This Collection is a good, representative example of the type of library that was accommodated in a large, local country house. There are around 1960 volumes covering such diverse subjects as history, literature, philosophy, religion, science and law, ranging through the eighteenth to the nineteenth centuries.
Keywords: Classical literature; philosophy; religion; science; law.
Strengths: Eighteenth-century concerns over estate management are represented, with such titles as Edward Laurence's Duty and Office of the Land Steward 2nd ed. (London: Knapton, 1731); and for the women, who at Meldrum may have felt rather isolated from the outside world, there was a subscription to the Lady's Magazine.
Languages:English, German, French, Greek, Latin
Identifier: MH
Physical characteristics: c. 1960 volumes.
Accumulation date range: 1700s-1830s
Contents date range: 1672-1833
Associated Publications: Meldrum House Library, a sale catalogue prepared by J. F. Kellas Johnstone, was printed, c.1924. Research into the development of the library is greatly assisted by the large amount of background material in the Duff of Hatton family and estate papers, MS 2778. Available on Library OPAC or WebPAC
Accrual Status: Closed
Custodial history/provenance: Presented to Aberdeen University in 1950, by Sir Garden Duff of Hatton and Meldrum, this Collection has been kept together as a good example of the type of library built up over the centuries at a large country estate in the North-east of Scotland..
Access Control: Closed access - please request. Non-borrowable.