Books by Walter Scott

This novel, which has always been regarded as one of Scott's finest, opens with the Edinburgh riots of 1736. The people of the city have been infuriated by the actions of John Porteous, Captain of the Guard, and when they hear that his death has been reprieved by the distant monarch they ignore the Queen and resolve to take their own revenge. At the center of the story is Edinburgh's forbidding Tolbooth prison, known by all as the Heart of Midlothian.

INTRODUCTIONS AND NOTES FROM THE MAGNUM OPUS IVANHOE TO CASTLE DANGEROUS Edited by J. H. Alexander with P. D. Garside and Claire Lamont Between 1829 and 1833 the first complete edition of Scott's fiction appeared, in 48 volumes issued one a month, each illustrated with two engravings, and with introductions and notes by Scott himself. The introductions are semi-autobiographical essays in which he muses on his own art and the circumstances which gave rise to each work. His notes illustrate his text, sometimes with simple glosses, sometimes by quotations from historical sources, but most strikingly with further narratives which parallel rather than explain incidents and situations in the fiction. These volumes constitute the first systematic representation of Scott's contributions to his last great edition, the edition which defined the final shape of Scott's fiction for the nineteenth century. They conclude the publication of the Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels, and as they include addenda and corrigenda covering the whole 28 volumes of Scott's fiction in the Edition, they are indispensable to the set. But above all they illustrate the parabolic imagination of the man who made the historical novel an intellectual force. Before their retirement, J. H. Alexander was Reader in English at the University of Aberdeen, P. D. Garside was Professor of Bibliography and Textual Studies at the University of Edinburgh, and Claire Lamont was Professor of English at the University of Newcastle.

The plans of Edgar, Master of Ravenswood to regain his ancient family estate from the corrupt Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland are frustrated by the complexities of the legal and political situations following the 1707 Act of Union, and by his passion for his enemy's beautiful daughter Lucy. First published in 1819, this intricate and searching romantic tragedy offers challenging insights into emotional and sexual politics, and demonstrates the shrewd way in which Scott presented his work as historical document, entertainment, and work of art.

Set within a framing narrative told by Chrystal Croftangry, these three stories are set in the years following the Jacobite defeat and all feature characters who are leaving Scotland to seek their fortunes elsewhere.

Jeanie Deans, a dairymaid, decides she must walk to London to gain an audience with the Queen. Her sister is to be executed for infanticide and, while refusing to lie to help her case, Jeanie is desperate for a reprieve. Set in the 1730s in a Scotland uneasily united with England, The Heart of Mid-Lothian dramatizes different kinds of justice - that meted out by the Edinburgh mob in the lynching of Captain Porteous, and that encountered by a terrified young girl suspected of killing her baby. Based on an anonymous letter Scot received in 1817, this is the seventh and finest of Scott's 'Waverley' novels. It was an international bestseller and inspired succeeding novelists from Balzac to George Eliot.

The Fortunes of Nigel sits among Walter Scott's richest creations in political insight and range of characterisation. Steeped in Jacobean drama, this tale shows Scott revelling in the linguistic riches of the age.

The Betrothed is set at the time of the Third Crusade (1189--92) and is the first of Scott's Tales of the Crusaders.

A new edition of Scott's longest, and arguably most intriguing, novel.

Set at the time of the Norman Conquest, this novel discusses Ivanhoe's return from the Crusades to claim his inheritance and the love of Rowena and his involvement in the struggle between Richard Coeur de Lion and his Norman brother John. It is structured by a series of conflicts: Saxon versus Norman, Christian versus Jew, and men versus women.

A critical edition of Scott's first novel about Edward Waverley, a young, cultured man whose sensibilities lead to his involvement in the Jacobite Rising of 1745.

When young Francis Osbaldistone discovers that his vicious and scheming cousin Rashleigh has designs both on his father's business and his beloved Diana Vernon, he turns in desperation to Rob Roy for help. Chieftain of the MacGregor clan, Rob Roy is a brave and fearless man, able and cunning. But he is also an outlaw with a price on his head, and as he and Francis join forces to pursue Rashleigh, he is constantly aware that he, too, is being pursued - and could be captured at any moment. Set on the eve of the 1715 Jacobite uprising, Rob Roy brilliantly evokes a Scotland on the verge of rebellion, blending historical fact and a novelist's imagination to create an incomparable portrait of intrigue, rivalry and romance.

Castle Dangerous is the realisation of a thirty-year old project of Scott's to retell a story found in Barbour's Brus.

The Heart of Mid-Lothian is precisely focused on the trials for murder of John Porteous and of Effie Deans in 1736 and 1737.

This is a new edition of Rob Roy. It is set in 1715-16, yet it concerns not the conduct of the Jacobite Rising, but the economic and social conditions which gave rise to it.

Guy Mannering, or The Astrologer, first published in 1815, was Walter Scott's second novel

This collection comprise eight pieces of shorter fiction all from periodicals. They show both Scott's versatility and his continuous exploration of the possibilities of fiction.

A new edition of The Talisman, the second of Tales of the Crusaders, which is set in Palestine during the Third Crusade (1189-92)

In the court of Elizabeth I, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, is favoured above all the noblemen of England. It is rumoured that the Queen may chose him for her husband. This story is a depiction of intrigue, power struggles and superstition in a bygone age.

Guy Mannering is an astrologer who only half-believes in his art. Instead he places his faith in patriarchal power, wealth and social position. But the Scotland of this novel is a nation in which the old hierarchies are breaking down and in which each social group lives by its own laws.

A new edition of Woodstock based on the first edition but emended in the light of readings in the manuscript and proofs that were misread.

Forklædt som fattig ridder deltager en skotsk prins i 1100-tallets korstog til Palæstina. Forholdene er barske, og det er heller ikke uden problemer at give sig ud for at være en anden. Tvunget af omstændighederne må han afsløre sin identitet, men vil prinsessen så stadig have ham?Sir Walter Scott, 1771-1832, advokat, dommer og skotsk forfatter til historiske romaner. Hans mest kendte værk er romanen "Ivanhoe", der også er blevet filmatiseret adskillige gange. Karakteristisk for Scotts romaner er anvendelsen af et stort persongalleri med repræsentanter fra alle samfundslag og naturen som (symbolsk) baggrund for handlingen. Studerede kunst og jura på University of Edinburgh og blev senere dommer, vicesheriff og administrator (clerk) ved Skotlands højeste domstol. Han var desuden medstifter af The Quarterly Review, et indflydelsesrigt litterært tidsskrift af konservativ observans. Scott har haft stor betydning for udviklingen af den historiske roman, og mange senere forfattere, som Charles Dickens og Thomas Hardy, står i dyb gæld til ham.

"Ivanhoe" fortæller historien om korstogsridderen Ivanhoe, der vender tilbage til England og kæmper for kong Richard Løvehjerte imod kongens forræderiske bror, John.Denne udgave er forkortet og bearbejdet.Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) var en skotsk forfatter, der var uddannet jurist og siden blev dommer. Ved siden af dette var Scott med til at introducere Sturm und Drang til Storbritannien, blandt andet ved oversættelser, men også ved at udgive sine egne værker. Han er muligvis mest kendt for sit værk "Ivanhoe", men var også med til at give den historiske roman form og var en stor inspiration for senere forfattere.