Resource Library

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Fiddler Aidan O'Rourke on the main stairs of the foyer in the National Library of Scotland's George IV Bridge building. Credit: Neil Hanna

Aidan O'Rourke

Fiddler Aidan O'Rourke on the main stairs of the foyer in the National Library of Scotland's George IV Bridge building. Credit: Neil Hanna

Aidan O'Rourke

Fiddler Aidan O'Rourke in the Special Collections Reading Room, situated on the top floor of the National Library of Scotland's George IV Bridge building. Credit: Neil Hanna

Aidan O'Rourke

Fiddler Aidan O'Rourke in the General Collections Reading Room at the National Library of Scotland's George IV Bridge building. Credit: Neil Hanna

Aidan O'Rourke

Fiddler Aidan O'Rourke in the General Collections Reading Room at the National Library of Scotland's George IV Bridge building. Credit: Neil Hanna

Aidan O'Rourke

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.

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.

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)

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.

Tam o' Shanter, a farmer who often went drinking with his friends, is a character in a Robert Burns poem of the same name. This illustration of Tam by Scottish painter John Faed (1819 to 1902) captures the excitement, fear and humour in Burns's poetry. Burns may have based the character of Tam o' S

An 1855 illustration by John Faed of Tam O’Shanter, a character from the Robert Burns poem of the same name

Composer Ned Bigham, photo credit Clive Barda-2

Composer Ned Bigham, photo credit Clive Barda-2

Composer Ned Bigham, photo credit Clive Barda

Composer Ned Bigham, photo credit Clive Barda