We’ve done it. They’re finally here. Late last week I was lucky enough to go down to London and pick up the Lyell notebooks.

The first step in gaining custody was to head to Sotheby’s on New Bond Street with the paperwork to prove they could be released. It’s a curious process of heading down to pre-sales to prove ownership and then be given a token for collection. I was then taken to their manuscripts and rare books department to pick up the archive. There I got my first glimpse of them.

Their scale surprised me. They are more compact and very consistent compared to even the pictures I’d seen of them and with my love of palaeography and our plans for deciphering them, I had to have a look at the content. Having been to Catania in Sicily last year, I picked the Sicily volume and was immediately struck by the depiction of the landscape around Mount Etna and the flow of his hand across the page providing detail. I know we’re going to have a lot of fun making these available in the future!

I had to draw myself back from getting immersed as our colleagues George and Ryan had arrived from Constantines, who were going to look after me and the notebooks, getting us back to Edinburgh securely. And wow what a large lorry, for small notebooks, down the tiny London lanes!

After checking every volume and packing in order securely, I signed the final piece of paperwork and we could take the notebooks on the next stage of their journey.

They were taken to a secure location, through the streets of London in our rather large lorry, with me sat up top in the cab with a birds eye view. I wondered what Lyell’s view of London was, having lived there in the 1830s and how very different the environment and landscape was now.

The next day we were at the secure location at 6am ready to leave. While the team were getting ready, I chatted to a curator from the British Museum, taking items for exhibition out to the Far East. Never thought, at 6am I’d be meeting such interesting people and sharing our experiences of couriering our rare and unique items throughout the world!

George, Ryan and myself soon set off through London, watching it wake and get busy. Over the next 9 ½ hours we drove north through the changing landscape, with all kinds of weather, from rainbows and hail to bright sunshine, looking at moors and hills, farmland planes to forests. I wondered again what Lyell would have thought, interpreted and seen.

At about 3:30pm we arrived back in Edinburgh, after a very smooth journey (worst bit was the traffic in Edinburgh!) and were met by Grant and Norman, with these photos being taken, so we could show you their arrival.

So, they are here and the next part of our work begins with our archivists and conservators checking and listing them over the next couple of weeks. I’ve delighted to have had my Lyell adventure, picking up these notebooks, so they now can be made available to the world.

Thanks to George and Ryan from Constantines who were consummate professionals and looked after the notebooks and myself with good humour and brilliant driving skills, getting us to Edinburgh safely.

Rachel Hosker
Archives Manager and Deputy Head of Special Collections

Lyell’s notebooks in Sotheby’s.

The Lyell notebooks were collected from Sotheby’s in London yesterday and are now on their way north, expected to arrive in Edinburgh later today.

Thankfully, they are in a secure lorry, not being pushed up the A1 on the trolley shown!

Norman Rodger
Projects Development Manager

What an exciting prospect! The imminent arrival of Charles Lyell’s 294 notebooks to the University of Edinburgh Library is an occasion which will rightly be celebrated in Edinburgh. Students, staff and alumni will take pride in Edinburgh becoming the dynamic centre for future Lyell research and engagement.

There will also be celebrations around the world, as it was truly an international effort of geologists and historians rallying to save this remarkable collection. Throughout the UK and overseas, individuals, societies and groups gave what they could; from a couple of pounds to hundreds of thousands, so that in a short time the full £966,000 had been raised to allow the purchase to go ahead.

Whilst the £235,600 from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the £200,000 from the John R Murray Charitable Trust were vital major gifts, there were over 1,100 other donations which were just as important in reaching our target. To each and every one of those who pledged and donated the University of Edinburgh would like to extend the warmest and sincerest of thanks. Soon we will be publishing an online list of our wonderful supporters, who have given permission to do so.

We look forward to making this collection of Lyell notebooks widely available and used. We wouldn’t have this opportunity to do so if it wasn’t for our generous supporters and donors. To you all – thank you!

David McClay
Philanthropy Manager, Library & University Collections
david.mcclay@ed.ac.uk