William Beattie

The old is good. But even the old vintage may go down better in new, undamaged goblets.

This book has a very simple concept: Print all the texts in the Advocates Library volume in the National Library of Scotland. This compilation contains eleven short printed texts, all valuable -- including nine from the press of Chepman and Myllar, the first licensed Scottish printers, as well as a text of the "Gest of Robyn Hode," for which the Advocates copy is very valuable. Three of these items are not found in any other source, and even when there are other copies, the Advocates copy is consistently of great value to scholars.

So: The material in this book is very important. It is a good photographic reproduction. To it is attached a very brief historical overview (so brief that it really doesn't add much to the value of the collection). This was the best source there was for the Advocates texts as of 1950, when it was published.

But time marches on and technology improves. These days, you can get digitized photos of the Advocates text with higher resolution and better quality, as well as better associated scholarship. There are two problems. One is, they cost an arm and a leg. If you can find a copy, Beattie's reproduction is cheaper. The other is, well, the digitized copies are electronic. If you want an actual book, Beattie remains your best bet. You'll get more out of the digitized edition (if you can afford it). But this humble book feels a lot better in your hand....… (altro)