Poems by Allan Ramsay

Allan Ramsay (1686-1758).
Poems by Allan Ramsay... Dublin: Printed by S. Powell for George Risk, 1733.
(SPL) PR 3657 .A1 1733

In addition to being a writer, the Scotsman Ramsay was involved in bookselling. He developed the first lending library, attaching it to his Edinburgh bookshop in 1726; London opened its first such establishment in the 1730s. Lending libraries, and an increasing number of public libraries, helped satisfy the growing demand for reading, while saving those of modest means the cost of purchasing every title they wished to peruse. The wealthy, however, could afford their own extensive collections, and a room called the “library” was a staple in any well-to-do household.