A Literary Economist

Abstract

[A characteristic] feature of Robertson’s style — another aspect of his conscious literariness — is his rather ostentatious use of literary quotations and allusions. These occur throughout the corpus of his writings, to a greater or lesser degree, and serve both as a means of illustrating a point and for the reason that a housekeeper might put scented lining-paper in a drawer: to impart to the contents a fragrance which they would not otherwise possess; or that a gentleman might keep a nosegay of sweet-smelling herbs constantly about him when dealing with ‘trade’. For our purposes they provide valuable clues to Robertson’s outlook on life and the basis of his approach to economics. The justification for this is that Robertson freely chose them and so could say with Montaigne that though he has ‘gathered a posie of other men’s flowers … the thread that binds them is mine own’.