View source for James Burnett, Lord Monboddo

{{Short description|Scottish judge and scholar (1714–1799)}}
{{otherpeople|James Burnett}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| image              = Lord Monboddo01.jpg
| alt                = 
| caption            = Engraving of Lord Monboddo by C. Sherwin, 1787 (after John Brown)
| name               = Lord Monboddo
| birth_name         = 
| birth_date         = bapt. {{birth date|df=yes|1714|10|25}}
| birth_place        = [[Monboddo House]], Kincardineshire, Scotland
| death_date         = {{death date and age|df=yes|1799|05|26|1714|10|25}}
| death_place        = [[Edinburgh]], Scotland
| education          = [[Marischal College]], [[University of Aberdeen]]<br />[[University of Edinburgh]]
| occupation         = Philosopher, linguist, judge
}}

'''James Burnett, Lord Monboddo''' (baptised 25 October 1714 – 26 May 1799) was a Scottish judge, scholar of [[evolutionary linguistics|linguistic evolution]], philosopher and [[deist]]. He is most famous today as a founder of modern [[comparative linguistics|comparative]] [[historical linguistics]].<ref name=Hobbs/> In 1767, he became a judge in the [[Court of Session]].

As such, Burnett adopted an honorary title based on the name of his father's estate and family seat, [[Monboddo House]]. Monboddo was one of a number of scholars involved at the time in development of early concepts of biological [[evolution]]. Some credit him with anticipating in principle the idea of [[natural selection]] that was read by (and acknowledged in the writings of) [[Erasmus Darwin]]. [[Charles Darwin]] read the works of his grandfather Erasmus and later developed the ideas into a [[theory|scientific theory]].<ref name="Bowler1989"/><ref name=watt/><ref name=Bailey/><ref name=Cloyd/>

==Early years==
James Burnett was born in 1714 at [[Monboddo House]] in Kincardineshire, Scotland. After his primary education at the parish school of [[Laurencekirk]], he studied at [[Marischal College]], Aberdeen, from where he was graduated in 1729. He then studied Civil Law at the [[University of Groningen]] for three years. He returned to Scotland to stay in Edinburgh in 1736 on the day of the [[Porteous Riots]] and got caught in the crowds, witnessing the lynching of Captain John Porteous on his first night in the city. He took examination in Civil Law at Edinburgh University in 1737 and was admitted to the [[Faculty of Advocates]].<ref>Kay's Originals vol.1 p.19</ref>

Burnett married Elizabethe Farquharson and they had two daughters and a son. The younger daughter [[Elizabeth Burnett]] was an [[Edinburgh]] celebrity, known for her beauty and amiability, but who died of consumption ([[tuberculosis]]) at the age of 24. Burnett's friend the Scottish poet [[Robert Burns]], had a romantic interest in Elizabeth and wrote a poem, "Elegy on The Late Miss Burnet of Monboddo", praising her beauty, which became her [[elegy]].

Monboddo's early work in practising law found him in a landmark piece of litigation of his time, known as the [[Douglas Cause|Douglas "cause,"]] or case. The matter involved the inheritance standing of a young heir, [[Archibald James Edward Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas]], and took on the form of a mystery novel of the era, with a complex web of events spanning Scotland, France and England. Burnett, as the solicitor for the young Douglas heir, was victorious after years of legal battle and appeals.

==Later years==
[[File:The grave of Lord Patrick Grant, Greyfriars Kirkyard.jpg|thumb|upright|The grave of Lord Patrick Grant, Greyfriars Kirkyard – containing Lord Monboddo]]
From 1754 until 1767 Monboddo was one of a number of distinguished proprietors of the [[Canongate Books|Canongate]] Theatre. He clearly enjoyed this endeavour even when some of his fellow judges pointed out that the activity might cast a shadow over his sombre image as jurist. Here he had occasion to further associate with [[David Hume]] who was a principal actor in one of the plays. He had actually met Hume earlier when Monboddo was a curator of the Advocates Library and David Hume served as keeper of that library for several years while he wrote his history.

From 1769 until 1775 [[John Hunter (classicist)|John Hunter]] acted as his personal secretary.<ref name="FRS" />

[[File:Parliament House, Edinburgh.JPG|thumb|The old [[Parliament House, Edinburgh|Parliament House]], housing the [[Court of Session]]]]

In the era after Monboddo was appointed to Justice of the high court, he organised "learned suppers" at his house on 13 St John Street,<ref name=Grant/> off the [[Canongate]] in Edinburgh's Old Town, where he discussed and lectured about his theories. Local intellectuals were invited to attend attic repasts. [[Henry Home, Lord Kames]] was conspicuously absent from such socialising; while Kames and Monboddo served on the high court at the same time and had numerous interactions, they were staunch intellectual rivals.  Monboddo rode to London on horseback each year and visited [[Hampton Court]] as well as other intellectuals of the era; the King himself was fond of Monboddo's colourful discussions.<ref name=watt/> 

Monboddo died at home 13 St John Street<ref>Williamsons Edinburgh Directory 1797</ref> in the [[Canongate]] district of Edinburgh on 26 May 1799 and is buried in [[Greyfriars Kirkyard]] in Edinburgh along with his daughter Elizabeth where they have unmarked graves in the burial enclosure of [[Patrick Grant, Lord Elchies]] (within the non-public section known as the Covenanters Prison).

==Historical linguistics==
{{globalize|date=December 2012}}
In ''The Origin and Progress of Language'', originally published in six volumes from 1774 to 1792, Burnett analysed the structure of languages and argued that humans had evolved language skills in response to changing environments and social structures. Burnett was the first to note that [[Evolutionary linguistics|some language]]s create lengthy words for rather simple concepts. He reasoned that in early languages there was an imperative for clarity so redundancy was built in and seemingly unnecessary syllables added. He concluded that this form of language evolved when clear communication might be the determinant of avoiding danger.

[[File:Monboddoinkwellrazorback.JPG|thumb|upright|left|Lord Monboddo's inkwell from c. 1760]]

Monboddo studied languages of peoples colonised by Europeans, including those of the [[Island Caribs|Carib]], [[Eskimo]], [[Wyandot people|Huron]], [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]], [[Demographics of Peru|Peruvian]] ([[Quechua languages|Quechua]]?) and [[Tahitian language|Tahitian]] peoples. He saw the preponderance of polysyllabic words, whereas some of his predecessors had dismissed these languages as a series of monosyllabic grunts. He also observed that in Huron (or Wyandot) the words for very similar objects are astoundingly different. This fact led Monboddo to perceive that these people needed to communicate reliably regarding a more limited number of subjects than in modern civilisations, which led to the polysyllabic and redundant nature of many words. He also came up with the idea that these languages are generally vowel-rich and that correspondingly, languages such as German and English are vowel-starved. According to Burnett, this disparity partially arises from the greater vocabulary of Northern European languages and the decreased need for polysyllabic content.

Monboddo also popularized [[Marcus Zuerius van Boxhorn]]'s 17th-century theory of a "Skythian" proto-language, traced the evolution of modern European languages and gave particularly great effort to understanding the ancient [[Greek language]], in which he was proficient. He argued that Greek is the most perfect language ever established because of its complex structure and tonality, rendering it capable of expressing a wide gamut of nuances. Monboddo was the first to formulate what is now known as the [[single-origin hypothesis]], the theory that all human origin was from a single region of the earth; he reached this conclusion by reasoning from linguistic evolution (Jones, 1789). This theory is evidence of his thinking on the topic of the [[evolution]] of Man.

[[Joshua Steele]]'s disagreement, and subsequent correspondence, with Monboddo over details of the "melody and measure of speech" resulted in Steele's ''[[Prosodia Rationalis]]'', a foundational work both in [[phonetics]] and in the analysis of verse rhythm.

==Evolutionary theorist==
[[File:Orang utans, Singapore Zoo 2.JPG|thumb|Monboddo analysed man's relation to other species.]]

Monboddo is considered by some scholars<ref name=watt/><ref name=Bailey/><ref name=Cloyd/><ref name="Lovejoy1933"/><ref name=Brit/><ref name=Gray/> as a precursive thinker in the theory of [[evolution]]. However, some modern evolutionary historians do not give Monboddo an equally high standing in the influence of [[history of evolutionary thought]].<ref name="Bowler1989"/><ref name="Larson2004"/><ref name="Mayr1982"/>

:"Monboddo: Scottish jurist and pioneer anthropologist who explored the origins of language and society and anticipated principles of Darwinian evolution."<ref name=Brit/>

:"With some wavering, he extended [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau|Rousseau]]'s doctrine of the identity of species of man and the chimp into the hypothesis of common descent of all the [[anthropoids]], and suggested by implication a general law of evolution." Lovejoy.

[[Charles Neaves]], one of Monboddo's successors on the high court of Scotland, believed that proper credit was not given to Monboddo in evolutionary theory development. Neaves wrote in verse:<ref name=Neaves/>
<poem>Though Darwin now proclaims the law
And spreads it far abroad, O!
The man that first the secret saw
Was honest old Monboddo.
The architect precedence takes
Of him that bears the hod, O!
So up and at them, Land of Cakes,
We'll vindicate Monboddo.</poem>

[[Erasmus Darwin]] notes Monboddo's work in his publications (Darwin 1803). Later writers<ref name=Cloyd/><ref name=Gray/> consider Monboddo's analysis as precursive to the theory of Evolution. Whether Charles Darwin read Monboddo is not certain. Monboddo debated with [[Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon|Buffon]] regarding man's relationship to other primates. Charles Darwin did not mention Monboddo,<ref name="Darwin1896" /> but commented on Buffon: "the first author who in modern times has treated [evolution] in a scientific spirit was Buffon". Buffon thought that man was a species unrelated to lower [[primate]]s, but Monboddo rejected Buffon's analysis and argued that the anthropoidal ape must be related to the species of man: he sometimes referred to the anthropoidal ape as the "brother of man". Monboddo suffered a setback, in his standing on evolutionary thought, because he stated at one time that men had caudal appendages (tails); some historians failed to take him very seriously after that remark, even though Monboddo was known to bait his critics with preposterous sayings.

Bailey's ''The Holly and the Horn''<ref name=Bailey/> states that "Charles Darwin was to some degree influenced by the theories of Monboddo, who deserves the title of Evolutionist more than that of Eccentric." Henderson says:
:"He [Monboddo] was a minor celebrity in Edinburgh because he was considered to be very eccentric. But he actually came up with the idea that men may have evolved instead of being created by God. His views were dismissed because people thought he was mad, and in those days it was a very controversial view to hold. But he felt it was a logical possibility and it caused him a great deal of consternation. He actually did not want to believe the theory because he was a very religious person."<ref name="Henderson2000" />

Monboddo may be the first person to associate language skills evolving from [[primate]]s and continuing to evolve in early humans (Monboddo, 1773). He wrote about how the language capability has altered over time in the form not only of skills but physical form of the sound producing organs (mouth, vocal cords, tongue, throat), suggesting he had formed the concept of evolutionary adaptive change.

[[File:Henry Home, Lord Kames; Hugo Arnot; James Burnett, Lord Monboddo by John Kay.jpg|thumb|Left to right: [[Lord Kames]], [[Hugo Arnot]] and Lord Monboddo, by [[John Kay (caricaturist)|John Kay]]]]

He also elaborates on the advantages created by the adaptive change of primates to their environment and even to the evolving complexity of primate social structures.  In 1772 in a letter to James Harris, Monboddo articulated that his theory of language evolution (Harris 1772) was simply a part of the manner that man had advanced from the lower animals, a clear precedent of evolutionary thought. Furthermore, he established a detailed theory of how man adaptively acquired language to cope better with his environment and social needs. He argued that the development of language was linked to a procession of events: first developing use of tools, then social structures and finally language. This concept was quite striking for his era, because it departed from the classical religious thinking that man was created instantaneously and language revealed by God. In fact, Monboddo was deeply religious and pointed out that the creation events were probably simply allegories and did not dispute that the universe was created by God. Monboddo was a vigorous opponent of other scientific thinking that philosophically questioned the role of God (see Monboddo's prolific diatribes on Newton's theories).

As an agriculturist and horse-breeder, Monboddo was quite aware of the significance of selective breeding and even transferred this [[Reproduction|breeding]] theory to communications he had with [[James Boswell]] in Boswell's selection of a mate. Monboddo has stated in his own works that degenerative qualities can be inherited by successive generations and that by selective choice of mates, creatures can improve the next generation in a biological sense. This suggests that Monboddo understood the role of natural processes in evolution; [[artificial selection]] was the starting-point for many of the proto-evolutionary thinkers, and for Darwin himself.

Monboddo struggled with how to "get man from an animal"<ref name=Cloyd/> without divine intervention. This is typical of the kind of thinking which is called ''[[deist]]''. He developed an entire theory of language evolution around the Egyptian civilisation to assist in his understanding of how man descended from animals, since he explained the flowering of language upon the spinoff of the Egyptians imparting language skills to other cultures. Monboddo cast early humans as wild, solitary, [[herbivorous]] [[quadruped]]s. He believed that contemporary people suffered many diseases because they were removed from the environmental state of being unclothed and exposed to extreme swings in [[climate]].

Burnett wrote of numerous cultures (mostly based upon accounts of explorers); for example, he described  "insensibles" and "wood eaters" in ''Of the Origin and Progress of Language''.  He was fascinated by the nature of these peoples' language development and also how they fit into the evolutionary scheme.

Against all this, Monboddo's contribution to evolution is today regarded by historians of evolution as being notable.

Bowler acknowledges his argument that apes might represent the earliest form of humanity (Monboddo 1774), but continues:
:"He [Monboddo] regarded humans (including savages and apes) as quite distinct from the rest of the animal kingdom. The first suggestion that the human species was descended via the apes from the lower animals did not come until [[Lamarck]]'s ''Philosophie Zoologique'' of 1809."<ref name="Bowler1989"/>

[[Charles Dickens]] knew of Monboddo and wrote in his novel, ''[[Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit]]'' about ''"(...) the Manboddo doctrine touching the probability of the human race having once been monkeys"''.<ref name=Dickens />  This is significant because ''Martin Chuzzlewit'' was published (1843) years before Darwin's ''[[On the Origin of Species]]'' (1859).<ref name="Rosenhouse2006" />

The [[history of the theory of evolution]] is a relatively modern field of scholarship.

==Metaphysics==
In ''Antient Metaphysics'', Burnett claimed that man is gradually elevating himself from the animal condition to a state in which mind acts independently of the body. He was a strong supporter of Aristotle in his concepts of Prime Mover. Much effort was devoted to crediting [[Isaac Newton]] with brilliant discoveries in the Laws of Motion, while defending the power of the mind as outlined by Aristotle. His analysis was further complicated by his recurring need to assure that Newton did not obviate the presence of God.

==Nudism==

Monboddo was a pioneer in regard to many modern ideas and had already in the eighteenth century realized the value of "air-baths"<ref name="Lichtenberg1845" /> (the familiar term which he invented) to mental and physical health. In his writings, Monboddo argued against clothes as unnatural and undesirable from every point of view for both mind and body. Monboddo "awaked every morning at four, and then for his health got up and walked in his room [[naked]], with the window open, which he called taking an air bath." When [[nudism]] was first brought into fashion with much enthusiasm in Germany as [[Freikörperkultur]] early in the twentieth century Monboddo was regarded as a pioneer, and in 1913 a ''Monboddo Bund'' was established in Berlin,{{sfn|Wedemeyer-Kolwe|2004|p=204}} for the harmonious culture of body and mind.<ref name="Ellis2013" /><ref name="Carr-Gomm2012" />

==Eccentricity==
Burnett was widely known to be an eccentric.  Habitually he rode on horseback between [[Edinburgh]] and London instead of journeying by [[carriage]]. Another time after a decision went against him regarding the value of a horse, he refused to sit with the other judges and assumed a seat below the bench with the court clerks. When Burnett was visiting the [[Court of King's Bench (England)|Court of King's Bench]] in London in 1787, part of the floor of the [[courtroom]] started to collapse. People rushed out of the building but Burnett who, at the age of 71, was partially deaf and shortsighted, was the only one not to move. When he was later asked for a reason, he stated that he thought it was "an annual ceremony, with which, as an alien, he had nothing to do".

Burnett in his earlier years suggested that the [[orangutan]] was a form of man, although some analysts think that some of his presentation was designed to entice his critics into debate.
[[File:Lord Monboddo02.jpg|thumb|upright|Lord Monboddo, a caricature by [[John Kay (caricaturist)|John Kay]]]]

The orangutan was at this time a generic term for all types of apes. The Swedish explorer whose evidence Burnett accepted was a naval officer who had viewed a group of monkeys and thought they were human. Burnett may simply have taken the view that it was reasonable for people to assume the things they do and the word of a naval officer trained to give accurate reports was a credible source. Burnett was indeed responsible for changing the classical definition of man as a creature of reason to a creature capable of achieving reason, although he viewed this process as one slow and difficult to achieve.

At one time he said that humans must have all been born with tails, which were removed by midwives at birth. His contemporaries ridiculed his views, and by 1773 he had retracted this opinion (Pringle 1773). Some later commentators have seen him as anticipating [[evolution]]ary theory. He appeared to argue that animal [[species]] adapted and changed to survive, and his observations on the progression of primates to man amounted to some kind of concept of [[evolution]]. Burnett also examined [[feral children]] and was the only thinker of his day to accept them as human rather than monsters. He viewed in these children the ability to achieve reason. He identified the orangutan as human, as his sources indicated it was capable of experiencing shame.

==In popular culture==
In [[Thomas Love Peacock]]'s 1817 novel [[Melincourt (novel)|''Melincourt'']], an orangutan punningly named "Sir Oran Haut-Ton" becomes a candidate for British Parliament based on Monboddo's theories.

[[Charles Dickens]], in his novel ''[[Martin Chuzzlewit]]'',<ref name=Dickens /> refers to "the Manboddo doctrine touching the probability of the human race having once been monkeys".

In his 1981 [[dystopian]] novel ''[[Lanark (novel)|Lanark]]'', [[Alasdair Gray]] names the head of the mysterious Institute Lord Monboddo. He makes the connection explicit in a marginal note, adding that it is not a literal depiction.

Lord Monboddo's descendant, Jamie Burnett of Leys, has sponsored a stage work ''Monboddo – The Musical'' which is a biographical re-enactment of the life of his ancestor. It received a first run at Aberdeen Arts Centre in September 2010.

In her short story "The Monboddo Ape Boy", [[Lillian de la Torre]] depicted a slightly fictionalised Monboddo meeting [[Samuel Johnson]], and being presented with a supposed "wild boy".

==Writings==
===Publications===
*Preface to {{cite book|title=An Account of a Savage Girl, Caught Wild in the Woods of Champagne. Translated from the French of Madam H–––t'|translator= William Robertson|location=Edinburgh|publisher= A. Kincaid and J. Bell|date= 1768|pages= iii–xvii|url=https://archive.org/details/anaccountbycmde00blangoog|author1-link=Charles Marie de La Condamine|first1=Charles Marie |last1=de La Condamine
|author2-link=Marie-Angélique Memmie Le Blanc|first2=Marie-Angélique Memmie |last2=Le Blanc}}
*{{cite book|title=Of the Origin and Progress of Language|volume= Six volumes|location =Edinburgh and London|publisher= J. Balfour and T. Cadell|date=1773–1792|url=https://archive.org/details/originandprogre01conggoog|display-authors=0|first=James Burnett|last= Monboddo}}
*{{cite book|title=Antient Metaphysics|volume= Six volumes|location =Edinburgh and London|publisher= Bell & Bradshute and T. Cadell|date= 1779–1799|url=https://archive.org/details/antientmetaphysi01monb|display-authors=0|first=James Burnett|last= Monboddo}}
*[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ecco/004895823.0001.000?view=toc "Advertisement"] to John Brown, ''Letters upon the Poetry and Music of the Italian Opera, Addressed to a Friend'' (Edinburgh and London, Bell & Bradshute and C. Elliot and T. Kay, 1789)
*"Reports of Decisions of the Court of Session, 1738–68" in ''A Supplement to The Dictionary of Decisions of the Court of Session'', ed. M. P. Brown (5 volumes, Edinburgh, J. Bell & W. Creech, 1826), volume 5, pp.&nbsp;651–941

===Correspondence===
*James Burnett to [[James Harris (grammarian)|James Harris]], 31 December 1772<ref name=Knight/>
*James Burnett to Sir [[John Pringle (physician)|John Pringle]], 16 June 1773<ref name=Knight/>
*James Burnett to [[James Boswell]], 11 April and 28 May 1777, [[Yale University]] Boswell Papers, (C.2041 and C.2042)
*James Burnett to [[William Jones (philologist)|William Jones]], 20 June 1789<ref name=Knight/>
*James Burnett to T. Cadell and J. Davies, 15 May 1796, [[British Museum]], A letter bound into [[Dugald Stewart]], ''Account of the Life and Writings of William Robertson, D.D., F.R.S.E'', 2nd ed., London (1802). Shelf no.1203.f.3

==References==
{{Reflist|35em|refs=

<ref name=Bailey>{{cite book|last1=Bailey|first1=Eileen A. |first2= James C.A.|last2= Burnett|first3= Charles J.|last3= Burnett |first4=Christopher |last4=Croly|title=The Holly and the Horn|publisher= Leys |location= Banchory |date=2005|isbn=0-9538640-2-2}}</ref>

<ref name="Bowler1989">{{cite book|first=Peter J.|last= Bowler|title=Evolution: The History of an Idea|url=https://archive.org/details/evolutionhistory0000bowl|url-access=registration|date=1989|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-06386-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/evolutionhistory0000bowl/page/51 51]–}}</ref>

<ref name=Brit>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Monboddo, James Burnett, Lord|volume=18|pages=692–693}}</ref>

<ref name=Cloyd>{{cite book|last=Cloyd|first= E.L.|title=James Burnett, Lord Monboddo|publisher= Clarendon |date=1972}}</ref>

<ref name=Grant>{{cite book|first=James |last=Grant |title=Cassell's Old and New Edinburgh|location=Edinburgh|date=1880–1887|volume =Three volumes|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.462401}}</ref>

<ref name=Gray>{{cite book|last=Gray|first= W. Forbes|title=A Forerunner of Darwin|publisher= Fortnightly Review n.s.|volume= CXXV |pages= 112–122 |date=1929}}</ref>

<ref name=Hobbs>{{cite book|first=Catherine |last=Hobbs|title=Rhetoric on the Margins of Modernity: Vico, Condillac, Monboddo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=us-sfg-V0wkC|year=2002|publisher=SIU Press|isbn=978-0-8093-2469-9}}</ref>

<ref name=Knight>{{cite book|author-link=William Angus Knight|last=Knight|first= William Angus|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_GAEQAAAAYAAJ |title=Lord Monboddo and some of his contemporaries|publisher=John Murray|location= London |date=1900|isbn=1-85506-207-0}}</ref>

<ref name="Larson2004">{{cite book|last=Larson|first= E.J.|date= 2004|title=Evolution: the remarkable history of a scientific theory|url=https://archive.org/details/evolutionremarka00lars|url-access=registration|publisher=Modern Library|location= N.Y. |isbn=0812968492}}</ref>

<ref name="Lovejoy1933">{{cite journal|last1=Lovejoy|first1=Arthur O.|author-link=Arthur Lovejoy|title=Monboddo and Rousseau|journal=Modern Philology|volume=30|issue=3|year=1933|pages=275–296|issn=0026-8232|doi=10.1086/388043|s2cid=161106961}}</ref>

<ref name="Mayr1982">{{cite book|author-link=Ernst Mayr|first=Ernst |last=Mayr|title=The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pHThtE2R0UQC|year=1982|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-36446-2}}</ref>

<ref name=Neaves>{{cite book|last=Neaves|first= Charles|author-link=Lord Neaves|title=Songs and Verses|url=https://archive.org/details/songsandversess02neavgoog|edition= 4th|location= London| page= [https://archive.org/details/songsandversess02neavgoog/page/n16 5] |date=1875}}</ref>

<ref name=Dickens>{{cite book|last=Dickens|first= Charles|author-link=Charles Dickens|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/968/968-h/968-h.htm|title=The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit|location=London|publisher=Chapman and Hall|date=1843}}</ref>

<ref name=watt>{{cite book|last1=Watt|first1=Archibald|title=Highways and byways round Kincardine|date=1985|publisher=Gourdas House|location=Aberdeen |isbn=0907301096}}</ref>

<ref name="Darwin1896">{{cite book|last=Darwin|first=Charles |author-link=Charles Darwin|title=The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, Or, The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life|url=https://archive.org/details/originspeciesby03darwgoog|edition=Authorised|year=1896|publisher=D. Appleton|location=New York}}</ref>

<ref name="Lichtenberg1845">{{cite book|last=Lichtenberg|first=Georg Christoph |author-link=Georg Christoph Lichtenberg|title=Georg Christoph Lichtenberg's vermischte Schriften, mit dem Portrait, Facsimile und einer Ansicht des Geburtshauses des Verfassers: Vernischte Schriften| url={{Google books|id=ayRPAQAAMAAJ|page=64|keywords=Luftbad Monboddo|plainurl=yes}} |year=1845|publisher=Dieterichschen Buchhandlung|location=Gottingen|page=64|language=de}}</ref>

<ref name="Ellis2013">{{cite book|last=Ellis|first=Havelock |author-link=Havelock Ellis|title=Sex in Relation to Society: Studies in The Psychology of Sex|url={{Google books|id=Ke1FBQAAQBAJ|page=65|plainurl=yes|keywords=Monboddo}}|year=2013|publisher=Elsevier Science|location=London|isbn=978-1-4832-2373-5|pages=65–}}</ref>

<ref name="Carr-Gomm2012">{{cite book|last=Carr-Gomm|first=Philip |author-link=Philip Carr-Gomm|title=A Brief History of Nakedness|url={{Google books|id=1rwBFAz-En0C|page=272|keywords=Monboddo|plainurl=yes}}|year=2012|publisher=Reaktion Books|isbn=978-1-86189-729-9|pages=272–}}</ref>

<ref name="FRS">{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf|access-date=16 November 2016|archive-date=24 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124115814/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

<ref name="Henderson2000">{{cite book|last=Henderson|first= Jan-Andrew|date= 2000|title=The Emperor's Kilt: the two secret histories of Scotland|publisher= Mainstream |isbn=1840183780}}</ref>

<ref name="Rosenhouse2006">{{Cite web | title = Dickens on Evolution | last = Rosenhouse | first = Jason | work = EvolutionBlog | date = 26 July 2006 | access-date = 2018-06-12 | url = http://scienceblogs.com/evolutionblog/2006/07/26/dickens-on-evolution/ }}</ref>

}}

==Further reading==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book|author-link=James Boswell|first=James|last= Boswell|title=The Essence of the Douglas Cause|location=London|publisher= J. Wilkie|date= 1767}}
*{{cite book|author1-link=James Boswell|first1=James|last1= Boswell |author2-link=Samuel Johnson|first2=Samuel |last2=Johnson|title=A Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides|orig-year=  1773|edition= New|location= reprinted Oxford|publisher=University Press|date= 1948}}
*{{cite book|author-link=Erasmus Darwin|first=Erasmus |last=Darwin|title=The Temple of Nature'|url=https://archive.org/details/templeofnatureor00darw|location=London|publisher= J. Johnson|date= 1803}}
*{{citation|first=W. L.|last= Nichols|chapter=Lord Monboddo|title=Notes and Queries|volume= VII|issue= 281|date=1853}}
*{{cite book|first=Henry Grey|last= Graham|url=https://archive.org/details/scottishmenlett01grahgoog|title=Scottish Men of Letters in the Eighteenth Century'|location=London|publisher= A. & C. Black|date= 1901|pages=[https://archive.org/details/scottishmenlett01grahgoog/page/n232 188]–198}}
*{{cite book|last=Barnard|first=Alan |editor1-first=Han|editor1-last= Vermeulen|editor2-first= Arturo Alvarez |editor2-last=Roldan|title=Fieldwork and Footnotes: Studies in the History of European Anthropology|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T_oaRPjiwCwC&pg=PA95|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-84396-1|chapter=Orang Outang and the Definition of Man: The Legacy of Lord Monboddo|pages=95–115|location=London}}
*{{cite book|last=Buchan|first=James |title=Capital of the Mind: How Edinburgh Changed the World|location=Edinburgh|publisher= John Murray|date= 2003}}
*{{cite ODNB|first=Iain Maxwell |last=Hammett|title=Burnett, James, Lord Monboddo (''bap.'' 1714, ''d.'' 1799)|date=2004|id=4074}}
*{{cite book|last=Wedemeyer-Kolwe|first=Bernd |title="Der neue Mensch": Körperkultur im Kaiserreich und in der Weimarer Republik|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oa8Cdh9UVrIC&pg=PA204|year=2004|publisher=Königshausen & Neumann|language=de|isbn=978-3-8260-2772-7|trans-title="The New Man" : Body Culture in Imperial Germany and in the Weimar Republic}}
*{{OL author|610463A}}
{{refend}}

{{Age of Enlightenment}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnett, James}}
[[Category:1714 births]]
[[Category:1799 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century Scottish writers]]
[[Category:18th-century Scottish male writers]]
[[Category:Age of Enlightenment]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Aberdeen]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:British naturists]]
[[Category:Burials at Greyfriars Kirkyard]]
[[Category:Enlightenment philosophers]]
[[Category:People from Kincardine and Mearns]]
[[Category:People of the Scottish Enlightenment]]
[[Category:Proto-evolutionary biologists]]
[[Category:Scottish anthropologists]]
[[Category:Linguists from Scotland]]
[[Category:Scottish non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:18th-century Scottish philosophers]]
[[Category:Senators of the College of Justice|Monboddo]]