Auction of Victorian picture book from 17 - 29 October

Tuesday, 4 October 2011

The Instructive Picture Book or A few attractive lessons from the Natural History of Animals

by Adam White with illustrations by Jemima Blackburn and J Stewart

This old and much loved book was donated to the St Columba's Hospice Bookshop in Morningside, Edinburgh.

The book will be on display in the window of St Columba's bookshop in Morningside from 17 October to 29 October 2011. Because of its condition it has to be handled with care, but our volunteers will be happy to show it to you.

About the book

Because of its condition it took us a while to find any information about the book. We now know the title is "The Instructive Picture Book, or, A few attractive lessons from the Natural History of Animals", by Adam White (1817-1879), who also wrote "The Instructive picture book, or, Lessons from the vegetable world". References in the text show it to have been published no earlier than 1858, and the size, number of pages and number of illustrations point to the third edition, published by Edmonston and Douglas, Edinburgh, in 1859. The 29 linen-backed plates have illustrations by well known Scottish artists including Jemima Blackburn (1823 - 1909) and J. Stewart.

The text shows the author to have had considerable associations with Edinburgh, though he was probably living in London at the time of writing. There are a number of references to Edinburgh locations including the Botanic Gardens, areas around Arthur Seat, Braid, Colinton and the Pentland Hills, as well as many other parts of Scotland.

The beautiful engravings of all manner of animals, birds, fish, reptiles and insects have obviously been enjoyed by generations of children. There is considerable damage, much of which a loving owner could clean up, though there is nothing to be done about the missing 20 or so pages from the beginning of the text. Fortunately the illustration pages are complete.

We believe the original owners could have been John Sproat (1817 - 1897) and his wife Janet Livingston (1831 - 1914) of Gatehouse-of-Fleet in Kirkudbrightshire. Several people have used the book for writing practice including 'John Sproat Laggan', 'Nettie', 'Jean', 'Willie' and 'Tom'

The Sproats of Laggan, near Gatehouse of Fleet are included in the Livingston family history, available online. There are three generations of John Sproats. John Sproat of Nethertown may have bought the book. The next generation might be expected to take care of a new book. His grandson (1913 - c1944) could be 'John Sproat Laggan' 'Nettie' could be his sister, 'Jean' his niece.

How to place your bid

The book is now being auctioned and we are accepting sealed bids. You can submit your bid by filling out the form on this page or in our bookshops and returning it to us. Please mark your envelope "Book Auction".