Foreign

Current British and Irish publications received through legal deposit and current material published overseas acquired by legal deposit, purchase, donation and exchange increase the Library's extensive foreign collections from year to year.

How the collections developed

Our holdings of foreign material have grown considerably since the Library's forerunner – the Advocates' Library – acquired its first foreign books in the 1690s. Purchase of some special collections in the 18th and 19th centuries laid the foundation for present-day holdings. Increasingly over the last half-century, new works added to our collections have resulted in a large and varied intake of current material from overseas.

Current policy

We acquire material in print and non-print formats. While much of the content relates to the culture or history of a country or area, we are particularly interested in material with a strong Scottish connection – for instance, Scots' emigration, foreign theses on Scottish subjects, and foreign translations of Scottish authors.

The collections are currently developed in accordance with the Collection Development Policy document and in co-operation with other libraries and institutions.

More information

By following the collections links, you will find general information about the subjects the collection covers, some highlights from among our recent acquisitions, and an e-mail address for the relevant curator.

For general enquiries, please contact the Foreign Collections Unit at foreign@nls.uk

Consulting the material

Our collections are accessed through the main catalogue and can be consulted in the Library's reading rooms.