Robert Watt (bapt. 1 May 1774 – 12 March 1819) was a Scottish

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

bibliographer Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...

Early life

The son of a small farmer in Bonnyton near

Stewarton Stewarton ( sco, Stewartoun,
gd, Baile nan Stiùbhar ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

, Watt attended school from the age of six to twelve. After working as a ploughman, aged seventeen he went to learn cabinetmaking with his brother. Forming the ambition to go to

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, Watt was given tuition by a local schoolmaster and managed to enter Glasgow University in 1793, transferring to

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

in 1795. After briefly considering the ministry, he graduated with a Licence in

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

in 1799 and took up a medical practice in Paisley.

Medical career

By 1800 he was publishing papers in the ''Medical and Physical Journal'', and he continued to publish medical articles until 1814. A founding member of the Paisley Medical Society in 1806, he was admitted a full member of the Glasgow Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons in 1807 and thereafter built his reputation as a Glasgow physician. From 1814 to 1816 he was President of the Faculty, and he was a founding member and first president of the Glasgow Medical Society. Watt published two books and several papers on medicine: his 1813 ''Inquiry'' into child mortality (after two of his children had died from

whooping cough Whooping cough, also known as pertussis or the 100-day cough, is a highly contagious bacterial disease. Initial symptoms are usually similar to those of the common cold with a runny nose, fever, and mild cough, but these are followed by two or t ...

) concluded that

smallpox vaccination The smallpox vaccine is the first vaccine to be developed against a contagious disease. In 1796, British physician Edward Jenner demonstrated that an infection with the relatively mild cowpox virus conferred immunity against the deadly smallpox ...

had impacted on smallpox mortality, but not on overall

child mortality Child mortality is the mortality of children under the age of five. The child mortality rate, also under-five mortality rate, refers to the probability of dying between birth and exactly five years of age expressed per 1,000 live births. It en ...

. However, he gave up medical practice due to ill-health in 1817 and his lasting reputation rests on his work as a bibliographer.

''Bibliotheca Britannica''

Watt's first bibliographical publication was a catalogue (1812) of his own medical library. ''Bibliotheca Britannica'' was a much more extravagantly ambitious project: "A General Index on the Literature of Great Britain and Ireland Ancient and Modern including Such Foreign Books as have been translated into English or printed in the British Dominions, as also a copious selection from the writings of the most distinguished authors of all ages and nations." Watt died in 1819, but lived to see the book mostly completed and printing begun. The support of

Thomas Chalmers Thomas Chalmers (17 March 178031 May 1847), was a Scottish minister, professor of theology, political economist, and a leader of both the Church of Scotland and of the Free Church of Scotland. He has been called "Scotland's greatest nine ...

, James Ewing,

George Jardine Rev George Jardine FRSE (1742–January 28, 1827) was a Scottish minister of religion, philosopher, academic and educator. He was Professor at the University of Glasgow, of Greek from 1774, and then Professor of Logic and Rhetoric 1787 to 1824. ...

and Ralph Whitelaw was enlisted to ensure that publication would be completed. A complete edition in four large

quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...

volumes was seen through the press by 1824: volumes one and two were an alphabetical author index, and volumes three and four a subject index. Over 40,000 authors were covered, and some periodical literature was also indexed. Paisley Public Library holds a manuscript of ''Bibliotheca Britannica'' in 57 folio volumes.'A Bibliographical Martyr', p. 62

Works

*''Cases of

Diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

Consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...

, etc., with Observations on the History and Treatment of Disease in General'', 1808 *''Catalogue of Medical Books for the Use of Students Attending Lectures on the Principles and Practice of Medicine'', Glasgow, 1812 *''Treatise on the History, Nature and Treatment of Chincough... to which is subjoined an Inquiry into the Relative Mortality of the Principal Diseases of Children'', Glasgow, 1813. *''The Rule of Life'', 1814 *
Bibliotheca Britannica
or a general index of British and foreign literature''. Edinburgh, Constable, 1824. Four volumes.

Notes

References

* *Finlayson,
Life and Works of Robert Watt
', 1897 *

External links

*James Beaton
‘Watt, Robert (bap. 1774, d. 1819)’
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 19 Dec 2007 * *
archive.org: ''Bibliotheca Britannica'', volume I

archive.org: ''Bibliotheca Britannica'', volume II
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watt, Robert 19th-century Scottish medical doctors 1774 births 1819 deaths Scottish bibliographers People from East Ayrshire Alumni of the University of Glasgow Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish medical writers 18th-century Scottish medical doctors