Sir Walter Scott

George Saintsbury's novel "Sir Walter Scott" is part of the Great Scots Series of biographical novels. It is a biography and literary critique of the legendary 18th century novelist and playwright, famed for the classic novel 'Ivanhoe' among other great works. Saintsbury defends yet another biography of Scott by stating that, "His own matchless character and the genius of his first biographer combined to set before the world early an idea, of which it is safe to say that nothing that should lower it need be feared, and hardly anything to heighten it can be reasonably hoped. But as fresh items of illustrative detail are made public, there can be no harm in endeavouring to incorporate something of what they give us in fresh abstracts and aperçus from time to time."