A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen, Vol. 1 (Classic Reprint)

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Excerpt from A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen, Vol. 1 The first edition of the Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen was edited by Mr. (now Dr.) Robert Chambers. It was issued in 4 vols. demy 8vo, and completed in 1834. In his preface the Editor says: - "A biographical dictionary of eminent natives of Scotland has been regarded as a desideratum in our national literature, for the greater part of a century. Such a work was successively contemplated by Sir David Dalrymple and Mr. William Smellie, each of whom proceeded so far with the design as to write a few of the articles. When the Editor of the present Work began a few years ago to inquire into the literary and historical antiquities of his country, he found the desire of possessing a dictionary of this kind not in the least abated, but very little hope entertained that, under the existing prospects of literature, it would be possible to present such a book to the public. He proceeded, nevertheless, perhaps rather under the influence of a peculiar enthusiasm, than any wiser or more considerate motive, to take upon himself a task which at least two of his predecessors had failed to accomplish, and for which he could not but feel himself to be in many respects imperfectly qualified. Sometime after beginning his labours, a fortunate alliance with his present publishers, who had projected a similar work, removed many of the original difficulties, and he was enabled to commence the publication in 1832. "In now taking a retrospective view of his labours, he sees, with some regret, passages which he could amend, and even one or two articles which, upon a more rigid estimate of merit he would be disposed to omit. He has much satisfaction, however, in reflecting that very few instances of error in point of feet have been indicated to him, so that he is enabled to hope that his Work, upon the whole, makes that near approach to correctness, which is the most valuable feature in a book of reference." About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.