Dr. Robert Anderson

Robert Anderson was born at Carnwath, Lanarkshire. He studied divinity and medicine at Edinburgh University; after taking his M.D. from St. Andrews in 1778 he briefly practiced as a surgeon. Anderson married well and used his financial independence to set up as a man of letters, editing the Edinburgh Magazine and — his signal achievement — the Works of the British Poets (1792-1807). He gave assistance to many young poets, notably Thomas Campbell. The Doctor died at Edinburgh on the 20th of February 1830.

TEXT RECORDS:

1795Works of the British Poets: Edmund Spenser.
1795Works of the British Poets: Phineas Fletcher.

PUBLICATIONS:

Works of the British poets. 14 vols, 1792-5, 1807.
Robert Blair, Poetical works (with life by Anderson). 1794.
Miscellaneous works of Tobias Smollett (with life by Anderson). 1796.
Nathaniel Cotton, Poems (with life by Anderson). 1800.
Life of Samuel Johnson. 1815.
Works of John Moore, M.D., ed. Anderson. 7 vols, 1820.
Memoir of the life and writings of John Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury. 1824.
Correspondence of Thomas Percy and Robert Anderson, ed. W. E. K. Anderson. 1988.

PROFILE AND
ASSOCIATES:

Scottish
Presbyterian

Lanark School
Edinburgh University
St. Andrews University
Doctor of Medicine

physician
editor
poet
essayist

Edinburgh Magazine and Review
European Magazine
The Monthly Magazine

Alexander Balfour
Rev. Henry Boyd
Rev. William Laurence Brown
Thomas Campbell
David Carey
Richard Alfred Davenport
George Dyer
Robert Pearse Gillies
Thomas Park
Bp. Thomas Percy
John Pinkerton
William Preston
William Richardson
Sir Walter Scott
Thomas Stott
William Tennant
Alexander Thomson
Alexander Fraser Tytler
Joseph Cooper Walker
Samuel Whyte
John Wilson

REFERENCE:

DNB; not NCBEL.

David Rivers, Literary Memoirs of Living Authors (1798); Poetical Register for 1804 (1805), 1805 (1807), 1806-07 (1811); correspondence with Bishop Percy in Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-58) 7:69-224; Robert Watt, Bibliotheca Britannica (1824); obituary in Gentleman's Magazine 100 (April 1830) 375-76; obituary in New Monthly Magazine (June 1830) 260-61; "Reminiscences of Robert Anderson" Edinburgh Literary Journal (13 March 1830) 164-65; Robert Chambers, revised Thomson, Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen (1832-35; 1870); Allibone, Critical Dictionary of English Literature (1858-71; 1882); William Anderson, Scottish Nation (1865); Correspondence of Thomas Percy and Robert Anderson, ed. W. E. K. Anderson (1988).

COMMENTARY RECORDS
for Dr. Robert Anderson:

1.	1796  John Leyden, "The Dryad's Warning. To Robert Anderson M.D. on an Excursion in the Country" 1796; Edinburgh Magazine or Literary Miscellany NS 12 (July 1798) 60-61.
2.	1798  George Dyer, in "Ode, written after various Pedestrian Excursions in Scotland. To Dr. Anderson" The Monthly Magazine 6 (November 1798) 365-66.
3.	1802  Henry Boyd, "Ode to Robert Anderson, M.D." Poetical Register for 1802 (1803) 134-38.
4.	1802  Thomas Stott, "To Dr. Anderson, the celebrated Editor and Biographer, on his Arrival at Dromore, August 8, 1802" Dublin Evening Post (4 September 1802).
5.	1802  H., "To Robert Anderson, M.D. returning from Dromore" Edinburgh Magazine or Literary Miscellany NS 20 (November 1802) 380.
6.	1802  George Hay Drummond, "Sonnet to Robert Anderson, M.D. returning from Dromore" Poetical Register, and Repository of Fugitive Poetry for 1802 (1803) 289.
7.	1806  William Preston, in "Epistle to Robert Anderson, M.D. on receiving from him a Present of various Poetical Works" 1806; Poetical Register and Repository of Fugitive Poetry for 1805 (1807) 169-70.
8.	1814  Robert Southey, in Review of Chalmers's English Poets; Quarterly Review 11 (July 1814) 503-04.
9.	1819  George Ticknor to Elisha Ticknor, 15 February 1819; Life, Letters, and Journals of George Ticknor (1876) 1:274.
10.	1830  P. Maxwell, Reminiscences of Robert Anderson" Edinburgh Literary Journal (13 March 1830) 164-65.
11.	1832  James Hogg, in Autobiography (1832); Works (1865) 2:463.
12.	1851  Robert Pearse Gillies, in Memoirs of a Literary Veteran (1851) 1:178-79.

BIOGRAPHY RECORDS
for Dr. Robert Anderson:

1.	1798  David Rivers, in Literary Memoirs of Living Authors (1798) 1:13.
2.	1830  George Dyer, Obituary in Gentleman's Magazine 100 (April 1830) 375-76.
3.	1859  William Anderson, in Scottish Nation (1859-66) 1:133-35.

AUTHOR AS CRITIC:
(commentary records)

1.	1795  Joseph Addison:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 7:168-69.
2.	1795  Dr. Mark Akenside:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 9:738.
3.	1795  Dr. John Armstrong:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 10:906.
4.	1795  Rev. Thomas Blacklock:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 11:1159.
5.	1795  Sir Richard Blackmore:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 7:581.
6.	1795  Samuel Boyse:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 10:333.
7.	1795  Rev. William Broome:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 8:724-25.
8.	1795  Rev. John Brown:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 10:873-74.
9.	1795  William Browne of Tavistock:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 4:256-57.
10.	1795  Michael Bruce:   Alexander Campbell, in Introduction to the History of Poetry in Scotland (1798) 286-87.
11.	1795  Samuel Butler:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 5:520.
12.	1795  Thomas Chatterton:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 11:309.
13.	1795  Rev. Charles Churchill:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 10:451.
14.	1795  William Collins:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 9:514-15, 518.
15.	1795  William Congreve:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 7:535.
16.	1795  John Gilbert Cooper:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 10:768.
17.	1795  Abraham Cowley:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 5:204.
18.	1795  Samuel Daniel:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 4:113.
19.	1795  Sir William Davenant:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 4:761.
20.	1795  Robert Dodsley:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 11:81.
21.	1795  Rev. John Donne:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 4:4-5.
22.	1795  Michael Drayton:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 5:v-vi.
23.	1795  William Drummond:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 4:623-25.
24.	1795  John Dryden:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 6:x.
25.	1795  Elijah Fenton:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 7:648.
26.	1795  Rev. Phineas Fletcher:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 4:378-80.
27.	1795  John Gay:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 8:257-58.
28.	1795  Oliver Goldsmith:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 10: 811.
29.	1795  Thomas Gray:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 10:100.
30.	1795  Bp. Joseph Hall:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 3:726.
31.	1795  William Hamilton of Bangour:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 9:412.
32.	1795  Aaron Hill:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 8:659.
33.	1795  John Hughes:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 7:268.
34.	1795  Ben Jonson:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 4:527-28.
35.	1795  William King:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 6:655.
36.	1795  Robert Lloyd:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 10:617.
37.	1795  George Lyttelton:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 10:248.
38.	1795  David Mallet:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 9:677.
39.	1795  Moses Mendez:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 11:79.
40.	1795  William Julius Mickle:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 11:837.
41.	1795  Rev. Thomas Parnell:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 7:vi-vii.
42.	1795  William Pattison:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 8:552.
43.	1795  Ambrose Philips:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 9:381-82.
44.	1795  John Philips:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 6:535.
45.	1795  John Pinkerton:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 4:624.
46.	1795  Alexander Pope:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 8:xii.
47.	1795  Matthew Prior:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 7:377.
48.	1795  Francis Quarles:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 4:377-78.
49.	1795  Nicholas Rowe:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 7:129.
50.	1795  Richard Savage:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 8:604.
51.	1795  Rev. Samuel Say:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 9:287.
52.	1795  John Scott of Amwell:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 11:728.
53.	1795  John Sheffield:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 7:341, 344.
54.	1795  William Shenstone:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 9:589-90.
55.	1795  Christopher Smart:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 11:123-34.
56.	1795  Edmund Smith:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 5:586.
57.	1795  Tobias Smollett:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 10:947.
58.	1795  William Somervile:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 8:448.
59.	1795  James Thomson:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 9:179.
60.	1795  Alexander Thomson:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 4:489.
61.	1795  Thomas Tickell:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 8:402.
62.	1795  Edmund Waller:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 5:445.
63.	1795  William Walsh:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 6:564.
64.	1795  Rev. Thomas Warton:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 11:1056.
65.	1795  Rev. Isaac Watts:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 9:291.
66.	1795  Gilbert West:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 9:469-70.
67.	1795  Richard West:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 10:250.
68.	1795  William Whitehead:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 11:892-93.
69.	1795  Rev. William Wilkie:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 11:23-24.
70.	1795  Rev. Thomas Yalden:   Robert Anderson, in Works of the British Poets (1795) 7:747, 749.
71.	1800  Jane West:   Robert Anderson to Thomas Percy, 14 September 1800; Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-1858) 7:88-89.
72.	1801  William Cunningham:   Robert Anderson to Thomas Percy, 9 May 1801; Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-58) 7:95.
73.	1801  Thomas Park:   Robert Anderson to Thomas Percy, 9 May 1801; Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-58) 7:95.
74.	1802  Rev. Henry John Todd:   Robert Anderson to Thomas Percy, 1 October 1802; Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-58) 7:106.
75.	1802  Joseph Cooper Walker:   Robert Anderson to Thomas Percy, 1 October 1802; Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-58) 7:106.
76.	1802  Jane West:   Robert Nares to Thomas Percy, 28 August 1802; Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-1858) 7:597-98.
77.	1803  Joseph Ritson:   Robert Anderson to Thomas Percy, 21 May 1803; Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-58) 7:113.
78.	1804  Alexander Thomson:   Robert Anderson to Thomas Percy, 24 January 1804; Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-58) 7:122-23.
79.	1807  Lord Kames:   Robert Anderson to Thomas Percy, 23 July 1807; Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-58) 7:182-83.
80.	1808  David Carey:   Robert Anderson to Alexander Balfour, 9 July 1808; Balfour, Weeds and Wildflowers (1830) xxxvii.
81.	1811  William Oldys:   Robert Anderson to Thomas Percy, 15 May 1811; Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-58) 7:212.
82.	1811  Anna Seward:   Robert Anderson to Thomas Percy, 22 June 1811; Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-58) 7:215-16.

AUTHOR AS CRITIC:
(biography records)

1.	1795  Michael Bruce:   Robert Anderson, "The Life of Bruce" Works of the British Poets (1795) 11:273-82.
2.	1795  Dr. Nathaniel Cotton:   Robert Anderson, "The Life of Cotton" Works of the British Poets (1795) 11:1106-08.
3.	1795  Robert Dodsley:   Robert Anderson, "The Life of Dodsley" Works of the British Poets (1795) 11:77-82.
4.	1795  Rev. Giles Fletcher:   Robert Anderson, "The Life of Giles Fletcher" Works of the British Poets (1795) 4:485-90.
5.	1795  Rev. Richard Jago:   Robert Anderson, "The Life of Jago" Works of the British Poets (1795) 11:675-78
6.	1795  Rev. Thomas Penrose:   Robert Anderson, "The Life of Penrose" Works of the British Poets (1795) 11:607-10.
7.	1795  Rev. William Thompson:   Robert Anderson, "The Life of Thompson" Works of the British Poets (1795) 10:353-57.