James Tytler

James Tytler (17 December 1745 – 11 January 1804) was a Scottish apothecary and the editor of the second edition of Encyclopædia Britannica. Tytler became the first person in Britain to fly by ascending in a hot air balloon (1784).

A group of historiographers wrote about him:

A social outcast, Tytler did much hack work for low pay and rarely if ever emerged from poverty. But... he deserves to be remembered as a man of many talents – as a political and religious controversialist, scholar, journalist, poet, song writer, musician, balloonist, pharmacist, surgeon and printer. In addition... he was an outstanding encyclopedist whose editorship of the second edition earns him a notable place in the history of encyclopedias.

Life

Tytler was born in Fern, Forfarshire, Scotland, the son of a Presbyterian minister. His father taught him Greek, Latin and theology. He probably studied for the ministry but was not interested in (Orthodox) Calvinism. He became a preacher in the Church of Scotland and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, after which he was apprenticed to a ship's surgeon for one year. He may not have been awarded a degree, although the 11th edition of Britannica refers to him as James Tytler, M.A. He declined to practise medicine but instead opened a pharmacy in Leith, near Edinburgh, which was a financial failure, leaving him in debt. The two longest articles in the second edition of Britannica are Surgery and Pharmacy, reflecting his fields of expertise.

In 1765, Tytler married Elizabeth Rattray, the orphaned daughter of a solicitor. Soon after, he fled Scotland to escape his creditors. His financial problems may have come from his alcoholism. He went to northern England, where he again tried to make a living as an apothecary. After fathering several children there, he returned to Edinburgh in 1772 or 1773. In 1774 or 1775 Tytler separated from his wife; at the time the couple had five children.