The Bannatyne Manuscript, Published by George Bannatyne, an Edinburgh Merchant.

The Bannatyne Manuscript, the most extensive surviving collection of early Scottish poetry, is compiled by George Bannatyne, a merchant in Edinburgh. As the plague swept through the city, Bannatyne used his time in isolation to preserve the literary heritage of Scotland.

The manuscript includes the works of major Middle Scots poets such as William Dunbar, Robert Henryson, and King James I, and serves as an invaluable repository of 15th- and 16th-century Scottish literature.

Its preservation ensured the survival of countless poems that might have otherwise been lost to history.