Wednesday 11 May 2022

My 17 months of Early 19thc Scottish fiction

 
Since January 2021, I have read 64 Scottish novels published between 1808 and 1836, a majority in two or three volumes. 
All are first editions, many purchased at some cost to my pocket, apart from the two underlined
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading most of them, with only one or two slipping below a 
level of competence and interest. They are listed below, by author, date and publisher.

There are 22 by Sir Walter Scott (the various 'Tales' consist of more than one novel); 13 by John Galt; 3 each by Mary Brunton, Susan Ferrier, Grace Kennedy, J.G. Lockhart and John Wilson; 2 by Eliza Logan, Michael Scott and Amelia Gillespie Smyth; and 1 each by David Carey, G.R. Gleig, Elizabeth Hamilton, Thomas Hamilton, 'Christopher Keelivine', Thomas Dick Lauder, David Macbeth Moir, and Robert Trotter.


John Galt
1821  Annals of the Parish (William Blackwood)  :  1821  The Ayrshire Legatees (William Blackwood) 1822  Sir Andrew Wylie of that Ilk (William Blackwood) 3 vols.  : 1822  The Provost (William Blackwood)  :  1822   The Gathering in the West (William Blackwood)  :  1822  The Entail or The Lairds of Grippy (William Blackwood)  : Ringan Gilhaize or The Covenanters (Oliver & Boyd) 3 vols. : 1823  The Spaewife (Oliver & Boyd) 3 vols.  :  1824  Rothelan (Oliver & Boyd) 3 vols.  :  1826  The Last of the Lairds (William Blackwood)  :  1832  The Member (James Fraser)  :  1832  The Radical (James Fraser). 

Mary Brunton
1811  Self-Control (Colburn & Bentley, 1832 edition)  :  1814  Discipline (Manners & Miller) 3 vols.  :  1819  Emmeline and some other pieces (Archibald Constable)

Susan Ferrier
1818  Marriage: A Novel (William Blackwood) 3 vols.  :  1824  The Inheritance (William Blackwood) 3 vols.  :  1831  Destiny: or, the Chief's Daughter (Robert Cadell) 3 vols.

Grace Kennedy
1823  Father Clement (William Oliphant)  :  1825  Dunallan (William Oliphant) 3 vols.  :  1825  Philip Colville (William Oliphant).

J.G. Lockhart
1822  Mr Adam Blair Minister of the Gospel (Cadell)  :  1823  Reginald Dalton  (William Blackwood) 3 vols.  :  1824  The History of Matthew Wald (William Blackwood).

John Wilson
1822  Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life (William Blackwood, 1823 3rd edition)  :  1823  The Trials of Margaret Lyndsay (William Blackwood)  :  1825  The Foresters (William Blackwood).

Eliza Logan
1823  St Johnstoun or John, Earl of Gowrie (Maclachlan and Stewart) 3 vols.  :  1829  Restalrig; or The Forfeiture (Maclachlan and Stewart) 2 vols.

Michael Scott
1833  Tom Cringle's Log (William Blackwood) 2 vols.  :  1836  The Cruise of the Midge (William Blackwood) 2 vols.

Amelia Gillespie Smyth
1828  Tales of the Moors or Rainy Days in Ross-shire (William Blackwood)  :  1832  Probation and Other Talks (Adam Black).
 
David Carey  1821  A Legend of Argyle (G & W B Whittaker) 3 vols.
G.R. Gleig  1830  The Country Curate (Colburn and Bentley) 2 vols.
Elizabeth Hamilton   1808  The Cottagers of Glenburnie (Manners & Miller)
Thomas Hamilton  1827  The Youth and Manhood of Cyril Thornton (William Blackwood) 3 vols.
'Christopher Keelivine'  1824  Tales and Sketches of the West of Scotland (Robinson and Atkinson)
Thomas Dick Lauder  Lochandhu: A Tale of the 18th century (Archibald Constable) 3 vols. 
David Macbeth Moir  The Life of Mansie Wauch (Cadell & Blackwood)
Robert Trotter  1825  Derwentwater (John Anderson, Jun.)

I have Blogged on each of the above, so don't need to comment further - apart to say that Walter Scott at his best is very hard to beat.
I have subsequently bought a few more contemporary novels, but don't intend to read them until late next year. They are listed below, in chronological order.

1810  Jane Porter - The Scottish Chiefs (George Virtue, 1840 revised edition) 2 vols.
1812  Hector Macneill - The Scottish Adventurers (1st USA edition)
1814  Walter Scott - Waverley (Archibald Constable, 1814 3rd edition) 3 vols.
1818  James Hogg - The Brownie of Bodsbeck (Dick & Fitzgerald c.1862 USA edition)
1819  Alexander Balfour - Campbell; or, The Scottish Probationer (Oliver & Boyd) 3 vols.
1821  J.G. Lockhart - Valerius (William Blackwood) 3 vols.                                                                

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