American Viscountess Visits Abbotsford

Julie Montagu hosts the wonderful series American Viscountess, where she visits the owners of castles, manor houses and stately homes, and discover how they have adapted to the 21st century. Over the summer, Julie visited Abbotsford to learn more about their collection and the important conservation work that they do.

Abbotsford

Abbotsford is home to the collections of furniture, militaria, art, rare books and antiquarian curiosities amassed by Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), one of the most popular writers of the nineteenth century, both on home soil and around the world. The Abbotsford Trust also cares for the property of his descendants who occupied the house and estate, some of whom were collectors and historians in their own right.  The house welcomes the public daily from March - December, and a Visitor Centre exhibition space showcases treasured objects from the Library and stored collections year-round.

The Collection

Scott was already a famous writer and an antiquarian by the time he purchased Abbotsford and the house interiors were specifically designed to showcase his collections as “a museum for living in”. It is this celebration of objects and their stories that makes Abbotsford unlike other historic house collections – the house is a theatrical stage set for the objects it contains. Scott used the historical objects around him as writing aids and a number of his possessions make cameo appearances in his historical novels. This is the unique flavour of the collection and what it means to visit a place where history inspired fiction.

Scott’s fascination with objects as springboards for story explains another remarkable feature of Abbotsford’s collections. Although they care for 500 rare books and seven medieval incunabula, and suits of armour grace the walls, the collection is in other ways, very humble. There is a real enthusiasm for smaller items, or ‘gabions’ as Scott liked to call them, particularly those that were portable, pocket-sized and sentimental. Some of his most prized items, from locks of celebrity hair to snuff boxes, quaichs (drinking cups), and even an oatcake crumb found in the pocket of a dead Highlander at Culloden, are displayed in a cabinet of curiosities in the Library to allow for visitors to easily see more of these precious artefacts. Scott was a collector particularly attached to the ideas of individual heroism and the lost voices of the past. Their aim is to tell Scott's stories alongside presenting the curatorial view of an item today.

Today, the Collections team of two facilitate over one hundred separate research and special access requests a year. An innovative MOOC – titled the Man Behind the Monument -co-delivered by the Curator, has taken over 7,000 e-learners to date on a virtual journey through Abbotsford, punctuated by engagement activities relating to its collections. Learners have turned their hand to transcribing Scott’s manuscripts and even writing flash fiction inspired by the collections. A recent exhibition has spotlighted Abbotsford’s treasure trove of 2,500 18-century chapbooks, the comic books of their day. This focus on the lively, and sometimes bawdy reading culture of ordinary people rather than the elite, reframes Scott's focus as a writer and researcher in fascinating ways. In 2024, they are busy designing an interactive botanical cabinet for the gardens, the contents directly inspired by the collections and archive.

The winner of this year's award will be announced this November. Stay tuned as we announce other shortlist contenders over the next few weeks.