection:
Shelflist in classified order [LC]
Buccleuch Collection:
Shelflist in classified order [LC]
Buchanan Collection:
Shelflist in classified order [LC]
Crombie Collection:
Shelflist in classified order [LC]
Donaldson Collection:
Shelflist in classified order [LC]
Thematic catalogue [MS., set up by Donaldson]
G. H. Forbes Collection:
Author catalogue [card catalogue; compiled in Edinburgh]
Classified catalogue [card catalogue, Dewey classification; compiled in Edinburgh]
Cataloguing of the whole collection for St Andrews catalogue is in progress.
J. D. Forbes Collection:
Shelflist in classified order [LC]
Mackay Collection:
Shelflist in classified order [LC]
Moore Collection:
Shelflist in classified order [LC]
MS catalogue, 1744
[lists the bequest in its full original extent]
Murray Collection:
Shelflist in classified order [LC]
MS catalogue
[contemporary; lists the full original extent of the bequest]
Royal Collection:
Shelflist in classified order [LC]
Contemporary MS list of the Foundation Gift
[rev. transcript by R. V. Pringle, published by the Library in 1976]
Scot Collection:
Shelflist in classified order [LC]
Simson Collection:
Shelflist in classified order [LC]
Typographical Collection:
Shelflist in ``typographical order' [by country and town of printing]
Online catalogue:
It is possible to search for books up to 1700 online by country and town.
Von Hügel Collection:
Shelflist in classified order [LC]
Wedderburn Collection:
Shelflist in classified order [LC]
MS Catalogue of 1678
[lists the full extent of the bequest]
3.3 Historic catalogues
Catalogus librorum in Bibliotheca Universitatis Andreanae, secundum literarum ordinem dispositus. [St Andrews] 1826 [a useful guide to the older collections]
Pringle, R. V.: An edited transcript of the ``1687' catalogue of the University Library, covering the years 1687-1704. St Andrews 1976 (Sources for library history 3)
4.1 Archival sources
There is a considerable archive of material relating to the library itself, including a series of catalogues dating from the Foundation gift of 1612, lists of books received from Stationers Hall under the Copyright Act (1710-1837), borrowing records of professors and students (1737-1925) and the librarian's correspondence from 1850 onwards.
4.2 Publications
General history:
Cant, R. G.: The University of St Andrews. A short history. Edinburgh 1946. New and rev. ed. Edinburgh 1970. 3rd ed. St Andrews University Library 1992
Cant, R. G.: The New Foundations of 1579 in historical perspective. Edinburgh 1979 (St John's House papers 2)
History of the library:
Bushnell, G. H.: Unfamiliar libraries III. St Andrews University Library. In: The Book Collector 7 (1958) pp. 128-138
Pringle, R. V.: St Andrews University Library. A brief history [2-page leaflet, first published by St Andrews UL c. 1976, repr. with small additions in 1991]
St Andrews University Library. Guide to manuscripts and university muniments. [St Andrews 1977?]
St Andrews University Library. Introducing the rare books and special collections. [St Andrews 1977?]
St Andrews University Library. Special collections: reader's guide. [St Andrews 1996]
General:
Guide to resources for German studies in Scottish research libraries. Edinburgh: Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries in association with Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1995, pp. 69-82
See also: A directory of rare book and special collections ...2nd ed. London 1997, pp. 661-665
Special collections:
Cunningham, F.: The J D Forbes Collection of mainly scientific books in St Andrews University Library, In: The Bibliotheck 11 (1982) pp. 17-20
Pringle, R. V.: An early humanity class library. The gift of Sir John Scot and friends to St Leonard's College (1620). In: The Bibliotheck 7 (1974/75) pp. 33-54 [on the Scot Collection] 5
Rankine, W. E. K.: A seventeenth century manse library. In: Records of the Scottish Church History Society 17 (1969-71) pp. 47-63
November 1997
William A. Kelly