The Book of the Old Edinburgh Club

The Club has published the Book of the Old Edinburgh Club since 1908. The 57 volumes make up a substantial body of historical articles and source material about Edinburgh’s history.

The latest issue

The latest issue of the Book of the Old Edinburgh Club – volume 18, dated 2022 – was published in March 2023. Please contact us if you would like a copy. Its contents are: 

  • Professor R J Morris – An Appreciation;
  • Identity, Imagination and George IV in Edinburgh, 1822 by Robert Pirrie;
  • Inventing Scotch Baronial Edinburgh: The Role of Walter Scott by Aonghus MacKechnie;
  • Edinburgh and Slavery by Jennifer Melville;
  • Elevating the Poor: The Origin, Activities and Evolution of the Edinburgh Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor c 1868–1906 by Joan Fraser;
  • Servant Keeping and Residential Neighbourhood Composition: Presbyterian Ministers in Late Nineteenth-Century Edinburgh by John W Sawkins and Andrew J Sawkins;
  • The Role of Glass in Chemistry, Especially in Edinburgh by Jill Turnbull;
  • Toun’s College or College’s Toun? A Study into the Social Effects of the Edinburgh University Comprehensive Development Area by Michael Gall;
  • Book reviews; and
  • Annual report of the Old Edinburgh Club.

Back issues

BOEC vol 1While recent issues are available in print only, we have digitised all 35 volumes of the Old Series published between 1908 and 1985 and Volumes 1 to 7 in our New Series covering 1991 to 2008, and these are all available to download free of charge after digitisation was enabled courtesy of a generous contribution by Club member Jean Guild.

Single copies of volumes of the BOEC New Series can be purchased at meetings of the Club.

The latest volume is £18 per copy, the previous volume is £10 and earlier available volumes – 1, 2, 6, and 7 are completely sold out – are £4 each.

Copies may also be purchased by post, subject to a £6 charge per copy for postage within the UK.

Prices outwith the UK under are under review. Please contact us if you are interested.

Indexes

Each volume of the Original Series included an index for that volume, and a cumulative index to volumes I-XX was published as volume XXI in 1936.

A draft index of volumes XXII-XXXV was generated by merging the indices from the individual volumes, which it is expected will eventually be published as a final Volume XXXVI of the original series.

An index of New Series volumes 1-5 was included in volume 5.

No index has yet been produced for later volumes of the New Series.