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James Cathcart White
(1852-1943)
Advocate and bibliophile
James Cathcart White graduated from the University of Edinburgh
with an MA in 1873. He was admitted to the Scottish Bar in 1875, and
was Father of the Bar when he died, unmarried. He was
a noted bibliophile and book collector, and bequeathed to the University
a collection of about 340 volumes which, at the time, was compared to
the bequest by David Laing in 1878.
It included a number of beautifully illuminated medieval manuscripts
(mostly books of hours, French and
English, from the C14 and C15) and early printed books on classical
and modern literature, law, history, heraldry and medicine; these included
the first book printed in Venice as well as the first Bible printed
in Venice, and a unique copy of an Edinburgh printing of Douglas' "Encouragements
for the warres of France" (1627) together with a sum from which
an endowment fund has been created for the purchase of further rare
books and manuscripts.
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