author
John Hill Burton
1809–1881
A sharp-minded Scottish historian and public thinker, he wrote widely on Scotland’s past and on major figures such as David Hume. His work blends legal training, historical curiosity, and a clear interest in how ideas shape public life.
3 Audiobooks
The Book-Hunter A New Edition, with a Memoir of the Author
by John Hill Burton
Life and Correspondence of David Hume, Volume 2
by John Hill Burton
Life and Correspondence of David Hume, Volume 1
by John Hill Burton
About the author
Born in Aberdeen in 1809, John Hill Burton became a Scottish advocate, historian, and economist. He was educated in Aberdeen and later built his career in Edinburgh, where he wrote for periodicals as well as more substantial historical works.
He is especially known for writing on Scottish history and for his Life and Correspondence of David Hume. Alongside his literary work, he also held public posts, serving as secretary of the Scottish Prison Board and later as Historiographer Royal for Scotland.
Burton died in 1881. He is remembered as a busy and versatile nineteenth-century man of letters whose writing helped shape how Scottish history and intellectual life were presented to later readers.