Abstract:

Robert Adam's designs for the mausoleum of the philosopher and historian David Hume (1711-76) are examined in the context of the social and cultural history of Enlightenment Edinburgh. Sources for the various designs of 1777, which are arranged by distinct types, are suggested, and the possible Roman inspiration for that finally selected is discussed. The site in the Old Calton Burying Ground, Edinburgh, is commented upon, and attention is paid to the Hume mausoleum as an object of curiosity for tourists interested in the Scottish picturesque. The history of the monument since its construction is traced; changes to the building are noted; the ways in which the tomb was depicted by topographical artists are described; and allusions to the mausoleum in literature are included by way of illumination of the changing attitudes to Hume and his religious beliefs.