The brothers Sir James and Sir Andrew Balfour were among the most significant collectors of books in Scotland during the seventeenth century. Although neither man was a major writer, each was important in the cultural life of the nation. As collectors they made significant contributions to Scottish intellectual progress during a century more notable for its strife and bloodshed than for scholarly or cultural achievement. Sir James was an antiquarian and collector of medieval and early modern manuscripts--many crucial to the emerging discipline of Scottish history--and to a lesser extent of printed books. Sir Andrew was primarily a botanist and collector of plants, skills that led him to play a major role in establishing a botanical garden in Edinburgh, the equal of any in Europe. His collection of printed books was the most extensive source of medical and scientific works in the country. The dispersal of both collections...