biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1771–1832)
|
| biography:
| Novelist and poet, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK. He studied in Edinburgh, trained as a lawyer (1792), and began to write ballads in 1796, though his first major publication did not appear until 1802: The Border Minstrelsy. His ballads made him the most popular author of the day, and were followed by other romances, such as The Lady of the Lake (1810). He then turned to historical novels, all published anonymously, which fall into three groups: those set in the background of Scottish history, from Waverley (1814) to A Legend of Montrose (1819); a group which takes up themes from the Middle Ages and Reformation times, from Ivanhoe (1819) to The Talisman (1825); and his remaining books, from Woodstock (1826) until his death. His last years were spent in immense labours for his publishers, much of it hack editorial work, in an attempt to recover from bankruptcy following the collapse of his publishing ventures in 1826. His journal is an important record of this period of his life. He was created a baronet in 1820. |
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