Reading the Scottish Enlightenment : books and their readers in provincial Scotland, 1750-1820 / / by Mark R.M. Towsey.

• Superior document: Library of the written word ; v. 10
• Author: Towsey, Mark R. M.
• Year of Publication: 2010
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Library of the written word ; 10.; Library of the written word. Handpress world ; 5.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (380 p.)
• Notes: Based on author's thesis, Ph.D., St. Andrews University, 2007.

It has become commonplace in recent decades for scholars to identify in the books of the Scottish Enlightenment the intellectual origins of the modern world, but little attention has yet been paid to its impact on contemporary readers. Drawing on a range of innovatory methodologies associated with the burgeoning interdisciplinary field of the history of reading, this book explores the reception of books by David Hume, Adam Smith, William Robertson and Thomas Reid (amongst many others), assessing their impact on the lives, beliefs and habits of mind of readers across the social scale. In the process, the book offers a fascinating new perspective on the fundamental importance of personal reading experiences to the social history of the Enlightenment.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material / M. Towsey -- Introduction. \' Enlightenment Everywhere\': Locating The Reader In The Scottish Enlightenment / M. Towsey -- I. \' One Of The Greatest Ornaments To A Gentleman\': Private Libraries / M. Towsey -- II. \' A Powerful Means Of Improving The Neighbourhood\': Subscription Libraries / M. Towsey -- III. \' Vice And Obscenity Dreadfully Propagated\': Circulating Libraries / M. Towsey -- IV. \' A Taste For Reading In The Country\': Religious And Endowed Libraries / M. Towsey -- V. \' This Map Of My Mind\': Recovering Historical Reading Experiences / M. Towsey -- VI. \' A Man Of Moderate Passions\': Fashioning An Enlightened Self / M. Towsey -- VII. \' That Independency Which A Whole Nation Had Renounced\': Negotiating Scottish Identity / M. Towsey -- VIII. \' The Patron Of Infidelity\': Reading Hume And The Common Sense Philosophers / M. Towsey -- Conclusion. \' Improved And Enlightened By Reading\': A Provincial Enlightenment? / M. Towsey -- Bibliography / M. Towsey -- Index / M. Towsey.