From dealer's description: "[.RAMSAY, J] Scottish Lawyer’s Manuscript Notebook. [Scotland. Circa 1613-18]. Quarto (196 x 140 x 16 mm). Approximately 226 text pages on 122 leaves. Bound in 19th-century full calf, marbled endpapers. Front board detached, initial leaves softened, with text loss to first two leaves. Written in a neat scribal hand throughout, ink faded but clear and legible. 14. SCOTTISH PROTOCOL BOOK A rare Jacobean protocol book by a Scottish notary. According to Beal, “the term ‘protocol’, used in the context of a document, means a note or record of a transaction or negotiated agreement drawn up and attested as genuine by a notary or public official that forms the basis of a subsequent formal deed or official written or engrossed agreement. A protocol book is a book or register in which copies of such records are entered, usually by or at the behest of the official concerned”. The spine label to our volume reads “Protocol of Mr. J. Ramsay N.P./ 1613”. The “N.P.” likely stands for Notary Public. The contents of our manuscript conform to Beal’s definition, containing as they do examples of documents for subsequent use. Ramsay has provided upwards of 80 exemplars in Latin ranging in date from 1613 to 1618. The hand is the same throughout, but the ink varies, so we assume the book was compiled over several years. It was clearly a working document, which contains numerous crossings-out, with corrections and amendments, and many of the examples are subscribed “J. Ramsay notarius”, indicating that he has checked and certified the examples as being fit for purpose." Ordered from Dean Cooke Rare Books, D9767, 2024-09-13, Cat. Fifth Words & Things, item #14 (Ref: 8259)
