admirable man of business and the head of one of the most important legal firms in Scotland. I am happy in remembering the stimulus which he gave to my early legal studies and, with no less gratitude, the fact that I received from him my first general retainer – for the old Glasgow and South-Western Railway Company.Murray's extensive private legal practice permitted him to amass one of the greatest private libraries ever to exist in Scotland. His daughter, Sylvia, estimated that it contained some 40,000 items. Murray left the majority of his library to Glasgow University, where they continue to exist as the Murray Collection, forming about 23,000 items. It was with the materials in his unrivalled library that Murray spent all his leisure hours, resulting in an extensive and wide-ranging scholarly output on law, economic and legal history, accountancy, archaeology, and bibliography. He was President of the Glasgow Archaeological Society (1895–6 and 1904–7) and vice-president of the Society of Antiquaries in Scotland from 1900 to 1902. The David Murray Book Collecting Prize is open to all currently registered students of the University of Glasgow: "The purpose of the prize is to encourage collecting of books/other printed material – anything with the written word. Applications are based around an annotated list or catalogue of items owned and anticipated future additions, with a separate statement of the concept of the collection." Legal career Murray's scholarly and civic achievements are all the more remarkable in the context of his busy professional life. After graduating M.A., Murray turned to law, at first working for his father's old firm. He served his apprenticeship, and became a partner in 1867 (the firm was by then called Smith, Wright & Johnston). In 1869, he and Mr George Smith (of the last-mentioned firm) formed the new company George Smith & Murray, which later (on the death of Mr Smith) became Maclay, Murray and Spens to this day among the best-known law firms in Scotland. He made scholarly contributions to the appropriate designation of law agents or writers in Scotland and was resistant to the adoption of the English chancery designation of "solicitor". He was also Dean of the Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow from 1895-1898, whose claim as the oldest professional body of lawyers in Scotland is largely based on his antiquarian researches. He was one of the leading commercial practitioners of his day. He had