Alexander Tilloch
FSA (Scot) (28 February 1759 – 1825) was a Scottish journalist and inventor. He founded the ''
Philosophical Magazine
The ''Philosophical Magazine'' is one of the oldest scientific journals published in English. It was established by Alexander Tilloch in 1798;John Burnett"Tilloch, Alexander (1759–1825)" Dictionary of National Biography#Oxford Dictionary of ...
''.
Early life
The son of John Tilloch, a
tobacco merchant and magistrate of
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
, he was born there on 28 February 1759. He was educated at
Glasgow University
The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...
, and turned his attention to printing.
In 1781, he began work on
stereotypes
In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...
. In 1725,
William Ged had obtained a privilege for a development of Van der Mey's process, but encountered practical difficulties.
Tilloch independently developed a process by 1782, and worked with
Andrew Foulis the younger, printer to the university of Glasgow. On 28 April 1784, they took out a joint patent for England (No. 1431) for ‘printing books from plates instead of movable types,’ and another for Scotland about the same time. They made no great use of it, however. From Tilloch,
Earl Stanhope derived knowledge of the process of making stereotype plates.
In London
In 1787, Tilloch moved to London, and in 1789, in connection with others, purchased ''
The Star'', an evening daily paper, of which he remained editor until 1821. At that time
forgery
Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally consists of the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific mens rea, intent to wikt:defraud#English, defraud. Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be fo ...
of
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...
notes was common, and Tilloch in 1790 laid before the British ministry a mode of printing which would render forgery impossible. Receiving no encouragement, he brought his process before the notice of the Commission d'
Assignat
An assignat () was a monetary instrument, an order to pay, used during the time of the French Revolution, and the French Revolutionary Wars.
France
Assignats were paper money (fiat currency) authorized by the Constituent Assembly in France f ...
s of the
Legislative Assembly, at Paris, but then came the outbreak of war. In 1797 he submitted to the Bank of England a specimen of a note engraved after his plan, accompanied by a certificate signed by
Francesco Bartolozzi,
Wilson Lowry,
William Sharp and other engravers, to the effect that they did not believe it could be copied by any of the known arts of engraving. He could not, however, persuade the authorities to accept it,
though in 1810 they adopted the process of
Augustus Applegath, which Tilloch claimed in 1820, in a petition to parliament, to be virtually his own.
In 1797 he projected and established the ''
Philosophical Magazine
The ''Philosophical Magazine'' is one of the oldest scientific journals published in English. It was established by Alexander Tilloch in 1798;John Burnett"Tilloch, Alexander (1759–1825)" Dictionary of National Biography#Oxford Dictionary of ...
'', a journal devoted to scientific subjects, and intended for the publication of new discoveries and inventions. He devoted much of his time to the conduct of the magazine, of which he remained sole proprietor until 1822, when
Richard Taylor became associated with him. The only previous journal of this nature in London was the ''
Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts'', founded by
William Nicholson in 1797. It was incorporated with Tilloch's ''Magazine'' in 1813.
On 20 August 1808 Tilloch took out a patent (No. 3161) for ‘apparatus to be employed as a moving power to drive machinery and mill work.’
Later life
In later life Tilloch devoted attention to
scriptural prophecy, joined the
Sandemanians, and occasionally preached to a congregation in
Goswell Street. On 11 January 1825 he took out a patent (No. 5066) for improvements in the ‘steam engine or apparatus connected therewith,’ and it is stated that the engineer,
Arthur Woolf
Arthur Woolf (1766, Camborne, Cornwall – 16 October 1837, Guernsey) was a Cornish engineer, most famous for inventing a high-pressure compound steam engine. In this way he made an outstanding contribution to the development and perfection ...
took up his suggestions. Tilloch was a member of numerous learned societies at home and on the continent, among others of the
Scottish Society of Antiquaries, and of the
Regia Academia Scientiarum of
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
. He collected manuscripts, coins, and medals, of which he left a considerable number.
He died in Barnsbury Street,
Islington
Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...
, on 26 January 1825. His wife, Margaret née Simpson, (1760–1783) died following the birth of a second child, who also died, leaving a daughter, Elizabeth (1781–1851), who later married
John Galt.
Works
Tilloch was the author of:
* ‘Dissertation on the opening of the Sealed Book,’ Arbroath; 2nd edit. Perth, 1852; printed from a series of papers published in the ‘Star’ in 1808–9, signed ‘Biblicus.’ From the introduction it appears that the papers were intended to deal with the whole ''
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...
.''
* ‘Dissertations introductory to the Study and right Understanding of the Apocalypse,’ London, 1823.
Tilloch also edited the ‘
Mechanic's Oracle,’ commenced in July 1824 and discontinued soon after his death.
References
*
Notes
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tilloch, Alexander
1759 births
1825 deaths
Journalists from Glasgow
Scottish inventors
Engineers from Glasgow
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Scottish printers
Scottish newspaper editors
Scottish magazine editors
Scottish antiquarians
Scottish magazine publishers (people)
Scottish company founders
Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
Members of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences