PROGRAMS
'Ae fond kiss', the parting-song that Robert Burns sent to Mrs. McLehose — Clarinda — after their final meeting in December 1791.
The American Patrons support a diverse array of projects at both the National Library and the National Galleries. Recent grants from the American Patrons have fully or partially underwritten such initiatives as:
- Helping to save the exceptional and rare materials of the Honresfield Library for the public
- Refurbishment of the Scottish wing at the Scottish National Gallery
- Acquisition of Sir Edwin Landseer’s iconic painting, The Monarch of the Glen
- Acquisition of Titian's masterpieces, Diana and Actaeon and Diana and Callisto
- Exhibitions such as Expanding Horizons: Giovanni Battista Lusieri and the Panoramic Landscape and The Art of Golf, which told of the birth and evolution of Scotland's National Sport through extraordinary works of art, rare items of memorabilia, and museum pieces of unique significance within the game's history.
- Acquisition and conservation of the John Murray Archive – a treasure trove of over 200 years of publishing history with manuscripts, letters and other personal documents from writers who shaped the modern world, such as Charles Darwin, Lord Byron, Jane Austen, Washington Irving and Walter Scott
- Acquisition of a rare copy of one of Scotland’s oldest printed books: The Aberdeen Breviary
- A catalogue showcasing a selection of the Library’s treasures relating to the birth of the United States, invoking such figures as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton
Events in the US, with American Patrons support have included:
- A private reading with best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith
- An evening with John Leighton, then-Director of the National Galleries of Scotland
- The Rediscovery of Lost Burns and Scott Literary Treasures: a Tea & Talk afternoon with National Librarian Amina Shah and curator, Dr. Ralph McLean (in collaboration with the American-Scottish Foundation)
- The Art of Golf reception with eminent curators from both the Library and the Galleries and a display of rare and original, golf-related pieces
- A cocktail reception and private tour of Masterpieces from the Scottish National Gallery at The Frick Collection.
- Inspirations, a conversation and reception with Alan Cumming.
- Other events in Los Angeles, New Orleans, Washington, DC, and more.