Duke Gordon (1739–1800) was a Scottish

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...

Life

Gordon was born on 20 May 1739, the son of William Gordon, a weaver in the Potterrow, Edinburgh. His father gave him his baptismal name from a clannish feeling for the

Duke of Gordon The title Duke of Gordon has been created once in the Peerage of Scotland and again in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The Dukedom, named after the Clan Gordon, was first created for the 4th Marquess of Huntly, who on 3 November 1684 was c ...

. He was educated at a school in the

Cowgate The Cowgate (Scots language, Scots: The Cougait) is a street in Edinburgh, Scotland, located about southeast of Edinburgh Castle, within the city's World Heritage Site. The street is part of the lower level of Edinburgh's Old Town, Edinburgh, ...

, under Andrew Waddel, translator of

George Buchanan George Buchanan ( gd, Seòras Bochanan; February 1506 – 28 September 1582) was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. According to historian Keith Brown, Buchanan was "the most profound intellectual sixteenth century Scotland produced." ...

's paraphrase of the Psalms. On 13 March 1753 he entered the Greek class in the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

under Robert Hunter, and became a good scholar. During 1754 he was substitute teacher of the parish school of

Tranent Tranent is a town in East Lothian (formerly Haddingtonshire), in the south-east of Scotland. The town lies 6 miles from the boundary of Edinburgh, and 9.1 miles from the city centre. It lies beside the A1 road, the A1 runs through the parish ...

Haddingtonshire East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

, returning to the University on 4 March 1755. After completing his course he was tutor in the families of Captain John Dalrymple, and of

Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck, 8th Laird of Auchinleck (1706–1782) was a judge of the supreme courts of Scotland. He was the father of the author and biographer James Boswell, and grandfather of songwriter Alexander Boswell (songwriter), ...

. James Robertson DD, professor of oriental languages, on being made University Librarian (12 January 1763), appointed Gordon his assistant. This office he retained under Andrew Dalzel, Robertson's successor. His salary until 1783 was £15, and never exceeded £35; he supported himself mainly by tuition. According to his biographer, he was a patient, sensitive scholar, not without sarcastic humour. He detected three of the six errors in the ‘immaculate’ edition of the Latin poet

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

of 1744 (see Robert Foulis). On his retirement from duty he received (12 April 1800) the degree of MA. He died unmarried on 30 December 1800, and was buried in St Cuthbert's churchyard, where a monument to his memory bears a long Latin inscription by Dalzel. He left £500 to the

Edinburgh Infirmary The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, or RIE, often (but incorrectly) known as the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, or ERI, was established in 1729 and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest v ...

, and the reversion of house property of nearly the same value to the poor of St Cuthbert's.

References

1739 births 1800 deaths 18th-century Scottish people Scottish librarians Curators from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh {{Scotland-academic-bio-stub