Interior of the Advocate's Library, Edinburgh

Category

Library Item

Item no

18729

Title

Interior of the Advocate's Library, Edinburgh

Description

An interior view of the grand hallway of the Advocate's Library. The ornately decorated ceiling has a cupola dome at the centre. It is supported by many pillars. At the end of the hall there is a large window. The room is sparsely furnished with a round table in the centre of a large rug, and chairs with covers at the sides of the room. A man stands at the table writing notes whilst talking to a couple. Other people gather at the sides of the room. The ladies are finely dressed with elaborate hats and dresses.

Artist / maker

Shepherd, Thomas Hosmer

Engraver

Watkins, W

Date

1829

Size

11.7 x 15.6 cm

Type

Engraving

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

This image comes from 'Modern Athens', a book of engravings based on drawings by Thomas Shepherd published in 1829. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries Edinburgh was growing rapidly. The popular neoclassical architectural style of the time was inspired by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and Edinburgh was nicknamed 'Athens of the North'. Shepherd's engravings celebrate the beauty of Edinburgh and show many notable buildings and streets both within the city, and further afield.

The Advocate's Library was founded in 1682 by Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh. In 1710 it became a legal deposit library, giving it the right to request a copy of every book published in the country. In 1925 the majority of the Adovocate's Library collection was passed to the newly created National Library of Scotland. The Advocate's Library retained legal material.

The room pictured is the Upper Library is now the Signet Library in Parliament Square. It was only briefly used as the Faculty of Advocate's Library. The building was designed by the architect Robert Reid with interiors by William Stark, and completed in 1822. In 1833 it was passed to the Writers of the Signet.

Shepherd's description of the library in Modern Athens is as follows: 'This splendid Library is one hundred and forty feet long, and forty-two wide, with an elliptical arched ceiling, very richly panelled, twenty-eight feet high. The ceiling is supported by twenty-four fluted columns and thirty-six pilasters of the Corinthian order, eighteen feet and a half high, with a entablature richly ornamented. The centre compartment is formed by spandrels into a dome, with a large cupola.'

Exhibitions with this item

Other views of this item

Related images

Related subjects

Architecture > Architectural features > Ceilings

Architecture > Architectural features > Columns

Architecture > Architectural features > Cupolas

Architecture > Architectural features > Friezes

Architecture > Architectural features > Windows

Furnishings > Furniture > Chairs

Furnishings > Furniture > Tables

Places > Edinburgh areas > Old Town

Places > Edinburgh areas > Royal Mile

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Sport and leisure > Culture > Libraries

Read how our collections have inspired people taking part in events, visits and community groups. Use the slider or navigation arrows to see more responses.