In addition to the Henderson Smith Collection (see Henderson Smith Collection), the Library has a miscellaneous collection of around 40 volumes of albums of bookplates, book labels, auction catalogues, and books relating to bookplate history and design. This collection includes smaller acquisitions of bookplates from collectors, and includes many foreign bookplates and labels of Scottish circulating libraries.

Organisation

The items were placed, after acquisition, in the Advocates Library shelfmark 'L.'. In the early 2000s, before the 'L.' shelfmark was moved to the Library's Causewayside building, the items were brought together as a single collection. Each volume in the collection has been catalogued at volume-level only and has the shelfmark 'Bkpl.'. The Bookplate and Henderson Smith Collections also have a slip catalogue of the individual bookplates arranged alphabetically under the names of owners, with brief descriptions of the bookplates, which is available for consultation on request.

Acquisition

The collection has been acquired through the purchase and donation from the 1920s onwards, in particular through two separate acquisitions. Three volumes from the collection of Charles Alfred Stitt were presented in 1961 by his son, Lt-Colonel JH Stitt (Bkpl.2-4), and 19 volumes were presented by the Rev Dr John A Lamb DD in 1965 (Bkpl.5-22a).

Related collections

Over 500 bookplates, mounted on individual slips of paper can be found in the shelfmark 'K.R.1.d'. Two further volumes of bookplates are at this shelfmark. K.R.1.d.A is a miscellaneous album of British armorial bookplates mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries. K.R.1.d.B is an album of bookplates collected by (Arthur) George Leather-Culley (1879-1910) between 1905 and 1910. Leather-Culley was a member of a family of wealthy landowners and agriculturalists, based in Northumberland. It consists mainly of Scottish and English bookplates, with some American ones as well. The album was purchased by the Library in 1958. The individual bookplates in K.R.1.d are also recorded in the slip catalogue of bookplates, which is available for consultation on request.