Sir Archibald Alison, 1st Baronet, FRSE (29 December 1792 – 23 May 1867) was a Scottish advocate (attorney) and historian. He held several prominent legal appointments. He was the younger son of the Episcopalian cleric and author Archibald Alison. His elder brother was the physician and social reformer William Alison.
When travelling in France in 1814 he conceived the idea of his expansive History of Europe from the commencement of the French revolution to the restoration of the Bourbons. This multi-volume set is usually regarded as Alison's chief historical work and is considered to be the first scholarly English-language study of the French Revolution.[6] Published in ten volumes between 1833 and 1843, History of Europe was revised and reprinted many times throughout the century,[6] including numerous foreign language editions.[7] The work is one of vast industry, "contain[ing] a wealth of information communicated in a vigorous though wordy style."[6]
Disraeli satirises the author in Coningsby as Mr. Wordy, who wrote a history to prove that Providence was on the side of the Tories.[8] Such criticism notwithstanding, History of Europe proved to be a huge commercial success.[6] By 1848 100,000 copies had been sold in the United States. It was translated into French, German, and even Arabic, in which language 2,000 copies were published "under the auspices of the Pasha of Egypt."[9] Alison's book collection grew exponentially while he wrote the History as he acquired more and more source material over the years. By the 1840s, the author's collection had grown into an enormous library worth, in his estimation, £4,000 — a massive sum for that period.[10] Alison evidently "feared that 'one of the race of critics' would discover an obscure book, pronounce it indispensable, and charge him with neglecting it."[10]
In 1825, he married Elizabeth Glencairn Tytler (1799-1874), the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Duff Tytler (1760-1849); the children from the marriage were Archibald, Frederick and Ella Frances Catherine who married James Charlemagne Dormer. Both sons became distinguished British military officers. The 1st Baronet's autobiography was published in 1883;[12] his portrait was painted by Robert Scott Lauder.
Alison died at Possil House, Glasgow, at the age of 74, and was interred in Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh.[13] He enjoyed great popularity in Glasgow. His funeral was attended by a crowd of from 100,000 to 150,000 people.[14] His grave lies amid the "Lord's Row" against the western wall, and is modest in comparison to most in this section.
History of Europe from the Commencement of the French Revolution in 1789 to the Restoration of the Bourbons in 1815 (1833–1843, 10 vol.) (The 10th edition of the work was reprinted in 1973 by AMS Press in hardcover; in 2010, the 1st edition was reprinted by Cambridge University Press as part of their Cambridge Library Collection series.)
Principles of the Criminal Law of Scotland (1832)
Practice of the Criminal Law of Scotland (1833)
Principles of Population, and Their Connection with Human Happiness (1840, 2 vol.)
England in 1815 and 1845 (1845)
Free Trade and a Fettered Currency (1847)
The Military Life of John, Duke of Marlborough (1848)
Essays; Political, Historical and Miscellaneous (1850, 3 vol.)
Vol. I.
Vol. II.
Vol. III.
History of Europe from the Fall of Napoleon in 1815 to the Accession of Louis Napoleon in 1852 (1852–1859, 8 vol.)
The Currency Laws (1859)
Lives of Lord Castlereagh and Sir Charles Stewart (1861)
Some Account of My Life and Writings: An Autobiography (1883, 2 vol.)
Vol. I.
Vol. II.
Articles
"The Increase of Crime," Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. LV (1844)
"Causes of Increase of Crime," Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. LVI (1844)
^"Summary of Individual | Legacies of British Slave-ownership". www.ucl.ac.uk.
^"Sir Archibald Alison, 1792 - 1867. Historian". National Galleries of Scotland. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
^ a b c dDerry, John (1988). Cannon, John (ed.). The Blackwell Dictionary of Historians. Oxford; New York: Basil Blackwell Ltd. p. 7. ISBN 063114708X.
^"It was by far the best-selling history of the French Revolution in England and America almost to the end of the century, and was translated into most European and several oriental languages." — Ben Israel, Hedva (1968). English Historians of the French Revolution. London: Cambridge University Press, p. 152.
^Disraeli, Benjamin (1844). Conningsby, Vol. 1. London: Henry Coulburn, p. 265.
^Stephen (1885), p. 289.
^ a bMichie, Michael (1997). An Enlightenment Tory in Victorian Scotland: The Career of Sir Archibald Alison. Canada: McGill-Queen's University Press and Tuckwell Press. pp. 132, 133. ISBN 1-86232-034-9.
^"Review of Some Account of my Life and Writings: an Autobiography by the late Sir Archibald Alison, Bart., ed. by his Daughter-in-law, Lady Alison". The Quarterly Review. 155: 35–74. January 1883.
^MacLehose, James (1886) [2012]. "Sir Archibald Alison, 1792–1867". Glasgow Digital Library. University of Strathclyde. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
Bayne, Peter (1858). "Sir Archibald Alison." In: Essays in Biography and Criticism. Boston: Gould & Lincoln, pp. 85–107.
Headley, J.T. (1850). "Alison's History of Europe." In: Miscellanies. New York: Baker & Scribner, pp. 1–80.
Michie, Michael (1997). An Enlightenment Tory in Victorian Scotland: The Career of Sir Archibald Alison. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press.
Michie, Michael (2006). "On behalf of the Right': Archibald Alison, Political Journalism, and Blackwood's Conservative Response to Reform, 1830–1870." In: Print Culture and the Blackwood Tradition. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 119–45.
Milne, Maurice (1995). "Archibald Alison: Conservative Controversialist," Albion, Vol. XXVII, No. 3, pp. 419–443.
Shiels, Robert S. (2010). "Crown Counsel: From Sir Archibald Alison to Lord Brand." In: Essays in Criminal Law in Honour of Sir Gerald Gordon. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 286–304.
"The Death of Sir Archibald Alison," Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. CII, 1867, pp. 125–28.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Alison, Archibald s.v. Sir Archibald Alison, Bart." . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 672–673.
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