List of books for the "Famous Scots Series"
This is a list of books published as the "Famous Scots Series" by the Edinburgh publishers, Oliphant, Anderson and Ferrier, from 1896 to 1905. Forty-two of these books were published though least one volume in the series was planned but never published. These books are distinctive for their bright red covers and uniform presentation. They are generally of a quite high scholarly quality. The authors often had access to biographical material which is no longer available. Two versions of each volume were published. An upmarket version has gilded lettering and motifs on the front cover and has gilt tape as book marker. It is about a quarter of inch longer than the ordinary version which is gilded only on the edge.
Thirty-three of the authors were men and five were women. It appears that all the women were educated at home, presumably by tutors or governesses. Three of the women wrote biographies of Robert Louis Stevenson, namely, Margaret Moyes Black, Rosaline Masson and Eve Blantyre Simpson.
| No | Title | Author | Date | Notes |
| 1 | Thomas Carlyle | Hector C. Macpherson | Feb 1896 | A biography by Macpherson's son states that "his volume on Carlyle, which appeared in February 1896, was the first of the 'Famous Scots' Series." |
| 2 | Allan Ramsay | Oliphant Smeaton | March 1896 | There is a copy of this book signed by "Daniel K. Campbell" and dated by him "March 1896". |
| 3 | Hugh Miller | W. Keith Leask | March 1896 | |
| 4 | John Knox | A. Taylor Innes | May 1896 | |
| 5 | Robert Burns | Gabriel Setoun | Jun 1896 | "Gabriel Setoun" is the nom de plume of Thomas Nicoll Hepburn. |
| 6 | The Balladists | John Geddie | Jul 1896; | Balladists including:Thomas the Rhymer, Robert Henryson, Lady Wardlaw, Lady Nairne, Lady Anne Barnard, Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, etc. |
| 7 | Richard Cameron | John Herkless | Oct 1896 | |
| 8 | Sir James Y. Simpson | Eve Blantyre Simpson | Oct 1896 | |
| 9 | Thomas Chalmers | W. Garden Blaikie | Dec 1896 | |
| 10 | James Boswell | W. Keith Leask | Dec 1896 | |
| 11 | Tobias Smollett | Oliphant Smeaton | Feb 1897 | |
| 12 | Fletcher of Saltoun | G.W.T. Omond | Mar 1897 | |
| 13 | The “Blackwood” Group | Sir George Douglas | Apr 1897 | This group includes John Wilson, John Galt, D. M. Moir, Susan Ferrier, Michael Scott, and Thomas Hamilton. |
| 14 | Norman Macleod | John Wellwood | Apr 1897 | |
| 15 | Sir Walter Scott | George Saintsbury | Jun 1897 | |
| 16 | Kirkcaldy of Grange | Louis A. Barbé | Oct 1897 | |
| 17 | Robert Fergusson | A. B. Grosart | Jan 1898 | |
| 18 | James Thomson | William Bayne | Jan 1898 | |
| 19 | Mungo Park | T. Banks Maclachlan | Mar 1898 | |
| 20 | David Hume | Henry Calderwood | Feb 1898 | |
| 21 | William Dunbar | Oliphant Smeaton | Apr 1898 | |
| 22 | Sir William Wallace | A. F. Murison | Jun 1898 | |
| 23 | Robert Louis Stevenson | Margaret Moyes Black | Aug 1898 | |
| 24 | Thomas Reid | A. Campbell Fraser | Feb 1898 | |
| 25 | Pollok and Ayton | Rosaline Masson | Nov 1898 | |
| 26 | Adam Smith | Hector C. Macpherson | Feb 1899 | |
| 27 | Andrew Melville | William Morison | Jul 1899 | |
| 28 | James Frederick Ferrier | E. S. Haldane | May? 1899 | E. S. Haldane's full name is Elizabeth Sanderson Haldane |
| 29 | King Robert the Bruce | A. F. Murison | Jul 1899 | |
| 30 | James Hogg | Sir George Douglas | Sep 1899 | Also included are short biographies of the poets Robert Tannahill, William Motherwell, and William Thom |
| 31 | Thomas Campbell | J. Cuthbert Hadden | Oct 1899 | |
| 32 | George Buchanan | Robert Wallace | Dec 1899 | Completed by J. Campbell Smith. |
| 33 | Sir David Wilkie and the Scots school of painters | Edward Pinnington | Jan? 1900 | These include: Allan Ramsay, James Tassie, David Allan, Sir Henry Raeburn, Sir William Allan, Sir Noel Paton etc. |
| 34 | The Erskines | A. R. MacEwen | Apr 1900 | They are the brothers: Ebenezer and Ralph Erskine. |
| 35 | Thomas Guthrie | Oliphant Smeaton | May 1900 | |
| 36 | David Livingstone | T. Banks Maclachlan | Jan? 1901 | |
| 37 | The Academical Gregories | Agnes Grainger Stewart | Apr 1901 | These include: John Gregory, James Gregory, William Gregory, etc. The book outlines the lives of twelve Gregories from 1638–1858 |
| 38 | Johnston of Warriston | William Morison | May 1901 | |
| 39 | Henry Drummond | James Y. Simpson | Oct 1901 | The author's father was nephew of his namesake, James Young Simpson, the discoverer of chloroform. |
| 40 | Principal Cairns | John Cairns | Mar 1903 | John Cairns was the nephew of Principal Cairns. |
| 41 | Viscount Dundee | Louis A. Barbé | 1903 | |
| 42 | James Watt | Andrew Carnegie | 1905 | The year 1905 is mentioned on page 28 of the book where Carnegie states: "Even in 1905 we have still a far road to travel." |
No more books in this series were published, as is evidenced by the following report in the New York Times in 1904:
"LONDON, Sept. 16. -- Andrew Carnegie has written a little book on James Watt, the great engineer. It will be the concluding volume of the Famous Scots Series, published by Messrs. Oliphant, Anderson Ferrier."