Visitors Visiting Books: Visitors' Books at the Library of Innerpeffray

Abstract

The Library of Innerpeffray, in rural Perthshire, is the oldest free public lending library in Scotland and contains unique manuscript records which are invaluable resources for the fields of library and tourism history. This article argues that two key developments contributed to Innerpeffray’s transformation from a lending library into a reference library and visitor attraction: the impact of one of the library’s patrons, Robert Hay Drummond, and the growth of tourism in mid-nineteenth-century Perthshire, within the wider development of Scottish tourism. Two sources are explored for the first time: annual reports sent to the Governors of Innerpeffray between 1891-1907 by the then-Keeper of Books, Mrs Christian Birnie; and the first volume of the library’s visitors’ books, which contains visitor details from 1859-97. The article presents some preliminary findings about inscribed locations, gender, and repeat visitors to emphasise the value of visitors’ books which primarily contain visitor details without additional commentary.