Forgotten scholar’s books shed light on 17th century Scotland
Published: 15 October 2025
The personal library owned by a 17th century Scottish minister, academic and administrator has been brought together for the first time in more than 370 years.
The personal library owned by a 17th century Scottish minister, academic and administrator has been brought together for the first time in more than 370 years.
Now it is hoped that these books, many of which have notes in the margins, will allow scholars to better understand this tumultuous time in Scottish and European history.
Zachary Boyd (1585–1653) was a Calvinist minister and scholar who managed to navigate the religious and political turmoil of his era through a combination of pragmatism, principle and literary devotion. Boyd’s sermons draw extensively on classical literature and new analysis of his manuscripts show for the first time his knowledge of other contemporary French, English and Scottish poets. As well as poetry, Boyd also wrote several plays based on the Bible, and, unusually for a minister at this time, one on the Gunpowder Plot.
At his death, Boyd left a considerable sum to the University of Glasgow to fund student scholarships along with his library and manuscripts.
Professor Adrian Streete, the University of Glasgow’s Professor of Early Modern English Literature and Religion, was supported in his research by Archives & Special Collections staff including Assistant Librarian Bob MacLean.
Professor Adrian Streete, who has been researching this largely forgotten Scot for several years, said: “As was common at the time, his library was not kept together but dispersed throughout the University of Glasgow’s collection. When I started looking for his books, there were six listed in the modern catalogue as belonging to Boyd. I have now identified a total of 91 books owned by him.”
Professor Streete added: “The library is significant for several reasons. Many of his books contain extensive marginalia and notes, some of which contain important new information about his life, especially the 16 or so years he spent studying and working in France at the Huguenot Academy in Saumur. The library offers a rare window onto his reading practices, intellectual interest and networks. It includes five of his Bibles, classical texts, books on theology, philosophy, history, medicine, as well as several literary texts. This is a nationally and internationally significant new archive of material, unknown at present to scholars of early modern history and literature.”
Bob MacLean, Assistant Librarian in Archives & Special Collections, who provided collections and research support, said: “These books have been managed as part of our collections and made available to researchers for centuries, but their connection to Boyd had been forgotten. Professor Streete’s work has not only helped us to reunite many of them but reanimated their scholarly value. It’s a remarkable achievement.”
Professor Streete’s forensic search began in 2023 with an annotated French Bible that he identified as belonging to Boyd. Using its marginalia as a guide, he identified in total 91 books so far across the University’s holdings of around 20,000 rare books.
“It has been a fascinating exercise,” he said. “Boyd’s handwriting and intellectual fingerprints are unmistakable once you know what to look for.”
Although Boyd was highly regarded in his own time for his learning and for his generous benefaction to the University, today he has largely fallen out of critical fashion.
Professor Streete’s research aims to revise that narrative. “Taken together, these books give us a fuller and richer picture of Boyd as a scholar, poet and religious thinker,” he said.
Professor Streete will present his findings in a public lecture titled Zachary Boyd’s Books at the Centre for Scottish and Celtic Studies on Tuesday, 21 October 2025, and he is also completing a book on Boyd’s library and life
The free talk will explore the historical scope and scholarly significance of this newly reconstructed archive.
Professor Streete added: “With the University of Glasgow approaching its 575th anniversary next year, the rediscovery of a large selection of Boyd’s library is a timely reminder of the institution’s enduring scholarly legacy and of overlooked histories waiting to be brought back into view.”
Zachary Boyd’s Books
Professor Streete’s talk on Zachary Boyd at the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Scottish and Celtic Studies is on Tuesday 21 October. You need to register for your free place via Eventbrite.
About Zachary Boyd
Zachary Boyd (c.1585-1653) was a Scottish academic, minister, and poet whose life spanned one of the most turbulent periods in British history. Educated in Kilmarnock, he entered the University of Glasgow in 1601 and graduated MA from St Andrews in 1607. He then spent 16 years at the Huguenot Academy in Saumur, France, before returning to Scotland amid rising persecution of Protestants.
In 1625, Boyd was appointed minister of the Barony parish in Glasgow and went on to serve three terms each as Dean of Faculty and Rector of the University, and from 1644 as Vice-Chancellor.
He met Charles I in 1633 and wrote a Latin ode for his coronation but later became a committed Covenanter – part of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs.
Boyd died in 1653, leaving £20,000 as well as his manuscripts and books to the University. Though remembered today mainly for his metrical Psalms and generosity, his legacy is being re-evaluated.
About Professor Adrian Streete
Adrian Streete is Professor of Early Modern English Literature and Religion at the University of Glasgow. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and English Association, he is the author of Protestantism and Drama in Early Modern England (CUP, 2009), Apocalypse and Anti-Catholicism in Seventeenth-Century English Drama (CUP, 2017), has edited or co-edited several collections, and published numerous articles and essays.
First published: 15 October 2025