A collection of school prize books which at present consists of over 700 volumes. The books were awarded as prizes mostly in the 19th century and early 20th century. They have bookplates or inscriptions giving information on the prize and the recipient, the schools represented in the collection being mainly, but not exclusively, Scottish. The collection has a number of good examples of colourful Victorian publishers' cloth bindings.

Organisation

The books have been catalogued individually and have the shelfmark 'SP.'.

Acquisition

The basis of the collection was presented by Ian Grant of John Grant, Booksellers, of Edinburgh, in 1964 and later years. The collection has subsequently been added to by donation and purchase. Among the donations are 21 volumes from the library of physiologist Professor Percy T. Herring (1872-1967), the books having been mostly won by him as prizes while at school in Christchurch, New Zealand, in the 1880s (SP.58-71). The books were donated by his daughter, Mary B. Herring in 1968.