Libraries
‘T. Caithness respectfully intimates, that he has opened a Circulating library at No. 1 Albany Street and as it is his intention to add several copies of every popular new publication as soon as it is published, those who may favour him by becoming subscribers, or night readers, may depend on being regularly supplied with the newest publications.’ So announced Thomas Caithness in 1830 when he took over Edward West’s Circulating Library business at Number 1. Circulating Libraries were commercial ventures, often run by booksellers as a side-line. In Edinburgh, the Scottish Enlightenment influenced the growth of subscription libraries. The earliest circulating library was opened in Edinburgh in 1725 by Allan Ramsay. Unlike subscription libraries, the paying patrons had no input regarding the choice of books bought for the library and played no role in its management. By 1800, there were around eight circulating libraries in Edinburgh and Leith, others at Haddington and Dunbar, and another twenty in Scotland's cities and larger towns. Borrowers usually paid to join and paid to borrow. Circulating libraries were extremely popular. They allowed patrons to access more books than they could ever realistically afford. The average three-volume novel cost a guinea in 1815 which, based on the current worth of a guinea's gold content, was roughly the equivalent of around £100 today. The reasonably priced circulating library subscription allowed members of the middle class, particularly women, to start to read much more than they could if books had to be purchased outright. (See image for Number 50)
John Irving, a friend of Walter Scott, wrote of their book reading when young: ‘Every Saturday, and more frequently during the vacations, we used to retire, with three or four books from the circulating library, to Salisbury Crags, Arthur's Seat, or Blackford Hill, and read them together. The books we most delighted in were romances of knight-errantry; The Castle of Otranto, Spenser, Ariosto, and Boiardo were great favourites. We used to climb up the rocks in search of places where we might sit sheltered from the wind; and the more inaccessible they were, the better we liked them.’
For many years, private Circulating Libraries did not consider novels serious enough to be stocked, but the success of Walter Scott’s novels, and women writers such as Mary Brunton and Jane Austen, began to change that view. Brunton records in her travel journal that while in London: ‘In the evening we laboured through many of the rugged streets of this wearisome town; found out a circulating library, and, on depositing the price, were entrusted with four volumes of trash.’ For the better off, and particularly those with a particular interest in historical publications, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen each had membership bibliographical societies. John Gardiner Kinnear (Number 49), a banker, was a member and, at one time, Treasurer of The Bannatyne Club. This exclusive Edinburgh bibliographical society was established by Sir Walter Scott in 1823, and paid for for the printing of unpublished or long out-of-print material relative to the history and literature of Scotland ‘in a uniform and handsome manner’ through members’ annual contributions. Since the distribution of the publications was usually limited to members, the typical print run was between 70 and a 100. Some members additionally funded the whole costs of reprinting and publishing specific books, which they then presented to the Club. Kinnear donated a number of publications, including Palice of Honour, a 15th century poem. John Jopp (Number 30) spent much of his time in Aberdeen where he practised law, and there was a member of the Aberdeen equivalent, The Spalding Club, while Joseph Bain (Number 46) was a member of Glasgow’s Maitland Club. (Club's catalogue of works)
