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Author: SCOTT, Walter

Biography:

SCOTT, Walter (1771-1832: ODNB)

One of the most influential writers of the time, he was born at Edinburgh, one of six surviving children of Anne (Rutherford), daughter of a professor of physiology at the university, and Walter Scott, a Writer to the Signet. In 1772, he became ill with polio and was sent to live at Sandyknowe, his grandfather’s Roxburghshire farm. Scott later credited his interest in oral tales and ballads to his early years in the country. Subsequently, he was educated at the Edinburgh High School where he formed connections important later to both his literary and his legal careers. In 1783 illness again took him out of the city, to Kelso where he met his future printer and business partner, James Ballantyne. Scott studied at Edinburgh University and was indentured to his father for legal training. In 1792 he was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates. He married French-born Margaret Charlotte Carpenter (d 1826) in 1797; they were to have five children with four (two girls and two boys) surviving past infancy. They divided their time between Edinburgh and a succession of homes in the Scottish borders—most famously Abbotsford. In 1799 he was appointed sheriff-depute of Selkirkshire and he held that post until his death; in 1806 he also became principal clerk to the court of session in Edinburgh, a post which generously augmented his legal earnings. Scott early began laying the groundwork for his literary career through his travels in Scotland and research into Scottish culture and history. Enthusiasm for German literature inspired him to publish his translations of poems by Gottfried Bürger in 1796. At about the same time, he began serious work on his Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border—the first of his many editing projects that, in addition to poetry, included drama, biography, and history. The Minstrelsy heralded his original long poems which, although not always well-received critically, made him famous. His first novel, Waverley, published anonymously in 1814, was an instant success, and Scott followed it with twenty-two more novels, all issued without his name on the title page. If Scott’s output was prodigious, his thoroughgoing engagement with Scottish literary culture was transformative. He was involved in publishing through his partnership with Archibald Constable and James Ballantyne and established Edinburgh as a rival to London. He contributed reviews to the Edinburgh Review, Quarterly Review (which he helped to establish), and Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine. He counselled and offered practical help to other authors. He nurtured connections to European and North American literatures, both because of translations and adaptations of his own works and through his correspondence with other writers. Beyond these activities, he was responsible for the rediscovery of the Scottish regalia at Edinburgh Castle in 1818 (for this he was made a baronet) and choreographed the visit of George IV to Scotland in 1822. In 1825-6, he was caught up in the widespread economic collapse of the publishing industry. Left with extensive personal liability, Scott worked for the rest of his life to pay off the debt, including by revisiting his works to add introductions and notes so that they could be lucratively sold in sets. He avoided declaring bankruptcy, but overwork brought on ill-health and he suffered the first in a series of strokes in 1830. He was encouraged to travel to a warmer climate and he reluctantly set off for the Mediterranean and Europe in 1831, returning to Abbotsford only months before his death in 1832. He was buried beside his wife at Dryburgh Abbey, Berwickshire. (ODNB 1 Nov. 2020)

 

Other Names:

  • Scott
  • W. Scott
 

Books written (230):

Kelso: Ballantyne, 1799
Kelso: printed by James Ballantyne, 1800
2nd edn. London: J. Bell, 1801
Kelso/ London/ Edinburgh: printed by James Ballantyne/ T. Cadell, Jr., and W. Davies/ Manners and Miller, and A. Constable, 1802
2nd edn. Edinburgh/ London: Manners and Miller, and A. Constable/ Longman and Rees, 1803
London/ Edinburgh: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme/ A. Constable and Co., 1805
2nd edn. London/ Edinburgh: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme/ A. Constable and Co., 1805
Philadelphia: Hugh Maxwell, 1805
Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1806
2nd edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1806
3rd edn. London/ Edinburgh: Longman/ Constable, 1806
4th edn. London/ Edinburgh: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme/ A. Constable and Co., 1806
5th edn. London/ Edinburgh: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme/ printed by John Ballantyne and Co., 1806
Philadelphia/ New York: printed for I. Riley and Co./ I Riley and Co., 1806
3rd edn. Edinburgh/ London: Constable/ Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1806
London/ Edinburgh: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme/ A. Constable and Co., 1806
Boston/ Charlestown [MA]: Etheridge and Bliss/ Etheridge, 1807
Boston/ Philadelphia: Etheridge and Bliss/ B. and B. Hopkins, 1807
6th edn. London/ Edinburgh: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme/ A. Constable and Co., 1807
Boston/ Charlestown [MA]: Etheridge and Bliss/ Etheridge, 1807
9th edn. London/ Edinburgh: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme/ A. Constable and Co., 1808
8th edn. London/ Edinburgh: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme/ A. Constable and Co., 1808
Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ William Miller and John Murray, 1808
2nd edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ William Miller and John Murray, 1808
3rd edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ William Miller and John Murray, 1808
Philadelphia: Hopkins and Earle, 1808
Boston: Farrand, Mallory and Co., 1808
4th edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ William Miller and John Murray, 1808
Edinburgh/ London: Constable/ Murray, 1808
London/ Edinburgh: Miller and Murray/ Constable, 1808
10th edn. London/ Edinburgh: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme/ A. Constable and Co., 1809
Philadelphia: Hopkins and Earle, 1809
4th edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1810
Edinburgh/ London: John Ballantyne and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and William Miller, 1810
2nd edn. Edinburgh/ London: John Ballantyne and Co./Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and W. Miller, 1810
3rd edn. Edinburgh/ London: John Ballantyne and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and W. Miller, 1810
4th edn. Edinburgh/ London: John Ballantyne and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and W. Miller, 1810
5th edn. Edinburgh/ London: John Ballantyne and Co./Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and W. Miller, 1810
6th edn. Edinburgh/ London: John Ballantyne and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and W. Miller, 1810
7th edn. Edinburgh/ London: John Ballantyne and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and W. Miller, 1810
8th edn. Edinburgh/ London: John Ballantyne and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and W. Miller, 1810
Boston: W. Wells and T. B. Wait and Co., 1810
New York: Ezra Sargeant, 1810
Philadelphia/ Boston/ Portland [ME]/ Middlebury [VT]/ Baltimore/ Petersburgh [VA]: Edward Earle and M. Carey/ D. Mallory and Co./ Lyman, Hall, and Co./ Swift and Chapman/ P. H. Nicklin and Co./ John W. Campbell, 1810
11th edn. London/ Edinburgh: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme/ printed by James Ballantyne and Co., 1810
Boston: Greenough and Stebbins, 1810
11th edn. Philadelphia: Edward Earle, 1810
5th edn. London/ Edinburgh: William Miller and John Murray/ Archibald Constable and Co., 1810
6th edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ William Miller and John Murray, 1810
Boston: West and Blake, 1810
Philadelphia/ Boston: Edward Earle/ Farrand, Mallory, and Co., 1810
4th edn. Edinburgh/ London: A. Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1810
Baltimore/ New York/ Philadelphia/ Boston/ Georgetown [DC]: Philip H. Nicklin and Joseph Cushing/ E. Sargeant/ Anthony Finley/ D. Mallory and Co./ J. Milligan, 1811
New York/ Baltimore: Ezra Sargeant/ P. H. Nicklin, 1811
Baltimore/ New York: Joseph Cushing/ E. Sargeant, 1811
London: John Sharpe, 1811 [a re-issue of the 1810 4th. edn. with a new engraved title-page as well as the 1810 one]
9th edn. Edinburgh/ London: John Ballantyne and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and W. Miller, 1811
9th edn. Edinburgh/London: John Ballantyne and Co./Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and W. Miller, 1811
12th edn. London/ Edinburgh: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown/ A. Constable and Co., 1811
New York/ Charleston [SC]: Elliot and Crissy and R. Scott/ A. Devillers, 1811
Savannah [GA]/ Philadelphia/ New York/ Boston/ Charleston SC: Seymour and Williams/ C. and A. Conrad and Co., and Bradford and Inskeep/ M. and W. Ward and D. D. Arden/ Charles Williams and Lincoln and Edmonds/ E. Morford, Willington and Co., 1811
Baltimore/ New York: Joseph Cushing/ E. Sargeant, 1811
7th edn. Edinburgh/London: Archibald Constable and Co./ William Miller and John Murray, 1811
8th edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ William Miller and John Murray, 1811
Baltimore/ New York: Joseph Cushing/ E. Sargeant, 1811
New York/ Charleston [SC]: Elliot and Crissy/ T. Powers and A. Devillers, 1811
Edinburgh/ London: John Ballantyne and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1811
New York: Ezra Sargeant, 1811
Boston: J. Greenleaf, 1811
Boston: T. B. Wait and Co., 1811
Philadelphia/ Baltimore/ Boston/ New York/ Pittsburg[h] [PA] / Frankfort [KY]/ Savannah [GA]/ Wilmington DE: Anthony Finley and B. B. Hopkins and Co./ P. H. Nicklin and J. Cushing/ J. West and Co. and D. Mallory/ Whiting and Watson and J. Thompson/ Patterson and Hopkins/ A. Montgomery/ Seymour and Williams/ M. R. Lockerman, 1811
Edinburgh: printed by James Ballantyne and Co., 1811
2nd edn. Edinburgh/ London: John Ballantyne and Co./ Longman and Co., William Miller, White and Co., Gale and Co., 1811
4th edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1812
Baltimore: Joseph Cushing, 1812
12th edn. Baltimore: Joseph Cushing, 1812
13th edn. London/ Edinburgh: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown/ A. Constable and Co. and John Ballantyne and Co., 1812
Baltimore: Joseph Cushing, 1812
5th edn. Edinburgh/ London: A. Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1812
Reprinted Calcutta: [no publisher], 1812
Philadelphia/ New York: Bradford and Inskeep/ Inskeep and Bradford, 1813
Edinburgh/ London: John Ballantyne and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and Gale, Curtis, and Fenner, 1813
2nd edn. Edinburgh/ London: John Ballantyne and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and John Ballantyne and Co.,/ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and Gale, Curtis, and Fenner, 1813
3rd edn. Edinburgh/ London: John Ballantyne and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and Gale, Curtis, and Fenner, 1813
New York: D. Huntington, 1813
New York: Richard Scott, 1813
Montpelier VT: Lucius Q. C. Bowles, 1813
Baltimore: Joseph Cushing, 1813
Boston: Bradford and Read, 1813
Charlestown [MA]/ Boston: S. Etheridge, Jr./ C. Williams, H. S. Waldo, Cummings and Hilliard, West and Richardson, and William Wells, 1813
Edinburgh/ London: John Ballantyne and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1813
2nd edn. Edinburgh/ London: John Ballantyne and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1813
3rd edn. Edinburgh/ London: John Ballantyne and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1813
4th edn. Edinburgh/ London: John Ballantyne and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1813
5th edn. Edinburgh/ London: A. Constable and Co. and John Ballantyne and Co./Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1813
Philadelphia/ New York: Bradford and Inskeep/ Inskeep and Bradford, 1813
Baltimore: Joseph Cushing, 1813
Boston: Bradford and Read, 1813
Illustrated edn. London: Longman, 1813
Philadelphia/ New York: Bradford and Inskeep/ Inskeep and Bradford, 1813
4th edn. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1814
10th edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co., and John Ballantyne and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1814
Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and John Murray, 1815
2nd edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and John Murray, 1815
3rd edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and John Murray, 1815
Boston: T. B. Wait and Sons, 1815
New York: Van Winkle and Wiley, 1815
Philadelphia: M. Thomas, 1815
Boston: Wells and Lilly, 1815
Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1815
2nd edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1815
3rd edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1815
4th edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1815
5th edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1815
New York: Richard Scott, 1815
Philadelphia: Moses Thomas, 1815
9th edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1815
6th edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1815
Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and John Murray, 1815
Philadelphia/ Boston: M. Carey/ Wells and Lilly, 1816
Burlington [VT]: Samuel Mills, 1816
Lexington KY: printed by F. Bradford, Jr., 1816
11th edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co. and John Ballantyne and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1816
15th edn. London/ Edinburgh: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown/ A. Constable and Co., 1816
5th edn. Edinburgh/London: Archibald Constable and Co/Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1817
Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1817
New York: James Eastburn and Co., 1817
New York: J. Eastburn, 1818
New York: J. Eastburn and Co, 1818
New York: J. Eastburn and Co., 1818
New York: J. Eastburn, 1818
New York: J. Eastburn, 1818
5th edn. London/ Edinburgh: Longman/ Constable, 1819
4th edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and Hurst, Robinson, and Co., 1819
12th edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1819
Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Hurst, Robinson, and Co., 1820
Edinburgh/ London: Arch. Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and John Murray, 1820
10th edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and John Murray, 1821
5th edn. Edinburgh/ London: A. Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1821
Paris: A. and W. Galignani, 1821
Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, John Murray, Hurst, Robinson, and Co., 1821
7th edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1821
4th edn. Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Co., 1821
Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./Hunt, Hurst, Robinson, and Co., 1822
2nd edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co. /Hurst, Robinson, and Co., 1822
New York: Samuel Campbell and Son, 1822
Philadelphia: H. C. Carey and I. Lea, 1822
Paris: A. and W. Galignani and P. Didot, 1822
Edinburgh/ London: Arch. Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, John Murray, and Hurst, Robinson, and Co., 1822
Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Hurst, Robinson, and Co., 1822
Albany [NY]: S. Shaw, 1823
Philadelphia: Robert Wright, 1823
Boston: Ebenezer K. Allen, 1823
Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, J. Murray, and Hurst, Robinson, and Co., 1823
London/ Glasgow/ Dublin: John Bumpus, T. Bult, Hailes, Clarke, Bossange and Co./ R. Griffin and Co./ J. Cumming, 1824
Philadelphia: R. W. Pomeroy, 1824
Fredericksburg VA: E. D. Withers, 1824
New edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, and Hurst, Robinson, and Co., 1825
New edn. London/ Edinburgh: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green/ A. Constable and Co., 1825
New edn. Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and Hurst, Robinson, and Co., 1825
Zwickau: the brothers Schumann, 1825
Edinburgh/ London: Archibald Constable and Co./ Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, J. Murray, and Hurst, Robinson, and Co., 1825
Philadelphia: Ash and Mason, and T. Desilver, 1826
Philadelphia: A. Towar, 1826
Francfort O.M. [Frankfurt am Main]: H. L. Broenner, 1826
2nd edn. Philadelphia: Towar and Hogan, and T. Desilver, 1827
Zwickau: the brothers Schumann, 1827
New York: S. King, 1827
Paris: A. and W. Galignani, 1827
Brunswick [Germany]: Frederick Vieweg, 1827
New edn. London: J. D. Bird, John Bumpus, and Sherwood and Co., 1827
10th edn. Philadelphia: [no publisher], 1828
London: R. B. Seeley and W. Burnside, 1828
Philadelphia: A. Towar, 1828
Boston: Timothy Bedlington, 1828
Boston: Timothy Bedlington, 1828
Philadelphia: J. Maxwell, 1828
New York: George G. Sickels, 1829
New York/ Philadelphia/ Pittsburg [PA]/ Baltimore/ Boston/ Albany [NY]: Collins and Hannay, Collins and Co., G. and C. and H. Carvill, O. A. Roorbach, White, Gallaher, and White, A. T. Goodrich, W. B. Gilley, E. Bliss/ Carey and Lea, J. Grigg, U. Hunt, Towar and Hogan, McCarty and Davis, E. L. Carey and A. Hart, and J. Crissy/ Hogan and Co./ Cushing and Sons, W. and J. Neal, Joseph Jewett, and F. Lucas, Jr./ Richardson, Lord, and Holbrook, Hilliard, Gray, and Co., Crocker and Brewster, Carter and Hendee, R. P. and C. Williams, and Wells and Lilly/ O. Steele, and Little and Cummings, 1830
Edinburgh/ London: Cadell and Co./ Simpkin and Marshall, 1830
New edn. Edinburgh/ London: Robert Cadell/ Simpkin and Marshall, 1830
London: John Stephens, John Mason, and Simpkin and Marshall, 1830
Edinburgh/ London: Cadell and Co./ Simpkin and Marshall, 1830
Philadelphia: J. Crissy and J. Grigg, 1830
Philadelphia: J. Crissy and J. Grigg, 1830
New York: John Lomax, 1831
New edn. Edinburgh/ London: Cadell/ Whittaker, 1832
New York: Collins and Hannay, 1833
Edinburgh/ London: printed by Ballantyne and Co./ Robert Cadell and Whittaker and Co., 1833
Philadelphia: J. Crissy and J. Grigg, 1833
Edinburgh/ London: Robert Cadell/ Whittaker and Co., [1833?]
New York: J. C. Riker, 1834
2nd edn. Francfort O.M. [Frankfurt am Main]: H. L. Broenner, 1834
Edinburgh/ London: Robert Cadell/ Whittaker and Co., [1834?]
Improved edn. New York: [no publisher], 1835
London: Thomas Hurst, [1835?]
London: Charles Tilt, 1835
London: Charles Daly, 1835
London/ Glasgow: Scott and Webster/ printed by [George Brookman], 1835
London/ Edinburgh/ Dublin: Charles Tilt/ J. Menzies/ W. F. Wakeman, 1835
Philadelphia: J. Crissy and Desilver, Thomas, and Co., 1835