The collections of the Advocates Library, with the exception of its legal books and manuscripts, were given by the Advocates to the National Library of Scotland in 1925.

Contains the first printing of Sartor resartus, as well as other works by Thomas Carlyle.

Richardson (1796-1852) born in Newark, Upper Canada and dying in New York City, laid the foundations of Canadian literature. The author of Wacousta and The Canadian Brothers had an adventurous, energetic life, as this standard biography so well reveals. “Beasley’s whole work teems with such careful, loving research and this makes his biography of Richardson not only a good read but the fulfillment of what's usually called 'an aching void. ’”— James Reaney, poet and playwright. “... whose life was so filled with dramatic events, whose career brought him in contact with important historical figures and episodes, and who first showed that Canadian history was interesting enough to be matter for literature.” —George Woodcock, The Globe and Ma