'From the Baskets of Travelling Pedlars' to Abbotsford: Scott's Lifelong Love of Popular Print
2nd March 2022 - 1st March 2023
This free online exhibition showcases Sir Walter Scott's significant collection of chapbooks.
Scott's library at Abbotsford contains around 3000 items of cheap, popular chapbooks and pamphlets of the sort that were sold from stalls and door to door, including material on fairy-tales, superstition, politics and song.
Supported by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Walter Scott Research Centre at the University of Aberdeen has been working with the Abbotsford Trust and Faculty of Advocates Abbotsford Collection Trust to catalogue and explore this material.
This work has revealed that Scott's collection is remarkable in itself and offers us new insights into his enduring engagement with popular culture. This exhibition showcases the chapbooks and their significance for Scott’s work.