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In AD 764, the Japanese Empress Shōtoku commissioned a million miniature wooden pagodas containing Buddhist prayers, called darani, printed on scrolls.

They are among the earliest known printed works, and the scroll is the oldest printed item in our collections. The pagodas measure about 20 centime

One of the Hyakumantō Darani, also known as the 'One Million Pagodas and Darani Prayers', commissioned by Empress Shōtoku.

This landmark publication was what is now known as Scotland's first atlas. It presented a flattering, detailed, and visually stunning view of the country in 49 maps with accompanying written descriptions.

The maps derive principally from the original surveys of Timothy Pont (around 1583 to 1614), S

The earliest map of the Lothians, from Scotland's first atlas, by Joan Blaeu (1654)

The 'Hore beate Marie virginis' is the oldest printed miniature book in our collections. It measures only 75 millimetres in height and was printed in Paris around 1510.

This Latin book of hours – a prayer book - features fifteen hand-painted woodcuts of Biblical scenes in gold leaf and brilliant co

The 'Hore beate Marie virginis secundum romanum totaliter ad longum sine require' is a miniature Latin book of hours.

In the mid-16th century, the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus showed that the old model of the universe was wrong. According to Copernicus, the sun and not the Earth is the centre of our solar system.

Ancient philosophers observed the night skies and did mathematical calculations. They conclud

Title page of Nicolaus Copernicus's work 'De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium', published in Nuremberg in 1543.

A page from the 16th-century Book of the Dean of Lismore. Its scribes used the Roman script of the time, and a system of spelling based on the contemporary Older Scots language.

This page (251 of the manuscript) features ‘Éistibh a luchd an tighe-se’ ('Listen, everyone in the house') by Iseabail Ní

Book of the Dean of Lismore Iseabail Ní Mheic Cailéin

Chris Cassels, Head of Archives at Manuscripts at the National Library of Scotland, looks at the Book of the Dean of Lismore

Book of the Dean of Lismore

Chris Cassels, Head of Archives at Manuscripts at the National Library of Scotland, with the Book of the Dean of Lismore

Book of the Dean of Lismore

The original manuscript of the Book of the Dean of Lismore (16th century), written in the hand of James MacGregor. The manuscript was inscribed into the UNESCO Memory of the World register in 2018.

The Book of the Dean of Lismore

The Book of the Dean of Lismore

The Book of the Dean of Lismore

The Book of the Dean of Lismore

The Book of the Dean of Lismore

The Book of the Dean of Lismore

The Book of the Dean of Lismore

Early manuscripts of Poor Things in the hand of Alasdair Gray, as well as his artwork.

Poor Things