Robert Alves

Robert Alves was born into humble circumstances; he won a scholarship at Marischal College (M.A. 1766), where was a pupil and friend of James Beattie. He was afterwards schoolmaster at Deskford and Banff; crossed in love, he emigrated to Edinburgh in 1779. His literary history was written with the assistance of Lord Gardenstone.

TEXT RECORDS:

1776Ode to Night.
1778Malevolence: an Ode.
1782Love and Wisdom: A Vision.
1788Time: an Elegy. Written near the Ruins of Elgin Cathedral.
1792Three Sonnets by Robert Alves, A.M.
1793Ode. By Robert Alves, A.M. (Being an Allusion to the Times.)
1793Sonnets.
1794Sketches of a History of Literature: Of the Age of Chaucer and Spenser; and of their respective Characters.

PUBLICATIONS:

Time, an Elegy, by a student of Marischal College. 1766.
Odes on several subjects. 1778.
Ode to Britannia. For the year 1780. 1780.
Poems. 1782.
Edinburgh: a poem in two parts. Also, the weeping bards. 1789.
Sketches of a history of literature. Edinburgh, 1794.
Banks of Esk and other poems. 1801.

PROFILE AND
ASSOCIATES:

Scottish
Presbyterian

Elgin Grammar School
Marischal College
Aberdeen University
Bachelor of Arts
Master of Arts

tutor
Schoolmaster
poet
translator
essayist

Edinburgh Magazine and Review
Scots Magazine

James Beattie
Francis Garden
Rev. Alexander Gerard

REFERENCE:

DNB; NCBEL.

Memoir in Alves, Sketches (1794); Annual Register for 1794 (1794) 47; Alexander Campbell, Introduction to the History of Poetry in Scotland (1798) 305; Joseph Robertson, Lives of Scottish Poets (1821-22); Robert Watt, Bibliotheca Britannica (1824); Pryse L. Gordon, Personal Memoirs (1830); Allibone, Critical Dictionary of English Literature (1858-71; 1882); William Anderson, Scottish Nation (1859-63).

COMMENTARY RECORDS
for Robert Alves:

1.	1795  Charles Burney, in Review of Alves, Sketches of a History of Literature; The Monthly Review NS 18 (December 1795) 370-72.
2.	1887  William Walker, in Bards of Bon Accord (1887) 645.

BIOGRAPHY RECORDS
for Robert Alves:

1.	1794  Anonymous, Memoir in Alves, Sketches of a History of Literature (1794) vi-ix.
2.	1798  Alexander Campbell, in Introduction to the History of Poetry in Scotland (1798) 305-06.
3.	1821  Joseph Robertson, in Lives of Scottish Poets (1821-22) 6:91-92.
4.	1859  William Anderson, in Scottish Nation (1859-66) 1:122.

AUTHOR AS CRITIC:
(commentary records)

1.	1794  Dr. Mark Akenside:   Robert Alves, in Sketches of a History of Literature (1794) 252.
2.	1794  Dr. John Armstrong:   Robert Alves, in Sketches of a History of Literature (1794) 178.
3.	1794  James Beattie:   Robert Alves, in Sketches of a History of Literature (1794) 176-77.
4.	1794  Rev. Thomas Blacklock:   Robert Alves, in Sketches of a History of Literature (1794) 176.
5.	1794  Michael Bruce:   Robert Alves, in Sketches of a History of Literature (1794) 177.
6.	1794  William Collins:   Robert Alves, in Sketches of a History of Literature (1794) 251-52.
7.	1794  William Drummond:   Robert Alves, in Sketches of a History of Literature (1794) 135-36.
8.	1794  Rev. Phineas Fletcher:   Robert Alves, in Sketches of a History of Literature (1794) 113.
9.	1794  Rev. Alexander Gerard:   Robert Alves, in Sketches of a History of Literature (1794) 163-64.
10.	1794  Thomas Gray:   Robert Alves, in Sketches of a History of Literature (1794) 257.
11.	1794  William Hamilton of Bangour:   Robert Alves, in Sketches of a History of Literature (1794) 175-76.
12.	1794  Lord Kames:   Robert Alves, in Sketches of a History of Literature (1794) 162.
13.	1794  Rev. John Langhorne:   Robert Alves, in Sketches of a History of Literature (1794) 251.
14.	1794  William Julius Mickle:   Robert Alves, in Sketches of a History of Literature (1794) 177.
15.	1794  Allan Ramsay:   Robert Alves, in Sketches of a History of Literature (1794) 174-75.