Parliamentary News Release
063/2004
7 October 2004
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN FIRST TO SIGN COMMEMORATIVE BOOK AT PARLIAMENT OPENING
Her Majesty The Queen will be the first guest at the Opening of Holyrood to sign one of two specially-designed commemorative books, gifted by the National Archives of Scotland. Saturday's visitors will then be able to add their signatures to the books, forming a historic record of the day.
The books were hand bound by conservators Donald Campbell (from East Calder) and James Thorburn (from Edinburgh), while the inscriptions were commissioned from an Aberdeenshire calligrapher Catherine Whiteman.
The inspiration for the cover of the book to be signed by The Queen is the inscription from the Mace presented by Her Majesty The Queen at the opening of the first session of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. “Wisdom, Justice, Compassion and Integrity” are impressed upon the book flowing across from front to back in English and Gaelic.
The calligraphy is Celtic with a clean uncial form (a rounded form of letters) which has been used to provide a bold legible hand. Catherine Whiteman also created the endpapers in the front and back of the book. These are handmade Suminagashi, marbled in silver grey, complementing the covers. Suminigashi is a traditional Eastern technique based upon producing smoke-like patterns on paper using a combination of sumi ink and water.
The materials and methods are all traditional but the design, colours and approach are modern.
George Reid, Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, said: “We are grateful to the National Archives of Scotland for producing these quite stunning books to help mark the occasion and it's a tremendous honour that Her Majesty The Queen will sign one.”
George MacKenzie, Keeper of the National Archives of Scotland, said: “We are delighted and proud to have made the visitors' books for the Parliament. Our conservators have married the best of Scottish crafts and materials to produce books which will last for centuries. They will carry the names of the distinguished visitors and, in time, will become one of the records to be preserved in the National Archives of Scotland”.
The National Archives of Scotland, located in Edinburgh, holds records spanning from the 12 th to the 21 st Century, touching on virtually every aspect of Scottish life. The archives require over 70 kilometres of shelving to store all the records in its care.
The earliest full Parliamentary records date back as far as 1466. As well as the public and legal records of Scotland, the National Archives of Scotland holds local and private archives and adds to them by special purchases and by accepting gifts from public and private sources.
For further information, contact:
Richard Holligan: 0131 348 6269
email: richard.holligan@scottish.parliament.uk
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