Alexander William Lindsay, twenty-fifth Earl of Crawford, set out from his youth to become owner of a library of renown. His dedication to this task, and the care with which he selected items, made him perhaps the most famed book collector of his day and made his family library, the Bibliotheca Lindesiana, a pattern for collections intended for scholars rather than aficionados of rarity for rarity's sake.

Crawford was born on 18 October 1812 at Muncaster Castle, Cumberland. His parents were James Crawford, seventh Earl of Balcarres, and Mary Margaret Frances Pennington Crawford, daughter of John, first Baron Muncaster. He was born a member of one of the most distinguished families of Scotland, Clan Lindsay, a clan known not only for its courage in battle but also for a strong leaning toward poetry, literature, and the other arts, a tradition Crawford was to continue. Among his noted forebears was Sir...