He studied medicine in Glasgow, and in 1714, set out for Saint Petersburg, where, through the introduction of a fellow Scot, he was nominated medical attendant to Artemy Volynsky, recently appointed to the Persian embassy, with whom he travelled from 1715 to 1718.
[1] It appears that after this he was for several years established as a merchant at Constantinople,[1] where he married Mary Peters, a Russian lady, and returned to Scotland in 1746, where he spent the latter part of his life on his estate, enjoying the society of his friends.
[citation needed] His travels, published at Glasgow in 1763, were speedily translated into French and Russian, and widely circulated in Europe.
[1] His only work is Travels from St. Petersburg in Russia to various parts of Asia 1763, in two volumes printed by Robert and Andrew Foulis of Glasgow.
The Quarterly Review says that Bell wished to obtain literary help in writing his book, and applied to Robertson, who could not help him, but advised him to take Gulliver's Travels for his model.