Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart

This celebrated seven-volume biography (1837–8) draws on personal accounts of Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832), correspondence and autobiographical sketches.

John Gibson Lockhart (Author)

9781108057004, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 13 November 2012

394 pages
21.6 x 14 x 2.2 cm, 0.5 kg

As son-in-law and literary executor to Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832), John Gibson Lockhart (1794–1854) was uniquely placed to produce a definitive biography of the great poet and novelist. First published in 1837–8, shortly after Scott's death, this celebrated seven-volume work is based on personal memories, correspondence, and Scott's own autobiographical sketches. Wide-ranging in his purview, Lockhart is also detailed in his descriptions: the Aberdeen Journal of the day observed that the volumes trace Scott's life and literary efforts with 'the most minute distinctness'. Volume 4 leads readers through the productive years of 1816–20, covering the publication of the first Tales of My Landlord (1816), The Heart of Midlothian (1818), and the preparation of the manuscript of Ivanhoe (1820). Using Scott's private correspondence, Lockhart reveals much about the writer's agreements and disputes with distinguished men of politics and letters.

1. Publication of Paul's Letters to his Kinsfolk
2. Harold the Dauntless published
3. Excursion to the Lennox
4. Rob Roy published
5. May 1818
6. Publication of The Heart of Mid-Lothian
7. Declining health of Charles Duke of Buccleuch
8. Recurrence of Scott's illness
9. Gradual re-establishment of Scott's health
10. Political alarms
11. The Visionary
12. Scott revisits London.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]