James Boyd ca.1530-1581

James BOYD ca.1530-1581, archbishop of Glasgow

Biographical Note

James Boyd of Trochrig was appointed minister of Kirkoswald in the presbytery of Ayr in 1572. He was consecrated as the first protestant archbishop of Glasgow in 1573. Boyd was also the Chancellor of the University of Glasgow between 1573 and 1581, an appointment which was also shared by his son Robert Boyd from 1605 to 1613. Boyd was an associated of Andrew Melville, and was responsible for persuading him to become principal of the University.

Books

In 1581 Boyd bequeathed 48 volumes to the University of Glasgow. John Durkan states that books from Boyd’s bequest set a new theological tone for the university library. It included a Greek bible (Venice, 1518), a work of the Eucharist by protestant theologian Petyr Martyr Defensio doctrinae veteris et apostolicae de sacro sancto Eucharistiae sacramento (Zurich, 1559) (Bh8-d.3) and Philip Melanchthon’s Corpus of Christian... (Leipzig, 1561) (Bi7-d.11). Boyd had an interest in ecclesiastical history, represented by works such as Albert Crantz's Ecclesiastical History (Basle, 1568). He inherited 18 titles from Archbishop Beaton, the majority of which are patristic folios, such as the works of Saint Dionysius (Bl1-d.13), also owned by Beaton’s teacher in Paris, Giovanni Ferrerio.

Characteristic Markings

Books from Boyd’s bequest can be identified from either his signature or “M.I.B” tooled on the covers of his bindings.

Sources

• Durkan, John. “The early history of Glasgow University Library: 1475-1710” The Bibliotheck; a Scottish Journal of Bibliography and Allied Topics 8: 4 (1977)
• Scott, Hew et al. Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae: The Succession of Ministers in the Church of Scotland from the Reformation, 9 vols, new edn. Edinburgh, Oliver & Boyd, 1915–61.