Journal: Ashland Theological Journal
Volume: ATJ 03:0 (NA 1970)
Article: Baxter Collection Added To Seminary Library
Author: Anonymous

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ATJ 3 (1970) p. 39

Baxter Collection Added To Seminary Library

James Houston Baxter and His Private Collection

The Ashland Theological Seminary Library has been enriched by the addition of more than four thousand volumes acquired from the private library of the recently retired Dr. James Houston Baxter, distinguished Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at the University of St. Andrews in Edinburgh.

As the current world authority on St. Augustine, Dr. Baxter has collected not only the works of St. Augustine, but also numerous volumes written in the centuries since the time of the great churchman reflecting St. Augustine’s influence on the Christian Church and world thought. The noted scholar has retained these works and plans to spend his remaining years compiling ~he definitive work on the great Christian figure.

The works catalogued and placed on the shelves in the Ashland Seminary library show the wide interests of Dr. Baxter. These include a notable collection of works on church history encompassing extensive materials on Scottish history, both ecclesiastical and secular, the Reformation period in Great Britain and on the Continent, and representative works on Puritanism and Methodism.

The collection obtained from Professor Baxter by the Seminary includes a large number of secular works. The Baxter materials reflect an extensive fascination for information on Poland. Among these are works on language, science, history, literature, and folk-lore in English and in several other languages. The well-thumbed pages show that Dr. Baxter’s library did not remain unused on his shelves. Indeed, the cataloguing of these materials was slowed by the temptation of the cataloguer to read the marginal comments of Dr. Baxter and his analyses

ATJ 3 (1970) p. 40

and summaries of the content of volumes noted in English, French, Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.

The scope of the scholarly interests of James Houston Baxter is reflected not only in his library, but also in the list of honors he has received and in his many scholarly projects. A few of these gleaned from the current edition of Who’s Who include, along with medals and prizes in the classics and arts, the editorship of the New Dictionary of Medieval Latin, contributions to other dictionaries and encyclopedias, compilation of the index to the Scottish Historical Review, author of many periodical articles. He is a member of the Naples Academy, Associate member of the Royal Belgian Academy, the Royal Flemish Academy, the Societe de l’Histaire du Protestantisme francais. He was on the Scottish Record Commission and the Scottish Dictionary Commission. From 1933 to 1939 he was in charge of excavating the Byzantine Imper...

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