Jacob Baxter

I am a historian of early modern culture and politics, with a particular interest in statesmen, readers and copyright. I currently work as a Postdoctoral Research Assistant for the Universal Short Title Catalogue.

My doctoral thesis, which I completed in 2024 under the supervision of Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen, examined the literary life and afterlife of the English statesman Sir William Temple (1628-1699), who may just be the most famous seventeenth-century author you have never heard of. Temple engaged with all sorts of genre in his literary career, including politics, poetry, medicine, economics, history and horticulture. He was also the first English politician to publish an autobiography. Temple’s books were printed across Europe in the early modern period and they attracted the admiration of some of the leading political, intellectual and cultural actors of the age. The lexicographer Samuel Johnson even called him ‘the first writer who gave cadence to English prose.’ My research was supported by a University of St Andrews Doctoral Tuition Fee Scholarship.

I arrived at St Andrews in 2015, when I began my undergraduate degree in History. I graduated in June 2019 with first class honours. I continued my studies at St Andrews with an MLitt in Book History, which I completed in August 2020, achieving a distinction. I was also awarded the Postgraduate Gray Prize for the best overall performance at a Master’s level in Arts and Divinity at St Andrews. 

I am a lecturer and tutor on the first year module MO1007. I also tutor on the second year course HI2001, and the postgraduate courses MO5114 and MO5115. Since, August 2024, I have also worked as Academic Advisor for sub-honours students in the School of History. Between 2022 and 2024, I also co-coordinated the Academic Skills Programme for the School of History.

In May 2022, I was shortlisted for the St Andrews Students’ Association Teaching Awards, out of a pool of over 300 nominations.

• Lecturer - MO1007
• Tutor - MO1007, HI2001, MO5114 and MO5115