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SCOTT, THE NOVELIST
In 1814 Scott published his "Waverley fweivalil, or Tig Sixty Years Since". Because he had an establi«he4feputation as a poet, Scott decided to print, his first novel anonymously The book was a great success, and everybody wanted to know. who the author was. Scott published many of his novels under the name of "The Author of Waverley", but finally the secret leaked out. During the next seventeen, years from 1815 till 1832 Scott wrote more than twenty-five novels and many stories and tales besides.
In 1818 he accepted the offer of a baronetcy. Surrounded by his large family, he looked like the chief of a new clan.
Scott was a hard worker: "... it is with the deepest regret," he wrote about himself "that I recollect in my manhood the opportunities of learning which I neglected in my youth. Through every part of my literary career I have felt pinched and hampered by my ignorance."
Scott's publisher was John Ballantyne an Edinburgh bookseller ip whose firm Scott was a silent partner. This firm suddenly-went bankrupt in 1826, and Scott found himself, at the age of fifty-five, not only penniless but burdened with a debt of Ј, 130,000. Nobly refusing to permit the creditors of the firm to suffer any loss that he could help. he devoted the rest of his life to the task of repaying this colossal debt. Setting to work on the very day of the failure, he managed, irffour years, to pay back Ј, 70,000. It must be admitted that many of his books at that period were written in a hurry and are irif(r(pr to his earlier works. He would have worked on had his health not broken down. His doctors sent him to Italy; but it was too late. Before reaching Italy he'ha'd to turn back, and on his arrival at Abbotsford he died.
SCOTT’S NOVELS
For the sake of convenience Scott's works have been divided into three groups. The first group of novels are those devoted to Scottish history: "Waverley, or Tig Sixty Years Since" (1814), "Guy Mannering, or the Astrologer" (1815), "The Antiquary" (1816), "Black Dwarf" (1816), "Old Mortality" (1816), "Rob Roy" (1817), "The Heart of Midlothian" (1818), "The Bride of Lammermoor" (1819), "A Legend of Montrose" (1819), "Redgauntlet" (1824), 'The Fair Maid of Perth" (1828).
The second, group of novels refer to English history: "Ivaiihoe" (1820). the best of this series; "The Monastery" (1820), 'The Abbot" (1820), "Kenilworm" (1821). "The Pirate" (1822). "The Fortunes of Nigel" (1822), "Peveril of the Peak" (1822), "Woodstock" (1826).
The third group comprises novels based on the history of Europe: "Quentin Durward" (1823), "The Talisman" (1825), "Count Robert of Paris" (1832), "Anne ofGeierstein" (1829). "Castle Dangerous" (1832).
The novel "St. Ronan's Well" (1824) stands in a class by itself The story is laid at the fashionable health-resort somewhere near the border between England and Scotland. It is the only novel written by Scott about his own time and shows his attitude to contemporary bourgeois society. It is a precursor of the critical realism of the 19th ceratury.