Introduction: Mapping cultures of improvement in Scottish Romanticism

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the notion of improvement as the animating principle behind Scotland's post-1707 project of modernization, a narrative both shaped and reflected in the literary sphere. It shows how 'leading figures of cultural improvement' including Duncan Forbes and George Drummond attempted to manipulate the nascent national press to direct blame at local Glasgow magistrates during the deadly Malt Tax riots in the city during the summer of 1725. The book discusses the influential travel writing of the Welsh 'enlightenment savant' Thomas Pennant, focusing on the concern with improvement that underpinned Pennant's 1772 Tour in Scotland and Voyage to the Hebrides. It provides the interlocking civic, regional, national and international imperatives animating the Glasgow Advertiser, founded in 1783. The book deals with periodical print as a vehicle for an improving medical culture in Scotland, concentrating on the second series of the Scots Magazine.