Autograph letter signed by Adam Ferguson to James Chalmer, solicitor, dated Hallyard, 27 March 1798.
The letter refers to a 'half yearly certificate' which Chalmer will have 'as usual'. and on which he 'will do the needfull'. Ferguson goes on to say that his 'son writes [...] that the Copper Plates are come to hand & I have desired impressions in order to know in which state they come out of Mr [?] keeping...'.
The philosopher and historian Adam Ferguson was born at Logierait, Perthshire, on 20 June 1723. He was educated at home, locally in Logierait, and in Perth. He studied at St. Andrews University, taking his M.A. in July 1742. Studies in divinity followed, first at St. Andrews, then at Edinburgh University. An army career followed, and then he embarked on a literary career. Briefly Ferguson held the post of Librarian at the Advocates' Library in succession to David Hume (1711-1776). In 1759 he was appointed as Professor of Natural Philosophy at Edinburgh University, and in 1764 to the Chair of the now obsolete Pneumatics and Moral Philosophy. In 1778, he was appointed as Secretary to the Commissioners to the American Colonies. Ferguson retired from the Chair of Moral Philosophy in 1785, but so that he could still draw a salary he was appointed to the Chair of Mathematics. Professor Adam Ferguson died at St. Andrews on 22 February 1816.
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Accession no: SC-Acc-2016-0012
Catalogued by Graeme D. Eddie, 1 February 2016
