The Advocates Library and the writing of history, 1750–1820.

Founded for the benefit of Scottish advocates in the late seventeenth century, Edinburgh's Advocates Library provided a centre for historical research in the long eighteenth century. Historians who used the library developed new theoretical frameworks, such as examining how societies develop and placing significant events in thematic contexts, while considering legal and political questions. The library also offered a social hub for networks made up of Enlightened literati, learned lawyers, and visitors, including members of the Select Society which held its meetings among its 'open shelves'. The library acted as the de facto national library for Scotland before the foundation of the National Library of Scotland in 1925. Its significance for the development of historical writing, both narrative and fictional, is being uncovered by the 'Books and Borrowing, 1750–1830: An Analysis of Scottish Borrowers' Registers' project. Major Scottish writers of history used the Advocates Library to establish history as a discipline of major importance during the Enlightenment and Romantic eras. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]