Alexander Gordon (antiquary) - Later Life in Scotland and England

Later Life in Scotland and England

Gordon now attempted to give practical effect to a project for cutting a navigable canal between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth. The scheme, however, was not new to the government, who considered that the profits would not answer the charge. Gordon's circumstances, always narrow, were not improved by the prosecution of projects which never repaid him. According to John Whiston, the London bookseller, he was for some time in partnership with John Wilcox, a bookseller in the Strand, "but his education, temper, and manners did not suit him for a trade. . . .Poverty tempted him to dishonesty," or perhaps want of business habits may have rendered him careless in regard to money transactions. His next publication was The Lives of Pope Alexander VI and his son Cæsar Borgia; comprehending the Wars in the Reigns of Charles VIII and Lewis XII, Kings of France, and the chief Transactions and Revolutions in Italy from . . . 1492 to ... 1506. With an Appendix of original Pieces referred to in the book. The volume contains portraits of Alexander VI and of Cæsar Borgia, the former probably etched by the author. In 1751 a French version appeared at Amsterdam. A solitary dramatic attempt, Lupone, or the Inquisitor: a comedy, was deemed by the managers to be too classical for representation. He was more successful with a translation of the De Amphitheatro of Francesco Scipione, marchese di Maffei, published as A Compleat History of the Ancient Amphitheatres, more peculiarly regarding the Architecture of these Buildings, and in particular that of Verona. . . . Adorned with Sculptures ; also, some Account of this learned Work. In 1731-1732 Gordon had made some additions to his Itinerarium Septentrionale, of which a Latin edition was being prepared in Holland. This never appeared, but Gordon printed the supplement he had prepared for it in a separate form, entitled Additions and Corrections by way of Supplement to the Itinerarium Septentrionale, containing several dissertations on, and descriptions of, Roman Antiquities discovered in Scotland since the publishing the said Itinerary. Together with Observations on other Ancient Monuments found in the North of England. Never before publish'd. In 1736 Gordon was appointed secretary to the Society for the Encouragement of Learning, with an annual salary of £50. In the same year he succeeded Stukeley as secretary to the Society of Antiquaries, of which he had been elected a fellow on 17 February 1725. It was probably through Stukeley's influence that he also obtained the secretaryship of the Egyptian Society, of which Stukeley was one of the founders, and thus had a new bent given to his researches. Gordon published two very learned treatises wherein he undertook to solve the mysteries of hieroglyphics and to illustrate "all the Egyptian mummies in England." Their titles are An Essay towards explaining the Hieroglyphical Figures on the Coffin of the Ancient Mummy belonging to Capt. William Lethieullier. (An Essay towards explaining the antient Hieroglyphical Figures on the Egyptian Mummy in the Museum of Doctor Mead). The letterpress is explanatory of three only of the twenty-five plates, and the remainder never appeared. The manuscript, along with the drawings, was apparently in the sale of Sir Charles Frederick's library in July 1786. In the second essay the author mentions another work, as "nearly ready," An Essay towards illustrating the History, Chronology, and Mythology of the Ancient Egyptians, from the earliest ages on record, till the Dissolution of their Empire, near the Times of Alexander. It was not, however, completed until 6 July 1741. By that time Gordon had resigned his secretaryships. He was married, and no doubt found his income insufficient. Whiston says that Gordon having been found deficient in his accounts was dismissed from the Society for the Encouragement of Learning, and his effects seized on.