Although the Signet Library evolved over time into a private reference and research facility for the legal profession, it began as an inclusive place of meeting and discourse for the citizens of Enlightenment Edinburgh. The WS Society’s New Enlightenment strategy seeks to reaffirm the open spirit of Edinburgh’s golden age and to embody a 21st-century interpretation of Enlightenment ideals. The delivery of this strategy is dependent on repairing and conserving the building fabric, and on facilitating increased public access to the Library and its collections.

The Signet Library’s importance goes beyond celebrated architecture to its central role in the development and dissemination of knowledge and ideas since its construction during Edinburgh’s Golden Age of classical urban development. Lawyers’ libraries were at the heart of Scottish Enlightenment thinking, writing and debate.

Robert Reid’s neo-classical shell was completed in 1812 and the interiors of the upper and lower libraries were designed by William Stark. After Stark’s death in 1813, William Henry Playfair completed the interior. When the Faculty of Advocates sold the upper library to the WS Society (already owners of the lower library) in 1826, the two levels were connected by an imperial staircase designed by William Burn. The library still uses its original furniture, made by William Trotter. In 1900, the West Wing was added, designed in Edwardian Palladian style by Sidney Mitchell.

The WS Society’s New Enlightenment strategy seeks to reprise the spirit in which the building was first conceived by engaging new and diverse audiences with Enlightenment heritage and its continuing relevance in the 21st century. Underpinning this approach is a mission to advance education about the central role of the law and legal system in a free and democratic society.