A Gratulatory Address to his Alma Mater, by A Student of Medicine. With Notes, Explanatory and Illustrative, and Apposite Extracts and Anecdotes, Historical, Moral, and Entertaining; Embellished with Elegant Views of Many of the Most Splendid Public Buildings in Edinburgh; forming an Accurate Topographical Picture of the Scottish Metropolis.

Notes

A scarce and wildly discursive panegyric in verse on the city of Edinburgh, with extensive footnotes detailing among many other things, 'the infamous Thomas Paine', 'Bad Books, their tendency and effects' and 'Portraits of Mohamet and Jesus contrasted'. The poem is followed by a section of 'Notes Omitted' which include a three-page rumination on the orang-outang, and the contents and errata leaves to the rear are followed by some reflections on gardening, notes to the binder and three pages on pulmonary consumption. The NLS copy contains a leaf not present here (the offsetting from the plates in this copy to the surrounding leaves make it clear this is as issued) providing '[A] character of the work or analytical review of it' which identifies the author as 'The Reverend W. Robb, for many years Episcopal Clergyman at St Andrew's'; this was William Robb (1763-1830), whose allegorical poem Patriotic Wolves went through three editions in 1793. The leaf also notes different prices for copies with different numbers of plates: The NLS copy only has a frontispiece (12 shillings), while our has its full compliment of 11 further plates with the frontispiece (a guinea). Library Hub records just three copies, all north of the border, at NLS, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
This copy was presented to Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville (1771-1851), chancellor of the University of St Andrews.