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The Journal of Sir Walter Scott From the Original Manuscript at Abbotsford By: Walter Scott (1771-1832) |
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SIR WALTER SCOTT FROM THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT AT ABBOTSFORD [Illustration] VOLUME I BURT FRANKLIN
NEW YORK Published by BURT FRANKLIN
235 East 44th St., New York, N.Y. 10017
Originally Published: 1890
Reprinted: 1970
Printed in the U.S.A. S.B.N. 32110
Library of Congress Card Catalog No.: 73 123604
Burt Franklin: Research and Source Works Series 535
Essays in Literature and Criticism 82
[Illustration: [Greek: NUX GAR ERCHETAI.]] " I must home to work while it is called day; for the night cometh when
no man can work. I put that text, many a year ago, on my dial stone; but
it often preached in vain ." SCOTT'S Life , x. 88.] " I shall have a peep at Bothwell Castle if it is only for
half an hour. It is a place of many recollections to me, for I
cannot but think how changed I am from the same Walter Scott who
was so passionately ambitious of fame when I wrote the song of
Young Lochinvar at Bothwell; and if I could recall the same
feelings, where was I to find an audience so kind and patient, and
whose applause was at the same time so well worth having, as Lady
Dalkeith and Lady Douglas? When one thinks of these things, there
is no silencing one's regret but by Corporal Nym's philosophy :
Things must be as they may. One generation goeth and another
cometh ." To LORD MONTAGU, June 28th, 1825.
PREFACE.
On the death of Sir Walter Scott in 1832, his entire literary remains
were placed at the disposal of his son in law, Mr. John Gibson Lockhart.
Among these remains were two volumes of a Journal which had been kept by
Sir Walter from 1825 to 1832. Mr. Lockhart made large use of this
Journal in his admirable life of his father in law. Writing, however, so
short a time after Scott's death, he could not use it so freely as he
might have wished, and, according to his own statement, it was "by
regard for the feelings of living persons" that he both omitted and
altered; and indeed he printed no chapter of the Diary in full. There is no longer any reason why the Journal should not be published in
its entirety, and by the permission of the Hon. Mrs. Maxwell Scott it
now appears exactly as Scott left it but for the correction of obvious
slips of the pen and the omission of some details chiefly of family and
domestic interest. The original Journal consists of two small 4to volumes, 9 inches by 8,
bound in vellum and furnished with strong locks. The manuscript is
closely written on both sides, and towards the end shows painful
evidence of the physical prostration of the writer. The Journal abruptly
closes towards the middle of the second volume with the following
entry probably the last words ever penned by Scott [Illustration: by one of the old Pontiffs, but which, I forget, and so
paraded the streets by moonlight to discover, if possible, some appearance
of the learned Sir William Gell or the pretty Mrs. Ashley. At length we
found our old servant who guided us to the lodgings taken by Sir
William Gell, where all was comfortable, a good fire included, which
our fatigue and the chilliness of the night required. We dispersed as
soon as we had taken some food, wine, and water. We slept reasonably, but on the next morning] In the annotations, it seemed most satisfactory to follow as closely as
possible the method adopted by Mr. Lockhart. In the case of those parts
of the Journal that have been already published, almost all Mr.
Lockhart's notes have been reproduced, and these are distinguished by
his initials. Extracts from the Life, from James Skene of Rubislaw's
unpublished Reminiscences, and from unpublished letters of Scott himself
and his contemporaries, have been freely used wherever they seemed to
illustrate particular passages in the Journal. With regard to Scott's quotations a certain difficulty presented itself.
In his Journal he evidently quoted from memory, and he not unfrequently
makes considerable variations from the originals. Occasionally, indeed,
it would seem that he deliberately made free with the exact words of his
author, to adapt them more pertinently to his own mood or the impulse of
the moment... Continue reading book >>
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