Robert Watt (bibliographer)
Encyclopedia
Dr Robert Watt was a Scottish
physician
and bibliographer
.
near Stewarton
in Ayrshire
, 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, Watt was given tuition by a local schoolmaster and managed to enter Glasgow University in 1793, transferring to Edinburgh University in 1795. After briefly considering the ministry, he graduated with a Licence in medicine
in 1799 and took up a medical practice in Paisley
.
had impacted on smallpox mortality, but not on overall child mortality
. However, he gave up medical practice due to ill-health in 1817 and his lasting reputation rests on his work as a bibliographer.
, James Ewing
, George Jardine
and Ralph Whitelaw was enlisted to ensure that publication would be completed. A complete edition in four large quarto
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.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and bibliographer
Bibliographer
"A bibliographer is a person who describes and lists books and other publications, with particular attention to such characteristics as authorship, publication date, edition, typography, etc. The result of this endeavor is a bibliography...
.
Early life
The son of a small farmer in BonnytonBonnyton, East Ayrshire
Bonnyton is a council housing area in the West of Kilmarnock, Scotland, with a mix of residential and commercial properties within the area.- Barclay House :...
near Stewarton
Stewarton
Stewarton is a town in East Ayrshire, Scotland. In comparison to the neighbouring towns of Kilmaurs, Fenwick, Dunlop and Lugton, it is a relatively large town, with a population of over 6,500. It is 300 feet above sea level.Groome, Francis H. . Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland. Pub. Caxton. London....
in Ayrshire
Ayrshire
Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...
, 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, Watt was given tuition by a local schoolmaster and managed to enter Glasgow University in 1793, transferring to Edinburgh University in 1795. After briefly considering the ministry, he graduated with a Licence in medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
in 1799 and took up a medical practice in Paisley
Paisley
Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...
.
Medical career
By 1800 he was publishing papers in the Medical and Physical Journal, and he continued to publish medical articles until 1814. A founder 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 1814-1816 he was President of the Faculty, and he was a founder 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) concluded that smallpox vaccinationSmallpox vaccine
The smallpox vaccine was the first successful vaccine to be developed. The process of vaccination was discovered by Edward Jenner in 1796, who acted upon his observation that milkmaids who caught the cowpox virus did not catch smallpox...
had impacted on smallpox mortality, but not on overall child mortality
Child mortality
Child mortality, also known as under-5 mortality, refers to the death of infants and children under the age of five. In 2010, 7.6 million children under five died , down from 8.1 million in 2009, 8.8 million in 2008, and 12.4 million in 1990. About half of child deaths occur in Africa....
. 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. However, 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." Though Watt died in 1819, he lived to see the book mostly completed and printing begun. The support of Thomas ChalmersThomas Chalmers
Thomas Chalmers , Scottish mathematician, political economist, divine and a leader of the Free Church of Scotland, was born at Anstruther in Fife.-Overview:...
, James Ewing
James Ewing
James Stephen Ewing was an American pathologist. He was the first Professor of pathology at Cornell University and became famous with the discovery of a form of malignant bone tumor that later became known as Ewing's sarcoma.-Life:James Ewing, was born in 1866 to a prominent family of Pittsburgh....
, George Jardine
George Jardine
George Jardine FRSE 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
Quarto could refer to:* Quarto, a size or format of a book in which four leaves of a book are created from a standard size sheet of paper* For specific information about quarto texts of William Shakespeare's works, see:...
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.
Works
- Cases of Diabetes, ConsumptionTuberculosisTuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, 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.
External links
- James Beaton, ‘Watt, Robert (bap. 1774, d. 1819)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 19 Dec 2007