Sir Walter Scott

A biography of Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832), published in the first series of 'English Men of Letters' in 1878.

Richard Holt Hutton (Author)

9781108034678, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 27 October 2011

190 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.1 cm, 0.25 kg

Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832) is famous for his poetry and historical romances such as Ivanhoe and Rob Roy. As the first English-language author to achieve truly international fame in his lifetime, his depiction of Scottish history and culture spread around the world so effectively that it persists even today. Scott also contributed to Scottish history himself: in 1818 he helped to unearth Scotland's missing crown jewels, and he also led the campaign that saved the Scottish banknote when the London Parliament threatened its existence. First published in 1878 in the first series of 'English Men of Letters', this biography by the journalist Richard H. Hutton (1826–97) tells Scott's story from his childhood and ancestry, through his early years as an advocate to his extraordinary fame and success as a writer, through bankruptcy to recovery, and his final days.

Prefatory note
1. Ancestry, parentage, and childhood
2. Youth - choice of a profession
3. Love and marriage
4. Earliest poetry and Border Ministrelsy
5. Scott's maturer poems
6. Companions and friends
7. First country homes
8. Removal to Abbotsford, and life there
9. Scott's partnerships with the Ballantynes
10. The Waverley novels
11. Scott's morality and religion
12. Distractions and amusements at Abbotsford
13. Scott and George IV
14. Scott as a politician
15. Scott in adversity
16. The last year
17. The end of the struggle.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900 [DSBF]