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The Scottish Executive has announced it will give £6.5 million to help the National Library of Scotland (NLS) buy the world-renowned John Murray Archive.

The archive is the most historically significant literary archive to become publicly available in the past hundred years. It contains over 150,000 letters and manuscripts by Byron, Scott, Darwin, Livingstone and countless other figures of global significance.

Scottish culture minister, Frank McAveety said: “I am delighted to announce that the Scottish Executive will contribute £6.5 million from central resources towards the total cost of securing the John Murray Archive for the National Library of Scotland.

Archive

“The archive is a link to the critical role that Scots have played in the development of ideas and imagination through the centuries. Acquisition of the John Murray Archive will enhance the national and international cultural and educational reputation and image of Scotland. It will enable the National Library to strengthen its already significant contribution to Scottish Executive priorities, including the promotion of Scotland worldwide, support for research, education and lifelong learning and the generation of economic benefits.”

John Murray added: “I am offering the Murray Archive to the National Library of Scotland as my ancestor, the first John Murray, who founded the publishing house in 1768, came from Edinburgh.

“It therefore seems appropriate that the archive should return home. Also, so many Murray authors, such as Walter Scott, David Livingstone and Isabella Bird, were Scots, and throughout our history we have had close links with Scottish publishers and booksellers.”

Martyn Wade, National Librarian, also said: “There is a distinctly Scottish flavour and it would be as though the collection were coming home. It’s wonderful that the Scottish Executive has set the fund-raising ball rolling. This is a unique treasure trove of invaluable artefacts and having them in the National Library of Scotland would be an immense achievement.”

In order to raise the purchase price of £33 million, plus additional costs of around £2 million to make the Archive accessible to the public, the National Library of Scotland has applied to the Heritage Lottery fund for £22 million and must also raise £6.5 million itself to match the Executive’s contribution.

Grant

The Executive grant is being given under Scottish Ministers’ arrangements for supporting major purchases by the National Institutions which receive their grant-in-aid funding from the Executive.

Established in 1768, the firm of John Murray was one of the greatest and perhaps the most influential of all British publishing houses with an unrivalled list of authors. It is only in recent years that researchers have started to recognise the extent of the John Murray Archive and the wealth and importance of its unexplored and unexploited holdings.

It offers a rich and intimate view of the nation’s cultural and intellectual life from 1768 through to 1920. Throughout this period the most notable and enduring achievements were recorded and announced to the world in Murray publications. The Murray Archive is a collection of pre-eminent importance, and an outstanding national treasure.

The rich and diverse range of subjects in the Murray Archive includes archaeology, classical studies, bibliography, history and scholarship, art, architecture, art history and collecting, cookery, gardening, music, theatre and children’s books.

150,000 Letters

It is estimated that there are more than 150,000 letters in the collection. The John Murray Archive incorporates the most extensive and important collection of Byron in the world and include the major portion of the poet’s original manuscripts and annotated proofs, his surviving journals and the largest single collection of approximately 1200 of his own letters.

The Archive also includes series of letters from Peter Pan author J. M. Barrie, John Galt, from poet William Wordsworth and John Constable. The travel and exploration papers in the Murray Archive include papers from David Livingstone and Ernest Shackleton, and manuscripts of reviews by Sir Walter Scott.

The National Library of Scotland is one of the leading research libraries in Europe. It houses eight million printed items and has been a Legal Deposit library since 1710. Every week it collects more than four and a half thousand new items.

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