ALEXANDER aoEDON, THE ANTIQUArvY. 133 



1727, and a different list of booksellers. In all probability, having 

 supplied his original list of subscribers, he parted with the remaining' 

 copies; and so, while the 1726 edition bears on its title that it is 

 " printed for the Author," and sold by the above-named booksellers, 

 the later one is said to be printed for F. Gyles, D. Browne, &c. At 

 a later date this was further supplemented by the Appendix and 

 extra plates ; and that again, in certain copies, by Sir John Clerk's 

 errata ; so that the modem book collector has to look out for the 

 latest issue, unless he is curious in first editions. 



From the letter of Sir John Clerk quoted above, it appears that 

 the introduction of Mr. Roger Gale to the Baron of Pennycuik was 

 due to Alexander Gordon ; but, with all his submission to the 

 deferential requirements of the age, the diligent and enthusiastic 

 Author of the Itinerarium Septentrionale would, it seems, too 

 frequently follow courses that seemed best in his own eyes, and even 

 venture to hold to his own opinions in spite of the suggestions of 

 such learned advisers. 



It does not appear that the proposed Latin version of the Itinerary, 

 with Baron Clerk's addenda, and the author's own additions and 

 corrections, ever issued from the Dutch press ; and from his English 

 edition — notwithstanding all the fees from subscribers, and gratuities 

 in acknowledgment of special dedications of plates, maps, tfec. — it is 

 to be feared that the returns for all his self-sacrificing labours wei-e 

 meagre enough. 



The advice which that patrician dilettante, Horace Walpole, gave 

 to the poet Chatterton, when he asked his aid to assist him in pro- 

 curing some position where he might pursue the bent of his genius, 

 was, to stick to his drudgery, and " when he should have made a 

 fortune, he might unbend himself with the studies consonant to his 

 inclinations." The advice would have suited the Scottish Antiquary 

 as well as the marvellous Bristol boy. He could not dally with the 

 antiquarian Muse— -if such there be, — like the laird of Pennycuik, or 

 his English ally, who acknowledges some little force in the poor 

 author's anticipation of the prospects of getting a little money by his 

 work. It is manifest that he had pecuniary difficulties, wranglino-s 

 with booksellers, and trouble enough with touchy patrons ; and, from 

 Mr. Gd,le's allusion to " that strong plea of Res angusta domi for his 

 hasty publication," I infer that he had already married, and had the 

 cares of a household added to his other anxieties. 



