Scott first became known for some plates in
James Anderson of Hermiston's
The Bee for 1793 and 1794, and a set of
Views of Seats and Scenery chiefly in the Environs of Edinburgh, from drawings by
Alexander Carse and
Andrew Wilson, published in 1795 and 1796. He made the most of his abilities, and was known in his day for his small book illustrations; he carried on a manufactory in
Parliament Stairs, Edinburgh, employing many assistants. Scott's most significant work was in landscape. He engraved the illustrations to
George Barry's History of the Orkney Islands, 1805, and to ''Scenery of Allan Ramsay's Gentle Shepherd
, 1808; he contributed plates for many years to the Scots Magazine'', and put in the landscape backgrounds of some of those for
John Bell's Poets of Great Britain. He was employed by Henry Mozley, publisher at
Gainsborough (the father of
Thomas Mozley and
James Bowling Mozley), for whose edition of
James Thomson's The Seasons (1804), he engraved four plates after John Burnet. Scott's last work was a set of 20 views of ‘Scenery of Edinburgh and Midlothian,’ 1838, from drawings by his son, William Bell Scott. By his final years he had obtained a prestigious studio at 65
Princes Street and was living at 15 Lauriston Street in the
Tollcross area of Edinburgh. Both buildings are now demolished. ==Family==