Anderson, James 1739 – 1808
Archival location guide — where this economist’s surviving papers are held, their notable correspondents, and key published sources.
His papers do not seem to have survived; there is a tradition suggesting that his widow burnt them to singe her chickens.
Manuscripts of two papers submitted to the Royal Society for publication in 1780 and 1781. Royal Society Library, London.
A few letters to and from various correspondents. Edinburgh UL
Correspondents
SIR JOSEPH BANKS, one letter, 1794. BL Add. MS. 33979.
JEREMY BENTHAM, one letter, 1781. Shelburne papers, W. L. Clements Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
GEORGE CUMBERLAND, eight letters, 1800-1805. BL Add. MSS. 36498-36500.
GEORGE DEMPSTER, four letters, 1784-1785. National Library of Scotland (NLS), MS. 6602.
DAVID ERSKINE, 11th Earl of Buchan, a few letters, 1767-1796. Laing MSS., Edinburgh UL
JOHN JAY, five items, 1794-1795. Jay papers, Columbia UL, New York.
GRIM JONSSON THORKELIN, four letters, 1788-1792. Edinburgh UL
Printed Material
CHARLES F. MULLETT, ‘A Village Aristotle and the Harmony of Interests: James Anderson (1739-1808) of Monks Hill’, Journal of British Studies, VIII 1 (1968) 94.
ALISTAIR DOW, 'The hauteur of Adam Smith: an unpublished letter from James Anderson of Monkhill', Scottish Journal of Political Economy 31 (November 1984) 284-5
New Palgrave; ODNB; ESS II 55.
Portrait: BL(P); NPG (A).