guthrie's first scholarly work was a "history of england from the invasion of julius cæsar to 1688," 4 vols., lond. 1744–51; an attempt to base history on parliamentary records. in 1763 he published a book titled "complete list of the english peerage". in spite of revision by aristocrats, this work is inaccurate. about 1764–7 he published, along with collaborators, "a general history of the world, from the creation to the present time", in twelve volumes; this was favourably noticed in "the critical review", it was said by the author himself. in 1767 appeared "a general history of scotland" in 10 volumes. it is inaccurate, particularly in the early periods.