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The First Scottish Enlightenment: Rebels, Priests, and History Kindle Edition

by Kelsey Jackson Williams (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 3 ratings
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Traditional accounts of the Scottish Enlightenment present the half-century or so before 1750 as, at best, a not-yet fully realised precursor to the era of Hume and Smith, at worst, a period of superstition and religious bigotry. This is the first book-length study to systematically challenge that notion. Instead, it argues that the era between approximately 1680 and 1745 was a 'First' Scottish Enlightenment, part of the continent-wide phenomenon of early
Enlightenment and led by the Jacobites, Episcopalians, and Catholics of north-eastern Scotland. It makes this argument through an intensive study of the dramatic changes in historiographical practice which took place in Scotland during this era, showing how the documentary scholarship of Jean Mabillon and the
Maurists was eagerly received and rapidly developed in Scottish historical circles, resulting in the wholesale demolition of the older, Humanist myths of Scottish origins and their replacement with the foundations of our modern understanding of early Scottish history.

This volume accordingly challenges many of the truisms surrounding seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Scottish history, pushing back against notions of pre-Enlightenment Scotland as backward, insular, and intellectually impoverished and mapping a richly polymathic, erudite, and transnational web of scholars, readers, and polemicists. It highlights the enduring cultural links with France and argues for the central importance of Scotland's two principal religious minorities—Episcopalians and
Catholics—in the growth of Enlightenment thinking. As such, it makes a major intervention in the intellectual and cultural histories of Scotland, early modern Europe, and the Enlightenment itself.
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  1. ISBN-13
    978-0198809692
  2. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  3. Publisher
    OUP Oxford
  4. Publication date
    February 25, 2020
  5. Language
    English
  6. File size
    4390 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"An excellent study, enriched by the often-brilliant use of myriad sources" -- R.J.W. Mills, The Seventeenth Century

"Erudite and attractively written, The First Scottish Enlightenment is a compelling reconstruction of historical culture in the first half of the eighteenth century. Connecting the familiar with the overlooked, alive to cosmopolitan links and local peculiarities, it deserves to be widely read." -- Alasdair Raffe, Eighteenth-Century Scotland: The Newsletter of the Eighteenth-Century Scottish Studies Society

"The book as a whole brings an important intellectual movement out of the shadows of previous neglect. It also reminds us that the story of English antiquaries (and Antiquaries) was not without parallels in Scotland and on the European continent." -- Neil Guthrie, The Antiquaries Journal

"Jackson Williams... carefully casts the 'city guard' and 'crowd of citizens' of an older Enlightenment drama in new roles. This new character set inspires comparisons beyond Scotland's north-east and it builds much-needed bridges between British and European political and intellectual histories." -- Tom Tölle, British Catholic History

"In this remarkable and engaging book, Kelsey Jackson Williams convincingly makes the case for the existence of an early Enlightenment in Scotland, which spanned the 1680s to the 1740s and achieved a dramatic and lasting transformation in the practice and conception of Scottish history." -- Felicity Loughlin, Scottish Church History

"a text that contributes wonderfully to our understanding of our past as we continue to struggle over how to imagine the future." -- Paul Gilfillan, The Innes Review

"First Scottish Enlightenment has many virtues...Overall, this a tremendous contribution to the history of Scottish scholarship and Scottish intellectual history generally." -- R.J.W. Mills, Queen Mary University of London, The Seventeenth Century

"An excellent study, enriched by the often-brilliant use of myriad sources" -- R.J.W. Mills, The Seventeenth Century

"Erudite and attractively written, The First Scottish Enlightenment is a compelling reconstruction of historical culture in the first half of the eighteenth century. Connecting the familiar with the overlooked, alive to cosmopolitan links and local peculiarities, it deserves to be widely read." -- Alasdair Raffe, Eighteenth-Century Scotland: The Newsletter of the Eighteenth-Century Scottish Studies Society

"The book as a whole brings an important intellectual movement out of the shadows of previous neglect. It also reminds us that the story of English antiquaries (and Antiquaries) was not without parallels in Scotland and on the European continent." -- Neil Guthrie, The Antiquaries Journal

"Jackson Williams... carefully casts the 'city guard' and 'crowd of citizens' of an older Enlightenment drama in new roles. This new character set inspires comparisons beyond Scotland's north-east and it builds much-needed bridges between British and European political and intellectual histories." -- Tom Tölle, British Catholic History

"In this remarkable and engaging book, Kelsey Jackson Williams convincingly makes the case for the existence of an early Enlightenment in Scotland, which spanned the 1680s to the 1740s and achieved a dramatic and lasting transformation in the practice and conception of Scottish history." -- Felicity Loughlin, Scottish Church History

"a text that contributes wonderfully to our understanding of our past as we continue to struggle over how to imagine the future." -- Paul Gilfillan, The Innes Review

About the Author

Kelsey Jackson-Williams, Lecturer in Early Modern Literature, University of Stirling

Kelsey Jackson Williams is Lecturer in Early Modern Literature at the University of Stirling and his research focuses on the intellectual, cultural, and material histories of Scotland, England, and continental Northern Europe. He was educated at Balliol College, University of Oxford, and held posts at Jesus College, University of Oxford, and the University of St Andrews before taking up his present lectureship.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B085392V4M
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ OUP Oxford (February 25, 2020)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 25, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4390 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 3 ratings

Customer reviews

5 out of 5 stars
5 out of 5
3 global ratings

Top review from the United States

Ingrid G
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, original work of Scottish history.
Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2020
Verified Purchase
The Scottish Enlightenment has enjoyed a resurgence of interest by professional historians and history buffs. We know more about Adam Smith, David Hume, William Robertson, Hugh Blair, and their Enlightenment literai friends than ever before. However this new book offers fresh insights, challenges some received wisdom, and probes new sources. Highly recommended.
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Top reviews from other countries

Mr. P. J. F. Herbert
5.0 out of 5 stars A book of major importance for the history of Sotland and the enlightenment
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 23, 2020
Verified Purchase
The book covers a previously neglected period of Scottish history. With "The Enlightenment" being one of the most important periods in European and world history, the Scottish Enlightenment was one its most vital parts. Hitherto, the latter half of the 18th century was regarded as its main period but the author here points us firmly in the direction of the fifty and more years earlier, unearthing the vital role played by thinkers, writers and their patrons. These were men (and virtually always men) who laid much of the foundation for all of European Enlightenment, not just the Scottish part of it.
This could have been a dry, purely academic study, but the author uses a disarmingly simple technique to render the subject utterly fascinating and very readable. As a result, a relatively unknown part of Scottish life is transformed into a major contributor to our knowledge of the modern world and it is done in a manner that is highly informative and erudite whilst also allowing the reader easily to absorb new knowledge and thought that would otherwise be hidden.
The value of this book cannot be underestimated and anyone with an interest in the transformation of the world into the modern era will find it of immense value.
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