Publisher's Synopsis
John Pinkerton (1758-1826) was a British antiquarian, cartographer, author, numismatist, historian, and early advocate of Germanic racial supremacy theory. He was born in Edinburgh. His studious youth brought him extensive knowledge of the Classics, and it is known that in his childhood years he enjoyed translating Roman authors such as Livy. He moved on to Edinburgh University, and after graduating, remained in the city to take up an apprenticeship in Law. It had been during his brief legal career though that he had begun writing, his Elegy on Craigmillar Castle being first published in 1776. In 1781, John moved to London, where his full career as a writer began in earnest, publishing in the same year a volume of Rimes of no great merit, and Scottish Tragic Ballads. He published an Essay on Medals in 1784, and in 1785, under the pseudonym of "Robert Heron," his bold but eccentric Letters of Literature depreciating the classical authors of Greece and Rome. Pinkerton's main work was the Pinkerton's Modern Atlas published from 1808 through 1815. His maps are today greatly valued for their quality, size, colouration, and detail.
