Consisting of 103 volumes, this collection mainly comprises English literature of the 17th to the 19th century and was formerly part of the library of Robert Tyndall Hamilton Bruce (1846-1899), a successful Scottish businessman whose wealth came from a chain of Glasgow bakeries. Hamilton Bruce became one of the co-founders of the Edinburgh newspaper 'The Scots Observer' in 1888 (the publication moved to London in 1889 and became 'The National Observer'). He was also a keen art collector and part of a cultural circle which included authors Robert Louis Stevenson and JM Barrie, printer and historian Walter Blaikie (see Blaikie Collection), WE Henley and William Hole. His homes in both Edinburgh and Dornoch in Sutherland hosted regular visits from fellow lovers of the arts to discuss art and literature. After his death most of his library was sold at auction by Dowell's of Edinburgh in December 1900. The books in this collection were specially bound for the owner by Zaehnsdorf of London, and have an armorial stamp designed by him which incorporates grain/flour sacks in reference to his bakery business. The collection includes presentation copies of two works by WE Henley and first editions of Henry Fielding's 'Tom Jones' (1749) and 'Amelia' (1751) and two early 16th-century English translations of works by Xenophon.

Organisation

The books have been catalogued individually and have the shelfmark 'H.Br.'.

Acquisition

The collection was bequeathed to the Library by one of Bruce's daughters, Miss Catherine Anne Hamilton Bruce (1895-1978), and received by the Library in 1979.

References

'Be-Marised or Bemused! RT Hamilton Bruce and the International Exhibition of 1886', S Veldink, Journal of the Scottish Society for Art History, vol. 14, (2009-2010), 51-58.

Online resources

Record for Hamilton's Bruce armorial stamp in the British Armorial Bindings database