Publishing at "the request of friends": Alexander Ross and James Beattie’s Authorial Networks in Eighteenth-Century Aberdeen

Authorship in eighteenth-century Aberdeen often functioned differently than in London and Edinburgh. The Aberdeen model of authorship relied heavily on an intricate network of booksellers, patrons, readers, and critics involved in preparing a text to be consumed by the reading public; yet the preva...

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Main Author:	Ruth Knezevich
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Ghent University 2016-06-01
Series:	Authorship
Subjects:	authorship James Beattie Alexander Ross eighteenth-century Scottish literature book history Ruth Knezevich
Online Access:	https://www.authorship.ugent.be/article/view/2352

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spelling	doaj-e9d7145b626047b187147246e522add42020-11-25T02:51:25ZengGhent UniversityAuthorship2034-46432016-06-0151Publishing at "the request of friends": Alexander Ross and James Beattie’s Authorial Networks in Eighteenth-Century AberdeenRuth Knezevich0University of Otago Authorship in eighteenth-century Aberdeen often functioned differently than in London and Edinburgh. The Aberdeen model of authorship relied heavily on an intricate network of booksellers, patrons, readers, and critics involved in preparing a text to be consumed by the reading public; yet the prevailing narrative of the author as rising to “inspired genius” disallows for this network. The authorial career of poet Alexander Ross and his friend/mentorship with philosopher James Beattie offers a useful case study of the Aberdeen model—especially when approached through a lens of book history to consider the material practices surrounding the production of a literary work. Both Ross’s career in particular and eighteenth-century Aberdeen offer ways to historicize the concept of the “inspired genius” emerging at the end of the eighteenth century. Therefore, addressing the authorial careers of Ross and Beattie opens up new avenues for discussion, both of these poets in particular and of discourses of authorial practices in general. https://www.authorship.ugent.be/article/view/2352authorshipJames BeattieAlexander Rosseighteenth-century Scottish literaturebook historyRuth Knezevich
collection	DOAJ
language	English
format	Article
sources	DOAJ
author	Ruth Knezevich
spellingShingle	Ruth Knezevich Publishing at "the request of friends": Alexander Ross and James Beattie’s Authorial Networks in Eighteenth-Century Aberdeen Authorship authorship James Beattie Alexander Ross eighteenth-century Scottish literature book history Ruth Knezevich
author_facet	Ruth Knezevich
author_sort	Ruth Knezevich
title	Publishing at "the request of friends": Alexander Ross and James Beattie’s Authorial Networks in Eighteenth-Century Aberdeen
title_short	Publishing at "the request of friends": Alexander Ross and James Beattie’s Authorial Networks in Eighteenth-Century Aberdeen
title_full	Publishing at "the request of friends": Alexander Ross and James Beattie’s Authorial Networks in Eighteenth-Century Aberdeen
title_fullStr	Publishing at "the request of friends": Alexander Ross and James Beattie’s Authorial Networks in Eighteenth-Century Aberdeen
title_full_unstemmed	Publishing at "the request of friends": Alexander Ross and James Beattie’s Authorial Networks in Eighteenth-Century Aberdeen
title_sort	publishing at "the request of friends": alexander ross and james beattie’s authorial networks in eighteenth-century aberdeen
publisher	Ghent University
series	Authorship
issn	2034-4643
publishDate	2016-06-01
description	Authorship in eighteenth-century Aberdeen often functioned differently than in London and Edinburgh. The Aberdeen model of authorship relied heavily on an intricate network of booksellers, patrons, readers, and critics involved in preparing a text to be consumed by the reading public; yet the prevailing narrative of the author as rising to “inspired genius” disallows for this network. The authorial career of poet Alexander Ross and his friend/mentorship with philosopher James Beattie offers a useful case study of the Aberdeen model—especially when approached through a lens of book history to consider the material practices surrounding the production of a literary work. Both Ross’s career in particular and eighteenth-century Aberdeen offer ways to historicize the concept of the “inspired genius” emerging at the end of the eighteenth century. Therefore, addressing the authorial careers of Ross and Beattie opens up new avenues for discussion, both of these poets in particular and of discourses of authorial practices in general.
topic	authorship James Beattie Alexander Ross eighteenth-century Scottish literature book history Ruth Knezevich
url	https://www.authorship.ugent.be/article/view/2352
work_keys_str_mv	AT ruthknezevich publishingattherequestoffriendsalexanderrossandjamesbeattiesauthorialnetworksineighteenthcenturyaberdeen
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Publishing at "the request of friends": Alexander Ross and James Beattie’s Authorial Networks in Eighteenth-Century Aberdeen

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