Lot 212
Mackenzie of Rosehaugh, Sir George, genealogical manuscript
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photography
Auction: 11 January 2017 at 11:00 GMT
Description
A Collection of the Most Remarkable Accounts that Relate to the families of Scotland, Drawn from their owne charters... By Sir George Mackenzie of Roshaugh [sic.], His Majesties Advocat... manuscript title and 264 manuscript leaves in a neat hand, later 17th century, contemporary quarter calf over boards, occasional small tears with no loss to text, joints splitting, spine and boards rubbed and chipped
Footnote
Provenance: Bookplates of Robert Graham
Note: George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh, c.1636-1691, was a Scottish lawyer, Lord Advocate and essayist. He is known for being the minister responsible for Charles II's policy of quelling the Scottish Covenanters, earning him the nickname 'Bluidy Mackenzie'. However, he is also credited with founding the Advocates Library in Edinburgh.
No publication of this title by George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh seems to exist, however another manuscript copy in octavo appears on p.11 of Catalogue of manuscripts relating to genealogy and heraldry, preserved in the library of the Faculty of Advocates, at Edinburgh, 1852, being from the collection of Robert Milne. Interestingly, Robert Graham, a literary patron of Robert Burns, married a Peggy Milne, creating a possible ink between these two manuscripts. The manuscript for sale here is rather larger than the copy mentioned by the Faculty of Advocates, measuring 37 x 24cm.