Author of numerous essays, the Itinerarium (written in 1744), and The History of the Tuesday Club (written in 1755), and guiding genius of colonial Maryland's foremost gentleman's club, the Tuesday Club of Annapolis, Dr. Alexander Hamilton was one of colonial America's most distinguished writers and wits.

Hamilton was born on 26 September 1712 in Edinburgh, where his father, the Reverend William Hamilton, was principal of the University of Edinburgh. Like his oldest brother, Dr. John Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh before leaving for America in 1739 to establish his practice. During his first summer in Maryland, Hamilton became ill, showing signs of the consumption that would eventually cause his death. To escape the muggy Maryland climate, Hamilton at first thought of returning to Great Britain, but he decided instead to set out on a four-month horseback journey with his Negro slave, Dromo, from Annapolis, Maryland, to York, Maine...