The Papers of Edward Scott, Keeper of Manuscripts at the British Museum 1888-1904

Edward Scott (1840-1918) was a member of the Department of Manuscripts, British Museum for just over forty years, 1863-1904. From 1888 until his retirement he was Keeper of Manuscripts and yet he is not as well remembered as his predecessors or successors. In 2014 the British Library acquired a small cache of his papers, most notably a diary covering the first seven months of 1869. This paper investigates his background and career in the light of this new material to see if it is possible to take the first steps towards a re-evaluation of this largely forgotten figure.