Educated at Edinburgh University of which he became principal (1762), he was a highly-regarded historian, the author of History of Scotland in the Reign of Queen Mary and of King James VI (1759) and The History of the Reign of Charles V (1769).

REFERENCES TO William Robertson:

Samuel Newton to William Godwin, 4 December 1793 in William Godwin: his Friends and Contemporaries (London: Henry S. King & Co., 1876)

Charles Lamb to Thomas Manning, [1 March 1800] in The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb. Letters (London: Methuen and Co., 1905)

Samuel Taylor Coleridge to William Godwin, [11 September 1800] in William Godwin: his Friends and Contemporaries (London: Henry S. King & Co., 1876)

Robert Southey to C. W. W. Wynn, 21 February 1801 in The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey (London: 1849-1850)

Francis Crossley to Sydney Owenson, 3 April 1804 in Lady Morgan’s Memoirs: Autobiography, Diaries and Correspondence. Second Edition, Revised 2 vols (London: Wm. H. Allen & Co., 1863)

Robert Southey to John Rickman, 22 March 1805 in The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey (London: 1849-1850)

Joseph Cooper Walker to William Roscoe, [July? 1805] in The Life of William Roscoe 2 vols (London: T. Cadell, 1833)

Walter Scott to Joanna Baillie, 10 January 1813 in Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart. 7 vols (Edinburgh: Robert Cadell, 1837)

Richard Sharp to Samuel Rogers, 2 December 1814 in Samuel Rogers and his Contemporaries 2 Vols (London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1889)

Walter Scott to John Gibson Lockhart, 26 July 1819 in Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart. 7 vols (Edinburgh: Robert Cadell, 1837)

John Whishaw to Thomas Smith, 15 September 1820 in The “Pope” of Holland House: Selections from the Correspondence of John Whishaw and his Friends 1813-1840 (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1906)

John Whishaw to Thomas Smith, 21 October 1820 in The “Pope” of Holland House: Selections from the Correspondence of John Whishaw and his Friends 1813-1840 (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1906)

Lord Byron to John Murray, 25 October 1820 in Letters and Journals of Lord Byron 2 Vols (London: John Murray, 1830)

Samuel Rogers to Sarah Rogers, 25 November 1821 in Samuel Rogers and his Contemporaries 2 Vols (London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1889)

Sir Walter Scott to Lord Montagu of Boughton, 17 July 1823 in Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart. 7 vols (Edinburgh: Robert Cadell, 1837)