3rd yearpresentationslides
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Slides for presentation of 25 Feb 2011.TRANSCRIPT
The Library of Charles Areskine
Book Collecting & Lawyers in Scotland, 1700-1760
Karen BastonDoctoral Research Student
University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh Regent Professor of the Law of
Nature & Nations at Edinburgh University
AdvocateSolicitor GeneralLord AdvocateLord of Session (Lord
Tinwald)Lord Justice Clerk1680-1763
Charles Areskine of Alva
Some Selections from Areskine’s Library
A collection of various types of books with law at its heart
Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh Lawyer, Politician, Scholar
Recommendations for the Advocates’ Library:Law – primary discipline
History, Rhetoric, Criticism – aspects of legal study
The Library Catalogue of the Most Learned Lord,
Charles Areskine of Barjarg, Solicitor General
1731.
•Lists 1290 Books
•Divides Books into Legal & Miscellaneous Categories
•Legal Library has evidence of interest in concerns of legal humanism as well as books for legal practice
•Miscellaneous Library shows engagement with Scottish Enlightenment culture & British culture in general
Charles Areskine’s Library Catalogue
Restoration
Charles Erskine (1716-1749)Lawyer & MP
Areskine’s son needs to be restored to the historical record
An important link between Edinburgh & London
Tools for Legal Humanism
Printers create texts for scholars
Areskine’s books give evidence for his interest in innovations in book production technology in the service of scholarship
Bookplate of Charles Areskine of Alva, Lord Justice Clerk
Some of Areskine’s books were previously owned by other lawyers
His surviving son inherited them and continued to use them
Areskine’s books were later dispersed and are now in collections worldwide
Provenance
Original Contributions
• The Catalogue
• Restoration of the Two Charleses
• Books as Tools for Legal Humanism
• Provenance Studies
…history informs us of nothing new or strange….Its chief use is only to discover the constant and universal principles of human nature, by showing men in all varieties of circumstances and situations, and furnishing us with materials from which we may form our observations and become acquainted with the regular springs of human action and endeavour.
David Hume
An enquiry concerning human understandingWith thanks to: