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April 10, 2026
Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology Online Archive
The Scottish Evangelical Theological Society have agreed to allow biblicalstudies.org.uk to host the on-line archive of the Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology (SBET). All issues of the journal, which began in 1983, will appear on the site ten years after publication. A new volume will be uploaded each week until volume 20 is reached.
Volumes 1 – 9 are already available online and include articles by Nigel M. de S. Cameron, David F. Wright, Carl F.H. Henry, A.T.B. McGowan, Derek Kidner, Geoffrey Grogan, Alan Millard and Gerald Bray.
The Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology is also available in print at New College Library at Per S.
The Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology is edited by Dr. David Reimer, from the School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh, and published by the Scottish Evangelical Theology Society in association with Rutherford House.
To fast or feast? Celebrating Christmas in the eighteenth century
A discourse concerning the lawfulness and right manner of keeping Christmas and other Christian holy-days, by way of question and answer : intended for the use of a charity-school. London: Printed for, and sold by H. Hills, in Black-fryars, near the Water-side, 1708 New College Library Z.851/3
Many folk will be going to Christmas lunches and parties this week – including New College Library staff. Outside our office window the Edinburgh Christmas fair is in full (and noisy) swing, celebrating the season.
This eighteenth century pamphlet, A discourse concerning the lawfulness and right manner of keeping Christmas, gives an eighteenth century view on seasonal celebrations. It takes the form of a dialogue between a master and scholar, prefacing the discussion with the quotation of Bible texts that urge sincere and temperate behaviour. It unpicks the theology of Christmas from an early eighteenth century Anglican point of view, negotiating the scriptural and historical justifications of the observance of Christmas as a holy day and the contemporary differences in practice with other Protestant Churches. The author looks back on the abolishment of Christmas celebrations (including plum pudding) under Oliver Cromwell’s Puritan regime after the English Civil War. It is possible both this period and the Restoration of 1660 may have been within the author’s living memory.
This book is also available online to University of Edinburgh users via Eighteenth Century Collections Online, where it can be read online in full.
This item is from New College Library’s Z Collection, currently being catalogued as part of the Funk Cataloguing Projects at New College Library.
Festival Prayers for Hanukkah
Shaar Bat Rabim Mahzor Helek Rishon : ke-minhag kahal kadosh Ashkenazim. Ṿinitsiʾah : Stamperia Bragadina, 1716-[1731/32. New College Library Dal-Chr 9(1)
The Mahzor Ashkenazim is an example of a mahzor, or festival prayer book, for Ashkenazi usage, published in Venice in the early eighteenth century. Its large size makes it likely that it was intended for synagogue use rather than personal prayer. The Encyclopedia Judaica (available online to University of Edinburgh users) notes that mahzorim, which originally developed in medieval south western Germany, started to appear in the Ashkenazi communities of northern Italy in the fifteenth century.
This item is part of the Dalman-Christie Collection, catalogued as one of the Funk Cataloguing Projects at New College Library. The Dalman-Christie Collection was transferred to New College Library in 1946 from the Church of Scotland Hospice in Jerusalem. With thanks to our Hebrew Cataloguer, Janice Gailani, for helping to identify this item.
This opening shows festival prayers for Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights.
New on display – The Nativity in twentieth century art
The Bible in 20th century art / introduced by Nicholas Usherwood. New College Library sfYF 67 BIB
New on display in New College Library’s Funk Special Collections Reading Room, is The Bible in 20th Century art. It is opened to show a painting of The Nativity by Bernard Buffet (1961), the original of which is held in the collection of the Vatican Museum.
Tips for getting copyright right
I’ve had some questions about copyright recently so thought I’d share a few tips …
1. All reproduction from published material is subject to copyright law. The UK Copyright Service provides a really helpful factsheet.
2. 70 is the magic number – In UK copyright law, copyright for literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works lasts 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the last remaining author of the work dies. For instance, as Aldous Huxley died in 1963, his works will not be out of copyright until 2033.
3. While downloadable versions of publications can be found freely available on the internet, always check the source and its terms and conditions. Some websites hosted outside of the UK provide materials that potentially violate UK law. Unfortunately if it looks too good to be true – it probably is.
4. The University of Edinburgh has signed up to a licensing scheme which allows photocopying from publications for individual research and study. This means copies can be made of up to a chapter, entire article or 5% of the publication, whichever is the greater.
5. The University of Edinburgh ereserve service has a licence to allow the scanning of book chapters and journal articles to be made available to classes for teaching purposes. It is the only legal route for scanning published materials to make them available to groups at the University.
6. More information can be found at the University of Edinburgh’s Copyright Service, including a contact e-mail address for enquiries.
New books at New College Library – December
New on the shelves this month is The lost world of Genesis One : ancient cosmology and the origins debate by John H. Walton. This title was purchased to support the new MSc in Science and Religion here at the School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh.
New College Library has a regular display of new books at the far end of the Library Hall, close to the door to the stacks.
You can see an regularly updated list of new books for New College Library on the Library Catalogue – choose the New Books Search and limit your search to New College Library. Here’s a quick link to new books arriving in the last few weeks. A word of caution – some of the books listed here may still be in transit between the Main Library (where they are catalogued) and New College Library, so not on the shelf just yet.
(SLIDES) Sir John Sinclair, the County Agricultural Surveys and the Collections and Dissemination of Knowledge (1793-1817)
Presented by Heather Holmes at the 17 November 2011 meeting of the Edinburgh Bibliographical Society.
The saint, the saltire and a Scottish legend
The Holy Bible : containing the Old and New Testaments … Oxford : Printed by the University Printers, 1695. New College Library B.r.468
Today, November 30, is Saint Andrew’s day, also celebrated as Scotland’s national day.
The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (available online to University of Edinburgh users) notes that the cult of St Andrews was evident in England from Anglo-Saxon times, when the church in Rochester was the earliest of 637 medieval dedications to St Andrew. His legend grew to include the translation of his relics from Patras to Scotland by St Rule or Regulus in the 8th century. It is said that under angelic instruction, St Rule stopped at the place in Fife now known as St Andrews and built a church there, which became a centre for Christian evangelization and learning. St Andrew is commonly depicted with the saltire cross (X), which is used to represent Scotland on the Union Jack.
This image of St Andrew, patron saint of Scotland, comes from a seventeenth century English Bible which contains attractive illustrations of Bible scenes and pictures of the saints. It has bound with it metrical Psalms in the version of the Scottish Psalter, 1564. It is part of New College Library’s Early Bibles Collection, catalogued online as part of the Funk Cataloguing projects.
Light Night in Edinburgh – New College Library closing early
New College Library will close early at 5pm on Thursday 29 November as installations and road closures for ‘Light Night‘ mean that readers will not be able to exit the building through the main gates after this time.
The ‘Light Night’ performance, including firework display and aerobatics, is scheduled on the grassy area at the top of the Mound at around 5pm to 6pm on Thursday 29th November, with a rehearsal in the early afternoon. There will be a full road closure in place all day, with pedestrian access to enter and exit the building through the main Quad gates throughout the day until 5pm.
Remembering the life of Guru Nanak
The life of Baba Nanuk, the founder of the Sikh sect of the Hindu religion in the Punjab : for the use of schools : compiled from original sources and accompanied by a map. Lahore : The Chronicle Press, by Kunniah Lall, 1859. New College Library P.g.21.13/2
Sikhs around the world will celebrate the birthday of Guru Nanak on Wednesday 28 November. Guru Nanak (1469-1539) was the founder of the Sikh religion.
The life of Baba Nanuk, from New College Library’s Pamphlets collection aims to give an introduction for schools to Sikhism’s founder and the early history of the religion. New College is the only library in Scotland to hold a copy of this work.
This item was catalogued as part of the Funk Cataloguing Projects at New College Library.
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