![\"Unknown](\"http:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/newcollegelibrarian\/files\/2016\/03\/Unknown-Woman-230x300.jpg\")
Unknown woman reading, 1840s. Hill & Adamson Calotypes Collection, University of Edinburgh.<\/p><\/div>\n
When the first Librarian, Prof. David Welsh addressed the new assembly of the Free Church on the subject of creating a library for Free Church ministry students, he called for\u00a0specific categories of individuals to donate books\u00a0: private individuals, booksellers, authors – and\u00a0women.\u00a0The 1843 Donations Register, held in the New College Library Archives, allows us to see how those women responded to the call.\u00a0\u00a0A\u00a0Miss Jemima Hunter Blair (1787-1864) is conspicuous as the very first donor to New College Library, giving The Whole Works of the Rev’d Ebenezer Erskine<\/em>, 1791 and 3 volumes of Matthew Henry\u2019s Commentary on the Bible<\/em>. Miss Hunter-Blair was also active in soliciting donations from others on behalf of New College Library, as we can see from entries such as \u2018A Gentleman a per Miss Hunter Blair\u201d\u00a0 (Historical Defenses of the Waldenses, <\/em>now at Z.178). Mrs Laurie, the widow of the Rev. James Lawrie, Minister at Gargunnock, Stirling presented 266 volumes\u00a0as a\u00a0donation to New College Library. including Religious Cases of Conscience Answr\u2019d<\/em> \u2013 [Z.3329], Adam Smith \u2013 Theory of the\u00a0Moral Sentiments<\/em> \u2013 [Z.3560], Life of Abraham Booth<\/em> \u2013 [Z.3600], Sermons by Ministers belonging to the Associate Synod<\/em> \u2013[ Z.755].\u00a0These were books formerly part of a private home, for individual reading, which then became part of a public collection.\u00a0 Being able to donate to New College Library allowed these women to engage in the cultural and religious capital of the new Free Church. Just as the Disruption turned private qualms of conscience into public action, donations to New College Library brought books formerly for women’s private reading into the public domain.<\/p>\n Further evidence of women’s contribution to New College Library as donors can sometime be found in the books themselves. A rare example is Hore beatissime virginis Marie ad legitimum Sarisburiensis ecclesie ritum<\/em> \u2026 Paris: Francis Regnault, 1534 (MH 193). This printed Catholic book of hours retains its original sixteenth century decorated binding with the gilt tooled inscription of the first owner, Margaret Nicol – an exceptional instance of early Scottish female book ownership. A later example is Folio Z.29<\/span><\/u><\/a> The Holy Bible<\/em> (Liverpool : Caxton Press 1815). This heavily illustrated volume is bookplated Harriet McDonald, 1816, <\/em>and\u00a0the volume included this photograph which may well be Harriet McDonald herself:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Christine Love-Rodgers, Academic Support Librarian – Divinity<\/em><\/p>\n With thanks to the New College Library Donations Register Project Volunteers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you visit New College Library today, International Women’s Day, women might seem\u00a0 hard to find amongst\u00a0the portraits\u00a0and busts of Thomas Chalmers and John Knox, and the shelves filled with works by or about male authors. Nevertheless, women have\u00a0left their … Continue reading ![\"Folio](\"http:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/newcollegelibrarian\/files\/2015\/10\/Folio-Z.29photo-225x300.jpg\")
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