One of the two sketchbooks is titled on the front board, 'Sketches made at Edinburgh, Melrose and Craigmillar, etc, for drawings illustrating Sir Walters Scott's novels The Monastery and The Abbot'. There are several loose leaves and fragments in the second sketchbook.
The sketchbooks contain drawings in pencil and ink and some are coloured or washed. There are notes from lectures in the history of art.
The artist John Williamson worked on illustrations for the Dryburgh Edition (1892-1894) of the Waverley Novels of Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). His studio was in West Hampstead, London.
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Material acquired May 2011. Accession no: E2011.16.
Compiled by Graeme D. Eddie, Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections.
