Значение слова PINKERTON в Литературной энциклопедии

JOHN (1758-1826).-Historian and Antiquary, _b._ in Edin., was apprenticed to a lawyer, but took to literature, and produced a number of works distinguished by painstaking research, but disfigured by a controversial and prejudiced spirit. His first publication was _Select Scottish Ballads_ (1783), some of which, however, were composed by himself. A valuable _Essay on Medals_ (1784) introduced him to Gibbon and Horace Walpole. Among his other works are _Ancient Scottish Poems_ (1786), _Dissertation on the Goths_ (1787), _Medallic History of England_ (1790), _History of Scotland_ (1797), and his best work, _Treatise on Rocks_ (1811). One of his most inveterate prejudices was against Celts of all tribes and times. He _d._ in obscurity in Paris.