The collections at Abbotsford are based around the eccentric medley of objects and ephemera that Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832), the great writer and hoarder, amassed to adorn his charming home in the Scottish Borders. They include an outstanding personal library of rare and unusual books as well as extraordinary collections of furniture, fine and decorative art, arms and armour and artefacts and relics intimately connected with an array of famous figures from Scottish and wider European history. Scott’s own collections were added to by the successive generations of descendants that occupied the house right up until 2004. The building and its contents are now under the stewardship of the Abbotsford Trust, set up in 2007 to safeguard the future of one of Scotland’s most important private residences. The collection of oil paintings, though uneven in terms of overall quality, includes notable works by several important British artists working in Scott’s day.