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The Library of Charles Areskine (1680-1763):
Scottish Lawyers and Book Collecting, 1700-1760
Karen Grudzien Baston PhD
The University of Edinburgh
2011 Abstract The thesis uses the study of an individual's book collection to examine
wider themes in eighteenth century Scottish legal, social, political, and
intellectual history. Charles Areskine's library was made up of the books
he needed as an advocate and judge, the texts he wanted to use to better
understand the law and its history, and the books he used to enhance his
ability to participate in the intellectual milieu of early eighteenth
century Britain.
Charles Areskine of Alva, Lord Tinwald (1680-1763) was an important
Scottish lawyer and judge. Following a legal education in the Netherlands,
he became an advocate and was called to the Bar in 1711. Areskine's legal
career was very successful and he attained high positions in the Scottish
legal establishment becoming Lord Advocate (1737-1742) and Lord Justice
Clerk (1748-1763). He was appointed to the bench as Lord Tinwald in1744. He
served in parliament and developed his country estates at Tinwald in
Dumfriesshire and at Alva in Clackmannanshire.
Areskine is an interesting figure in the early Scottish Enlightenment
not least because he began his career not in legal but in academic circles.
He was a regent at the University of Edinburgh when he was barely out of
his teens and from 1707 to 1734 he was the first Professor of the Law of
Nature and Nations at Edinburgh. Areskine was also a traveller, a client of
the earl of Ilay, a friend to philosophers, a patron of the arts, and a
book collector.
A manuscript which lists of the contents of Areskine's library
survives in the National Library of Scotland as NLS MS 3283. 'Catalog?s
Libror?m D. Dni. Caroli Areskine de Barjarg, Regiar?m Causarum
Proc?ratoris. 1731' lists 1290 titles divided into books on legal topics,
which are not given any specific headings, and 'Libri Miscellanei'.
Although it is clearly dated as 1731, the manuscript was continuously added
to and acted as a library catalogue throughout Areskine's life. The list
provides important evidence about Areskine's participation in the legal,
intellectual, and cultural concerns of the early Scottish Enlightenment.
Areskine's law books provide evidence for his scholarly interest in the
history of law while showing the types of books lawyers turned to in order
to fashion their arguments in the courts. His 'miscellaneous' books
demonstrate his engagement with the wider cultural concerns of the first
half of the eighteenth century.
The books that eighteenth century Scottish lawyers owned provide
evidence for their interests and influence. Areskine was not unique: his
book collecting was part of a wider tradition among Scottish lawyers.
Areskine's legally educated patron, Archibald Campbell, had one of the
largest private libraries in Britain and his colleagues on the Bench, Lord
Arniston and Lord Hailes, created collections which they stored in
specially built rooms in their houses.
Because so many of them survive in the Alva Collections of the
Advocates Library and the National Library of Scotland, it has been
possible to examine Areskine's books for clues about who owned them before
he did and what happened to them after his death. Several inscriptions and
bookplates survive in the Alva books which give evidence for a lively book
market which was centred on the Scottish legal community. Advocates bought
and sold many of their books at auctions. This study shows that books on
topics of interest to Scottish lawyers changed hands and stayed in use for
decades.
Declaration
I, Karen Grudzien Baston, hereby certify that this thesis, which is
approximately 97,340 words in length, has been written by me, that it is a
record of work carried out by me, and that it has not been submitted in any
previous application for a higher degree.
Signature Date Acknowledgements This thesis was made possible by Professor John W. Cairns and Dr Brian
Hillyard who identified the topic and arranged for it to be the basis of an
application to the Arts and Humanities Research Council for collaborative
funding. It has been a pleasure to work with them and with Dr Paul du
Plessis as my supervisors for the past three years. Their knowledge has
greatly enhanced this thesis. I am grateful for their intellectual and
moral support and for the care and attention they have given both me and
the thesis. It has been an unforgettable and valuable experience and I hope
to have the privilege of working with all of them again in future. I am grateful to the Rare Books staff at the National Library of Scotland,
especially Robert Betteridge and George Stanley, for their help with the
Alva Collection books in their care. I am also grateful for the assistance
of National Library's reading room staff for their professionalism and
courtesy. I am grateful to the Advocates Library's Senior Librarian Andrea
Longson who allowed me to have special access to the collections in her
care. I am also grateful to Mungo Bovey, QC, the Keeper of the Library, for
allowing me access to the Alva Collection and to Alan Dewar, QC, the
Treasurer of the Faculty of Advocates, for allowing access to his office
which is where the Alva Collection is shelved today. Special mention and
thanks must also go to Angela Schofield and Rosemary Paterson who went
above and beyond (for some of the books quite literally!) to supply the
Alva materials. I am grateful to the archivist at Dollar Academy, Janet
Carolan, and to Ian Murray of Clackmannanshire Archives for their help in
piecing together aspects of Areskine's Alva legacy. I owe thanks to those who attended my presentations in Aberdeen (Civil Law
Centre Conference, Eighteenth Century Scottish Studies Society Conference),
Cambridge (Cambridge Legal History Colloquium), Edinburgh (Edinburgh Legal
History Discussion Group, National Library of Scotland, Scottish History
Seminar), and London (Birkbeck Early Modern Society) throughout the course
of the thesis and offered comments, suggestions, and enthusiasm for the
project. Thanks also to the Postgraduate Research Committee at the
Edinburgh School of Law for opportunities to share my research with the
School and for valuable feedback. I also owe thanks to Lewis Baston, Amy
Dalrymple, Artemis Gause, Mark Godfrey, Matthew Happold, Michael Hunter,
Ross Macdonald, Rebecca MacLeod, Hector MacQueen, Sarah Mann, Alexander
Murdoch, Hannah Nicholson, Kenneth Reid, Jill Robbie, Findlay Stark, and
Adelyn Wilson for their various kindnesses, personal and academic. I must
also thank the staff and volunteers at the Georgian House in Edinburgh, the
staff at the Signet Library, and my friends in the Birkbeck Early Modern
Society for their support, understanding, and empathy as I drafted this
thesis. Special thanks go to James Hamilton who has provided intellectual support,
acted as a sounding board, picked up the pieces in tough times, and has
proofread, discussed, endured countless presentation practice sessions, and
inspired this thesis every step of the way. This thesis could not have
happened without his help and it is dedicated to him. Finally, I must recognise the support of the Arts and Humanities Research
Council without which this thesis would not have been written.
Abbreviations Alva Coll. Alva Collection, Advocates Library
AL Advocates Library (http://voyager.advocates.org.uk)
BL British Library (http://www.bl.uk)
BLLUC Berkeley Law Library, University of California
(http://www.law.berkeley.edu/library.htm) BNF Bibliothèque Nationale de France
(http://www.bnf.fr/fr/acc/x.accueil.html)
BSB Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (http://opacplus.bsb-muenchen.de) COPAC Copac National, Academic, & Specialist Library Catalogue
(http://www.copac.ac.uk)
CUL Cambridge University Library (http://ul-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk)
CUP Cambridge University Press
EDIT16 Census of Italian 16th Century Editions
(http://edit16.iccu.sbn.it/web_iccu/eimain.htm)
ESTC English Short Title Catalogue (http://estc.bl.uk)
EUL Edinburgh University Library (http://www.lib.ed.ac.uk/)
EUP Edinburgh University Press
Folger Folger Shakespeare Library
(http://shakespeare.folger.edu/)
FVB French vernacular books: books published in the French language
before 1601
(Leiden: Brill, 2007)
GAL Grizel Areskine's Library Catalogue, 1729 (NLS MS 5161)
GUL Glasgow University Library (http://www.lib.gla.ac.uk/) HBLL Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
(http://www.lib.byu.edu)
HL Houghton Library, Harvard University
(http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/houghton)
HMSO Her (or His) Majesty's Stationery Office
ISTC Incunabula Short Title Catalogue
(http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/istc/index.html) LAS Lord Alva Shelfmark (1774)
LOC Library of Congress (http://catalog.loc.gov/webvoy.htm)
LUL Leiden University Library (http://catalogus.leidenuniv.nl)
NA National Archives, Kew
NAS National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh
NLS National Library of Scotland (http://www.nls.uk)
OBNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
OLIS Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
(http://library.ox.ac.uk)
OUP Oxford University Press
SAUL St Andrews University Library (http://library.st-
andrews.ac.uk/)
SBN Servizio Bibliotecario Nazionale (http://opac.sbn.it/)
SL S