ABSTRACT
Statistics are hard to infer from the available evidence, but it is generally accepted that basic literacy grew significantly over the 18th and 19th centuries. The traditional Classics master is unimpressed by this socially aspirational candidate for a post, whose clothes do not fit and who confuses the names of Homer and Virgil with names of places outside London. Even travel abroad to view classical art was not invariably beyond the reach of at least skilled artisanal workers. Visual culture often proved a significant avenue for lower-class people to access classical civilisation because those whose occupations involved farming, care of horses, mining, digging, gamekeeping, fishing, dredging and other outdoor pursuits were more likely to come across ancient remains in their neighbourhoods. Classics met the issue of social class in the gallery through another important Scottish philanthropist who, like Alexander MacDonald Senior, transcended his impoverished birth-rank and lack of formal schooling.
