Robert Scott (13 November 1777–1841) was a Scottish engraver.

Life

The son of Grizell and Robert Scott, he was born on 13 November 1777 at

Lanark Lanark (; gd, Lannraig ; sco, Lanrik) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a population of 9 ...

, where his father was a

skinner Skinner may refer to: People and fictional characters *Skinner (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with that surname *Skinner (profession), a person who makes a living by working with animal skins or driving mules *Skinner, a ring ...

. He attended the grammar school at

Musselburgh Musselburgh (; sco, Musselburrae; gd, Baile nam Feusgan) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It has a population of . History The name Musselburgh is Ol ...

, and at the age of ten was articled to Andrew Robertson, an engraver at Edinburgh; there he also worked in the

Trustees' Academy Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

. Among his pupils were John Burnet, John Horsburgh, and

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...

. He died early in 1841 in Edinburgh.

Works

Scott first became known for some plates in

James Anderson of Hermiston James Anderson FRSE FSAScot (1739 – 15 October 1808) was a Scottish agriculturist, journalist and economist. A member of the Edinburgh Philosophical Society, Anderson was a prominent figure in the Scottish Enlightenment. He invented the Sc ...

's ''The Bee'' for 1793 and 1794, and a set of ''Views of Seats and Scenery chiefly in the Environs of Edinburgh'', from drawings by

Alexander Carse Alexander Carse (c. 1770 – February 1843) was a Scottish painter known for his scenes of Scottish life. His works include a large canvas of George IV's visit to Leith and three early paintings of football matches. Life Carse was born in Inne ...

and Andrew Wilson, published in 1795 and 1796. He made the most of his abilities, and was known in his day for his small book illustrations; he carried on a manufactory in Parliament Stairs, Edinburgh, employing many assistants. Scott's most significant work was in landscape. He engraved the illustrations to George Barry's ''History of the Orkney Islands'', 1805, and to ''Scenery of Allan Ramsay's Gentle Shepherd'', 1808; he contributed plates for many years to the ''

Scots Magazine ''The Scots Magazine'' is a magazine containing articles on subjects of Scottish interest. It claims to be the oldest magazine in the world still in publication, although there have been several gaps in its publication history. It has reported on ...

'', and put in the landscape backgrounds of some of those for John Bell's ''Poets of Great Britain''. He was employed by Henry Mozley, publisher at

Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, New South Wales, ...

(the father of

Thomas Mozley Thomas Mozley (1806June 17, 1893), was an English clergyman and writer associated with the Oxford Movement. Early life Mozley was born at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, the son of a bookseller and publisher. His brother, James Bowling Mozley, woul ...

and

James Bowling Mozley James Bowling Mozley (15 September 1813 – 4 January 1878) was an English theologian. He was born at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, the younger brother of Thomas Mozley, and was educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School (now Queen Elizabeth's ...

), for whose edition of James Thomson's '' The Seasons'' (1804), he engraved four plates after John Burnet. Scott's last work was a set of 20 views of ‘Scenery of Edinburgh and Midlothian,’ 1838, from drawings by his son, William Bell Scott. By his final years he had obtained a prestigious studio at 65

Princes Street Princes Street ( gd, Sràid nam Prionnsan) is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three ...

and was living at 15 Lauriston Street in the Tollcross area of Edinburgh. Both buildings are now demolished.

Family

On 29 March 1800 Scott married Ross Bell, the daughter of Robert Bell, a Musselburgh mason. Together they had two sons,

David Scott David Randolph Scott (born June 6, 1932) is an American retired test pilot and NASA astronaut who was the seventh person to walk on the Moon. Selected as part of the third group of astronauts in 1963, Scott flew to space three times and c ...

and

William Bell Scott William Bell Scott (1811–1890) was a Scottish artist in oils and watercolour and occasionally printmaking. He was also a poet and art teacher, and his posthumously published reminiscences give a chatty and often vivid picture of life in the ...

, who both became artists.

References

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Robert 1777 births 1841 deaths 18th-century engravers 19th-century engravers Scottish engravers Edinburgh College of Art