Minutes of the Royal Scottish Academy

• Reference:GB 1716 RSA1/10

• Administrative / Biographical History

  The apparent duplication in date sequences of the earlier Minutes can be explained by the fact that there are in effect two sets of certain Minutes. Those taken by the elected Secretary are referred to here as Scroll Minutes. The other set, distinguishable by being more neatly scripted and lacking the ink splashes, blanks and marginal annotations, were fair copied by the Academy’s paid staff member originally titled Clerk (thereafter Assistant Secretary, Administrative Secretary, Administrator, Academy Co-Ordinator, etc) from the Scroll Minutes. Some of the Scroll Minute Books contain a number of different hands which do not always appear to match up with the sederunt lists, for example the General Assembly of Academicians Minutes and the General Assembly Minutes for the period c.1941-43 are in the hand of Henry Hastings the Academy’s officer Assistant Secretary, and the same hand appears to carry over from one elected Secretary to the next. Robert Herdman in the 19th century, and A R Sturrock in the 20th are known to have served as [unofficial] ‘acting secretary’ during interregnums. Early Minutes were particularly good at including transcripts of correspondence, both incoming and outgoing. The quality of the information recorded varies according to the individuals who have held the office of Secretary. Typed Minutes replaced the handwritten ones from 1955 onwards, being produced on typewriter originally and subsequently on computer. There is some Indicing to these records and restrictions may apply