‘Remarkable’ Sir William Wallace manuscript goes up for auction
An early 16 th century hand written manuscript that revealed previously unknown information about Sir William Wallace could fetch up to £250,000 at auction next month.
The“lind es ian a chronicles of Scotland” contains two texts in Latin thought to have been produced in edinburgh around 1511 and 1526.
It was originally ownedbysirrobert Robertoun, chaplain of Edinburgh, who had them bound into a 223 leaf book sometime before 1550.
Described as “a remarkable discovery for Scottish history”, the book has been kept in a private collection in Norway since 1990, when its significance was not yet fully understood. It was only after it was studied by a leading medieval historian from the University of Glasgow that it was found to contain previously unknown details about the First War of Scottish Independence and Wallace’s uprising in 1297.
One of numerous new discoveries was the exact date – 3 May 1297 – when the freedom fighter killed the English sheriff of Lanark, William Heselrig. It also revealed that Wallace did not act alone but had an accomplice,named richard of lun die, who would later switch sides and fight against Wallace and the Scots at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.
After five centuries, the book appears to be complete, with 223 leafs written in two hands as well as inscriptions by various owners dating back to Robertoun.
Remarkably, it also retains its original wood and leather binding, one of only a handful of pre-1550 Scottish decorated bindings to survive.
The book is one of “the jewels in the crown” of the Martin Schøyen Collection of books and manuscripts, which will go under the auctioneer’s hammer at Christie’s in London on June 11. Experts have given it an estimate of £150,000-250,000.
Head of saleEugenio Donadoni, Senior Specialist, Medieval&renaissance manuscripts at Christie’s London, said: “The Lindesiana Chronicles of Scotland is without doubt one of the most significant Scottish manuscripts that has ever come to market.”
The first part of the manuscript draws from well known Scottish sources including the late 14th century priest John de Fordun and Walter Bower, the Augustinian abbot of Inchcolm in the 1440s.
However, the inclusion of details that appear nowhere else means the scribe must also have been copying from some other sources that no longer survive. The book is inscribed on the fly leaf by its original owner, robert Rob er toun, who described it as a “Chronic ascot or um ”, or history of Scotland.
Rob er toundi ed in 1568 and the book was later owned by three members of the Kemp family, Henry, George and David, before a gentleman named walter Buchanan.
It was then owned by John Lindsay ofbalc arr es, lord keeper of the pr ivy sea land secretary of State for Scotland up to his death in 1598.
The Chronicles remained in the Lindsay family library for centuries – for which it named the Lindesiana Chronicles – and was later in the hands of a bookseller in Northern Ireland until it was bought by the Norwegian bibliophile Martin Schøyen at auction in 1990 for £41,800.