Papers of the Earl of Morton, 1745-1807

The collection contains scientific, political and personal correspondence of the Earl of Morton and the first Lady Morton; a travel diary kept by Sholto, Lord Morton in 1784; and a few folders of letters to George Douglas, Earl of Morton (1761-1827). Scientific correspondents include Duhamel du Monceau; Buffon; Pierre-Charles and Louis-Guillaume Le Monnier; Réaumur; Samuel König; and close friend Colin Maclaurin. Subjects discussed include a gift of Scottish pineseeds to Buffon; attempts to observe the 1748 solar eclipse and improvements to telescopes; and the flora and fauna of the Orkneys

Other correspondents include Madame Geoffrin; the artist Benjamin West; Montesquieu; Sir Robert Walpole; the comte Saint-Germain; and Alexander Monro. Letters from vaious Douglas relatives and friends document Morton's arrest and imprisonment in the Bastille, while letters by Sir Matthew Decker, Francis Farquharson, Sir James Kinloch, and Lord Prestongrange concern the 1745 rebellion and its aftermath. Letters to Agatha Lady Morton from William Douglas and his wife also discuss the position of the Jacobites after the rising