What does independent mean in this following sentence? Does it mean "despite

[Cooliegirly]

What does independent mean in this following sentence? Does it mean sort of like "despite"?

"I flatter myself that few biographers have entered upon such a work as this, with more advantages; independent of literary abilities, in which I am not vain enough to compare myself with some great names who have gone before me in this kind of writing."

[Alan]

Hi cooliegirly,

You asked:

[Cooliegirly]

Yeah, I didn't mean it that way, either. I think I misused "despite", sorry about that thank you for pointing that out, Alan.

CG

[Jamie (K)]

To me that's a really snarled-up sentence, and is not indicative of a good, clear writer. I think Alan is right that "independent of" means something like "regardless of". (In fact, we do use "independent of" in this way often, in the US at least. It's just not gracefully used in this sentence. Another way to say it would be "literary abilities aside..."