Waverly Novels
In The First Four Years, a neighbor
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.
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)
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/
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Waverly novels (FFY, "A Year of Grace")
