Waverly Novels

Collection of books by Sir Walter Scott.

In The First Four Years, the Wilders’ neighbor, Oliver Sheldon, loans Laura a set of paper-backed Waverly novels, saying that he “thought they might amuse you.” (See The First Four Years, “A Year of Grace”), Laura, who was feeling sick due to being pregnant with their second child, was delighted. She spent her time reading about brave knights and beautiful ladies, and the magic and music of Sir Walter Scott’s novels helped the winter pass quite comfortably.

Sir Walter Scott was born in 1771 in Edinburgh, Scotland. An avid reader, he loved stories of knights and castles and explored ruins of castles himself. Educated as a lawyer, Scott became a published poet in 1805 with “The Lay of the Last Minstrel,” which was an immediate success.

Wishing to keep secret the fact that he wrote novels as well as poetry, Scott published many works using pen names. Waverly was published in 1814; the following two works were credited to “the author of Waverly” and the three originally became known as the Waverly novels: Waverly (1814), Guy Mannerling (1815), and The Antiquary (1816). Scott mostly looked to his native Scotland for inspiration, but turned to England for the subject matter of Ivanhoe, published in 1820. Eventually, the Waverly novels – which now included from Waverly (1814) to Castle Dangerous (1831) – became a series of over 25 historical romances dealing with events and settings that spanned seven centuries, in which Scott attempted to recreate the heroic past with its code of chivalry.

Many of Sir Walter Scott’s novels and poems are online. See the digital library at Scotland’s Edinburgh Library for links to text: http://www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk/

A set of 24 paper-backed Waverly novels could be purchased for around thirteen dollars in the 1880s.

The Waverly novels include the following:

Waverly (1814)

Guy Mannerling (1815)

The Antiquary (1816) – set in the late 18th century

The Black Dwarf (1816)

Old Mortality (1817) – set in the 1680s with James II and the Glorious Revolution

Rob Roy (1818) – set during the reign of George I

The Heart of Midlothian (1819) – set during the reign of Queen Anne

The Bride of Lammermore (1819) – set during the late 17th century

A Legend of Montrose (1819) – a picture of the campaigns of 1644

The Abbot (1820) – set during the 16th century and dealing with Mary, Queen of Scots

The Monastery (1820) – Set during the 16th century and dealing with Mary, Queen of Scots

Ivanhoe (1820) – set during the time of Richard I (Richard the Lion-hearted)

Kenilworth (1821) – set during the reign of Elizabeth I

The Pirate (1821)

The Fortunes of Nigel (1822) – set during the reign of James II

Peveril of the Peak (1823) – set during the reign of Charles II

Quentin Durward (1823) – set in France during the time of Louis XI

St. Ronan’s Well (1823)

Redgauntlet (1824)

The Betrothed (1825)

The Talisman (1825) – set during the time of Richard I (Richard the Lion-hearted)

Woodstock (1826)

The Surgeon’s Daughter (1827) – set in India

The Fair Maid of Perth (1828)

Ann of Geierstein (1829)

Count Robert of Paris (1821)

Castle Dangerous (1831)

The Siege of Malta (unfinished at Sir Walter Scott’s death)

     

Waverly Novels (FFY “A Year of Grace”)