GORDON, ALEXANDER, a distinguished draughtsman, scholar, and antiquary, who resided many years in Italy, and also travelled in France, Germany, and other countries. The date of his birth has not been ascertained. In 1736 he was appointed secretary to the society for encouraging learning; and the same year he succeeded Dr Stukeley as secretary to the Society of Antiquaries, an office which he resigned in 1741 in favour of Mr Joseph Ames. He was for a short time secretary to the Egyptian Club, composed of Lord Sandwich, Dr Shaw, Dr Pococke, and other distinguished persons who had visited Egypt. In 1741 he accompanied Governor Glen to Carolina, where, besides a grant of land which he received, he held several offices, and died a justice of the peace, leaving a handsome estate to his family. He published, 1. Itinerarium Septentrionale, or a Journey through most parts of the Counties of Scotland, in two parts, with sixty-six copperplates, 1726, folio; 2. Supplement to the Itinerarium, 1732, folio; 3. The Lives of Pope Alexander VI. and his son Cæsar Borgia, comprehending the wars in the reign of Charles VIII. and Louis XII., and the chief transactions and revolutions in Italy from 1492 to 1516, with an appendix of original pieces; 4. A complete History of the Ancient Amphitheatres, more especially regarding the architecture of these buildings, and in particular that of Verona, by the Marquis Scipio Maffei, translated from the Italian, 1730, 8vo, afterwards enlarged in a second edition; 5. An Essay towards explaining the Hieroglyphical Figures on the Coffin of the ancient Mummy belonging to Captain William Lethieullier, 1737, folio, with cuts; 6. Twenty-five Plates of all the Egyptian Mummies and other Egyptian Antiquities in England, 1739, folio.