This is a reproduction of the original artefact. Generally these books are created from careful scans of the original. This allows us to preserve the book accurately and present it in the way the author intended. Since the original versions are generally quite old, there may occasionally be certain imperfections within these reproductions. We're happy to make these classics available again for future generations to enjoy!

Scott's Books is an approachable introduction to the Waverley Novels. Drawing on substantial research in Scott's intertextual sources, it offers a fresh approach to the existing readings where the thematic and theoretical are the norm. Avoiding jargon, and moving briskly, it tackles the vexed question of Scott's 'circumbendibus' style head on, suggesting that it is actually one of the most exciting aspects of his fiction: indeed, what Ian Duncan has called the 'elaborately literary narrative', at first sight a barrier, is in a sense what the novels are primarily 'about'. The book aims to show how inventive, witty, and entertaining Scott's richly allusive style is; how he keeps his varied readership on board with his own inexhaustible variety; and how he allows proponents of a wide range of positions to have their say, using a detached, ironic, but never cynical narrative voice to undermine the more rigid and inhumane rhetoric. The Introduction outlines this approach and sets the book in the context of earlier and current Scott criticism. It also deals with some practical issues, including forms of reference and the distinctive use of the term 'Authorial'. The four chapters are designed to zoom in progressively from the general to the particular. 'Resources' explores the printed material available to Scott in his library and gives an overview of the way he uses it in his fiction. 'Style' confronts objections to the 'circumbendibus' Scott and shows how his Ciceronian style with its penchant for polysyllables enables him to embrace a wide range of rhetoric relayed in a detached but not cynical Authorial voice. 'Strategies' explores how he keeps his very wide audience on board by a complex bonding between characters, readers, and Author, and stresses the extraordinary variety of exuberant inventiveness with which he handles intertextual allusions. 'Mottoes' examines the most remarkable of Scott's intertextual devices, the chapter epigraphs, bringing into play the approaches developed in the previous chapters. The brief concluding 'Envoi' moves out again to the widest possible perspective, suggesting how readers should now be able to move on to, or return to, the novels and the critical conversation, with an appreciation of the central importance of the ludic for an appreciation of Scott in a world once again threatened by inhumane and humorless rigidities.

The Fortunes of Nigel is a historical novel set in the early 17th century. It follows the adventures of Nigel Olifaunt, a Scottish nobleman, as he tries to make his fortune in the court of King James I. Filled with political intrigue, romance, and swashbuckling action, this novel is a classic example of the historical fiction genre. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Ivanhoe is a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott, first published in late 1819 in three volumes and subtitled A Romance. At the time it was written it represented a shift by Scott away from fairly realistic novels set in Scotland in the comparatively recent past, to a somewhat fanciful depiction of medieval England.It has proved to be one of the best known and most influential of Scott's novels.Ivanhoe is set in 12th-century England with colourful descriptions of a tournament, outlaws, a witch trial and divisions between Jews and Christians.It has been credited for increasing interest in romance and medievalism; John Henry Newman claimed Scott "had first turned men's minds in the direction of the Middle Ages", while Thomas Carlyle and John Ruskin made similar assertions of Scott's overwhelming influence over the revival, based primarily on the publication of this novel.It has also had an important influence on popular perceptions of Richard the Lionheart, King John and Robin Hood.

Innovative and accessibly written, Picturing Scotland examines the genesis and production of the first author-approved illustrations for Sir Walter' Scott's Waverley novels in Scotland. Consulting numerous neglected primary sources, Richard J. Hill demonstrates that Scott, usually seen as disinterested in the mechanics of publishing, actually was at the forefront of one of the most innovative publishing and printing trends, the illustrated novel. Hill examines the historical precedents, influences, and innovations behind the creation of the illustrated editions, tracking Scott's personal interaction with the mechanics of the printing and illustration process, as well as Scott's opinions on visual representations of literary scenes. Of particular interest is Scott's relationships with William Allan and Alexander Nasmyth, two important early nineteenth-century Scottish artists. As the first illustrators of the Waverley novels, their work provided a template for one of the more lucrative publishing phenomena. Informed by meticulous close readings of Scott's novels and augmented by a bibliographic catalogue of illustrations, Picturing Scotland is an important contribution to Scott studies, the development of the illustrated novel, and publishing history.