Robert Bell was born in Glasgow, Scotland, circa 1732. He emigrated to Philadelphia in 1768 and began to publish books from England. During his career in publishing, he established the Universal (or Union) Library, which became a noted literary location; he published Common Sense, and employed Thomas Paine. He flourished financially, reporting in 1782 a stock of £500, a sow, and two estates. Bell presented himself as a professor of book auctioneering, having held his first American auction on May 4, 1768, and continuing through April 22, 1784. He died on September 23, 1784, in Richmond, Virginia while traveling to an auction in South Carolina.