| Administrative History | In 1710 the British Government passed the Statue of Anne, which declared that a copy of each book registered at Stationers Hall be granted, for free, to nine major research libraries. King's College was one of the four Scottish Universities to be granted the privilege. The allocation of books to King's College culminated in a legal battle with Marischal College, who felt they too deserved the privilege. The masters of King's College decided in 1736 to take the battle to the Government's Lords of Session. The masters of King's sought to prove that Marischal College was not a University and therefore not eligible for the privilege. Final decision was a compromise in which the books from Stationers Hall remained with King's College Library but that Marischal College had the use of the books. In 1836 King's College lost the privilege alongside all other recipient Universities in Scotland. The privilege was commuted to an annual payment, which was titled the 'Compensation Fund'. |