Novelist and poet, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK. He studied in Edinburgh, trained as a lawyer (1792), and began to write ballads in 1796, though his first major publication did not appear until 1802: The Border Minstrelsy. His ballads made him the most popular author of the day, and were followed by other romances, such as The Lady of the Lake (1810). He then turned to historical novels, all published anonymously, which fall into three groups: those set in the background of Scottish history, from Waverley (1814) to A Legend of Montrose (1819); a group which takes up themes from the Middle Ages and Reformation times, from Ivanhoe (1819) to The Talisman (1825); and his remaining books, from Woodstock (1826) until his death. His last years were spent in immense labours for his publishers, much of it hack editorial work, in an attempt to recover from bankruptcy following the collapse of his publishing ventures in 1826. His journal is an important record of this period of his life. He was created a baronet in 1820.
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832) was a prolific Scottish historical novelist and poet popular throughout Europe during his time. In some ways Scott was the first author to have a truly international career in his lifetime, with many contemporary readers all over Europe, Australia, and North America.
His novels and (to a lesser extent) his poetry are still read, but he is less popular today than he was at the height of his fame. Famous titles include Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, The Lady of the Lake, Waverley and The Heart of Midlothian.
Early days
Born in College Wynd in the Old Town of Edinburgh in 1771, the son of a solicitor, the young Walter Scott survived a childhood bout of polio that would leave him lame in his right leg for the rest of his life.
After studying law at the University of Edinburgh, he followed in his father's footsteps and became a lawyer in Edinburgh.
Literary career launched
At the age of 25 he began dabbling in writing, translating works from German, his first publication being rhymed versions of ballads by Bürger in 1796.
Scott then became an ardent volunteer in the yeomanry and on one of his "raids" he met at Gilsland Spa Margaret Charlotte Charpentier (or Charpenter), daughter of Jean Charpentier of Lyon in France whom he married in 1797.
In his earlier married days, Scott had a decent living from his earnings at the law, his salary as Sheriff-Depute, his wife's income, some revenue from his writing, and his share of his father's rather meagre estate.
After Scott had founded a printing press, his poetry, beginning with The Lay of the Last Minstrel in 1805, brought him fame.
Another work from this time period, Marmion, produced some of his most quoted (and most often mis-attributed) lines. Stanza 17 reads:
In 1809 his Tory sympathies led him to become a co-founder of the Quarterly Review, a review journal to which he made several anonymous contributions.
The novels
When the press became embroiled in pecuniary difficulties, Scott set out, in 1814, to write a cash-cow. His identity as the author of the novels was widely rumoured, and in 1815 Scott was given the honour of dining with George, Prince Regent, who wanted to meet "the author of Waverley".
In 1819 he broke away from writing about Scotland with Ivanhoe, a historical romance set in 12th-century England.
As his fame grew during this phase of his career, he was granted the title of baronet, becoming Sir Walter Scott. At this time he organised the visit of King George IV to Scotland, and when the King visited Edinburgh in 1822 the spectacular pageantry Scott had concocted to portray George as a rather tubby reincarnation of Bonnie Prince Charlie made tartans and kilts fashionable and turned them into symbols of Scottish national identity.
Scott included little in the way of punctuation in his drafts which he left to the printers to supply.
Financial woes
Beginning in 1825 he went into dire financial straits again, as his company nearly collapsed.
His home, Abbotsford House
When Sir Walter Scott was a boy he sometimes travelled with his father from Selkirk to Melrose, in the Border Country where some of his novels are set.
Assessment
Among the early critics of Scott was Mark Twain, who blamed Scott's "romantacization of battle" for the South's decision to fight the Civil War. Twain's ridiculing of chivalry in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is considered as specifically targeting Scott's books.
From being one of the most popular novelists of the 19th century, Scott suffered from a disastrous decline in popularity after the First World War. Forster's classic "Aspects of the Novel" (1927), where Scott was savaged as being a clumsy writer who wrote slapdash, badly plotted novels. As Austen's star rose, Scott's sank, although, ironically, he had been one of the few male writers of his time to recognize Austen's genius.
Scott's many flaws (ponderousness, prolixity, lack of humor) were fundamentally out of step with Modernist sensibilities. After being essentially unstudied for many decades, a small revival of interest in Scott's work began in the 1970s and 1980s. Ironically, postmodern tastes (which favoured discontinuous narratives, and the introduction of the 'first person' into works of fiction) were more favourable to Scott's work than Modernist tastes. Despite all the flaws, Scott is now seen as an important innovator, and a key figure in the development of Scottish and world literature.
Scott was also responsible, through a series of pseudonymous letters published in the Edinburgh Weekly News in 1826, for retaining the right of Scottish banks to issue their own banknotes, which is reflected to this day by his continued appearance on the front of all notes issued by the Bank of Scotland.
Many of his works were illustrated by his friend, William Allan.
Works
Wikisource has original works written by or about: Walter Scott Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Walter ScottThe Waverley Novels
Waverley (1814) Guy Mannering (1815) The Antiquary (1816) Rob Roy (1818) Ivanhoe (1819) Kenilworth (1821) The Pirate (1822) The Fortunes of Nigel (1822) Peveril of the Peak (1822) Quentin Durward (1823) St. Ronan's Well (1824) Redgauntlet (1824) Tales of the Crusaders, consisting of The Betrothed and The Talisman (1825) Woodstock (1826) Chronicles of the Canongate, 2nd series, The Fair Maid of Perth (1828) Anne of Geierstein (1829)Tales of My Landlord
1st series The Black Dwarf and Old Mortality (1816) 2nd series, The Heart of Midlothian (1818) 3rd series, The Bride of Lammermoor and A Legend of Montrose (1819) 4th series, Count Robert of Paris and Castle Dangerous (1832)Tales from Benedictine Sources
The Abbot (1820) The Monastery (1820)Short stories
Chronicles of the Canongate, 1st series, The Highland Widow, The Two Drovers and The Surgeon's Daughter (1827)Poems
William and Helen, Two Ballads from the German (translator) (1796) The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (1802-1803) The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805) Ballads and Lyrical Pieces (1806) Marmion (1808) The Lady of the Lake (1810) The Vision of Don Roderick (1811) The Bridal of Triermain (1813) Rokeby (1813) The Field of Waterloo (1815) The Lord of the Isles (1815) Harold the Dauntless (1817) "Young Lochinvar" Bonnie Dundee (1830)Other
Introductory Essay to The Border Antiquities of England and Scotland (1814-1817) The Chase (translator) (1796) Goetz of Berlichingen (translator) (1799) Paul's Letters to his Kinsfolk (1816) Provincial Antiquities of Scotland (1819-1826) Lives of the Novelists (1821-1824) Halidon Hall (1822) The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte (1827) Religious Discourses (1828) Tales of a Grandfather, 1st series (1828) History of Scotland, 2 vols. (1829-1830) Tales of a Grandfather, 2nd series (1829) The Doom of Devorgoil (1830) Essays on Ballad Poetry (1830) Tales of a Grandfather, 3rd series (1830) Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft (1831) The Bishop of TyreQuote
Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land! from The Lay of the Last Minstrel by Walter Scott
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