Papers of Professor Mark Louden Anderson (1895-1961)

The papers in the collection consist of: the typescript draft and final versions of Anderson's broadcast talk, Time for forestry, 2 January 1956; and, miscellaneous notes and lectures on forestry including Soil acidity, Regeneration of the forest from seed, Actual handling of the forest in practice, Key to salices, Notes on underplanting, and Address on afforestation in Scotland.

Mark Louden Anderson was born on 16 April 1895 in Kinneff, Kincardineshire, where his father was a minister. On the death of his parents, the remainder of his boyhood was spent in Menstrie, Clackmannanshire. He entered Edinburgh University in 1912 studying forestry, but his plans were interrupted by the First World War. He served in the army, and in 1915 was in France with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He was then commissioned to the Black Watch and finished his war service with the Machine Gun Corps. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1918. At the end of the conflict he resumed his studies and was awarded the degree of B.Sc. in 1919, and D.Sc. in 1924. Between 1919 and 1931, he was a Research Officer with the Forestry Commission, and from 1931 until 1946 he was Chief Inspector and Director of Forestry in Ireland. Prior to his appointment as Professor of Forestry at Edinburgh University in 1951, Anderson was a Lecturer at the Imperial Forestry Institute in Oxford. He was an active member of the governing body of the School of Agriculture, Edinburgh, the Edinburgh Centre of Rural Economy, and the Royal Scottish Forestry Society, and he became a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1952. His publications include earlier research in the Transactions of the Royal Scottish Forestry Society, The natural woodlands of Britain and Ireland (1932), State control of private forestry in European democracies (1949) and the Division of Scotland into climatic sub-regions as an aid to silviculture (1955). After Anderson's death came A history of Scottish forestry edited in 1967 and in two volumes, entitled From the Ice Age to the French Revolution and From the Industrial Revolution to modern times. Professor Mark Louden Anderson died in Bristol on 6 September 1961.

Generally open for consultation to bona fide researchers, but please contact repository for details in advance.

Material received from Dr. W. E. S. Mutch, November 1976, and January 1983, Accession nos. E76.51. and E83.3.

The biographical/administrative history was compiled using the following material: (1) Who's who 1962. London: Adam and Charles Black, 1962. (2) Watson, S. J. Yearbook of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1962. Session 1960-1961. pp.21-22. Edinburgh: Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1962.

Compiled by Graeme D Eddie, Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections Division

Important finding aids generally are: the alphabetical Index to Manuscripts held at Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections and Archives, consisting of typed slips in sheaf binders and to which additions were made until 1987; and the Index to Accessions Since 1987.