The Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels by Walter Scott appeared in thirty volumes between 1993 and 2012. Published by Edinburgh University Press, it was the first complete critical edition of the novels.
History On 22 June 1983 Archie Turnbull, the Secretary of Edinburgh University Press, announced that his Press Committee had authorised him to investigate the feasibility of undertaking a critical edition of the novels and related fiction of Walter Scott and to welcome expressions of interest.The full history of the Edition can be traced in a series of eight articles in The Scott Newsletter: [J. H. Alexander and David Hewitt,] 'Waverley Novels Feasibility Study: Edinburgh University Press', 2 (Summer 1983), ; J. H. Alexander, 'The Waverley Novels Project: 17 February 1984', 4 (Spring 1984), ‒11; David Hewitt, 'The New Edition of the Waverley Novels', 8 (Spring 1986), 17‒18; David Hewitt, 'The Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels: The Transmission of the Texts', 10 (Spring 1987), 11‒16; David Hewitt, 'The Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels: A Progress Report', 18 (Summer 1991), 12‒14; J. H. Alexander, 'The Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels: An Informal Chronicle', 21/22 (Winter 1992/Summer 1993), 3‒10; David Hewitt, 'The Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels: Nearly Half-Way', 32 (Summer 1998), 2‒5; and J. H. Alexander, 'Editing The Bride of Lammermoor and A Legend of the Wars of Montrose ', ibid, 6‒12.
On 17 February 1984 a group of scholars and other interested parties met at a conference organised by David Daiches, making the decision that (in principle) the new edition should be based on early editions rather than the revised texts in the final 'Magnum' edition of 1829–33, and that David Hewitt of the University of Aberdeen should be Editor-in-Chief.The Scott Newsletter, 4 (Spring 1984), 5, 9. After three years' detailed research the early-text policy was confirmed at a further conference in January 1987, with David Nordloh of the University of Indiana again acting as special advisor.The Scott Newsletter, 21/22 (Winter 1992 / Summer 1993), 6–7.
The novels were published in batches between 1993 and 2009, with the final two volumes (25a and 25b) of Introductions and Notes from the Magnum Opus edition appearing in 2012.
Editorial policy Almost all earlier editions of the Waverley Novels had been based on the 'Magnum' text prepared by Scott at the end of his life, the only significant exception being Claire Lamont's 1981 edition of Waverley, which took the first edition text as its basis.Sir Walter Scott, Waverley, ed. Claire Lamont (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1981). The Edinburgh Edition followed Lamont in basing their texts on the first editions, citing a wish that readers should experience the novels more as they first appeared, and their recognition that many errors were introduced between first publication and the 'Magnum'.The Scott Newsletter, 21/22 (Winter 1992 / Summer 1993), 7; David Hewitt, 'General Introduction', Walter Scott, The Black Dwarf, ed. P. D. Garside (Edinburgh, 1993), xi–xii. Until Scott's acknowledgment of his authorship of the Waverley Novels in 1827 his manuscripts were copied and the copy sent to the printer, to preserve his anonymity. He relied on intermediaries to convert his rudimentary punctuation into a form suitable for public consumption, but in the process mistakes were made: words were misread, passages were omitted, and the punctuation was sometimes misinterpreted.The Scott Newsletter, 10 (Spring 1987), –12; David Hewitt, 'General Introduction', Walter Scott, Guy Mannering, ed. P. D. Garside (Edinburgh, 1999), xii–xiv. The Edinburgh Edition therefore emended the first-edition copy text extensively, mainly from the manuscripts, and from author's proofs where they survive. Emendations were not introduced from later editions up to the 'Magnum' except to correct clear persisting errors.See e.g. Walter Scott, The Black Dwarf, ed. P. D. Garside (Edinburgh, 1993), 172–73.
List of Novels and Short Story Collections Period Volume Number Title First Published Main setting Editor Year of Publication Pages 1097 23a Count Robert of Paris 1831 Constantinople and Scutari (now in Turkey) J. H. Alexander 2006 365 1187–92 18a The Betrothed 1825 Wales and Gloucester (England) J. B. Ellis with J. H. Alexander and David Hewitt 2009 278 1191 18b The Talisman 1825 The Holy Land J. B. Ellis with J. H. Alexander, David Hewitt, and P. D. Garside 2009 278 1194 08 Ivanhoe 1819 Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire (England) Graham Tulloch 1998 401 1307 23b Castle Dangerous 1831 Lanarkshire (Scotland) J. H. Alexander 2006 190 1396-1406 21 St Valentine's Day or The Fair Maid of Perth 1828 Perthshire (Scotland) A. D. Hook and Donald Mackenzie 1999 397 1468 15 Quentin Durward 1823 Tours and Péronne (France)Liège (Wallonia/Belgium) J. H. Alexander and G. A. M. Wood 2001 401 1474-7 22 Anne of Geierstein or The Maiden of the Mist 1829 Switzerland and Eastern France J. H. Alexander 2000 403 1547–57 09 The Monastery 1820 Scottish Borders Penny Fielding 2000 354 1567-8 10 The Abbot 1820 Various in Scotland Christopher Johnson 2008 375 1575 11 Kenilworth 1821 Berkshire and Warwickshire (England) J. H. Alexander 1993 392 1616–8 13 The Fortunes of Nigel 1822 London and Greenwich (England) Frank Jordan 2004 406 1644-5 07b A Legend of Montrose 1819 Scottish Highlands J. H. Alexander 1993 183 1651-2 19 Woodstock or The Cavalier 1826 Woodstock and Windsor (England)Brussels, in the Spanish Netherlands Tony Inglis with J. H. Alexander, David Hewitt, and Alison Lumsden 2009 417 1658–80 14 Peveril of the Peak 1822 Derbyshire, the Isle of Man, and London Alison Lumsden 2007 495 1679–89 04b The Tale of Old Mortality 1816 Southern Scotland Douglas Mack 1993 353 1689 12 The Pirate 1822 Shetland and Orkney Alison Lumsden and Mark Weinstein 2001 391 1707 04a The Black Dwarf 1816 Scottish Borders P. D. Garside 1993 124 1709–11 07a The Bride of Lammermoor 1819 East Lothian (Scotland) J. H. Alexander 1993 269 1715–6 05 Rob Roy 1818 Northumberland (England), and the environs of Loch Lomond (Scotland) David Hewitt 2008 343 1736 06 The Heart of Midlothian 1818 Edinburgh and Richmond, London David Hewitt and Alison Lumsden 2004 469 1745–6 01 Waverley or Tis Sixty Years Since || 1814 || Perthshire (Scotland)|| P. D. Garside || 2007 || 365 |- | 1760-5, 1781–2 || 02 || Guy Mannering or The Astrologer || 1815 || Galloway (Scotland)|| P. D. Garside || 1999 || 355 |- | 1766 || 17 || Redgauntlet || 1824 || Southern Scotland, and Cumberland (England)|| G. A. M. Wood with David Hewitt || 1997 || 380 |- | 1760s-1781 || 20 || The Surgeon's Daughter || 1827 || Fife and Edinburgh, (Scotland) and Madras, Srirangapatna, Bangalore, and Mysore (South India)|| Claire Lamont || 2001 || 128 |- | 1775 || 20 || The Highland Widow || 1827 || Oban (Scotland)|| Claire Lamont || 2001 || 55 |- | 1794 || 03 || The Antiquary || 1816 || North-East Scotland || David Hewitt || 1995 || 356 |- | 1795 || 20 || The Two Drovers || 1827 || Doune and Falkirk, (Scotland) and Cumberland (North West England)|| Claire Lamont || 2001 || 22 |- | 1804-20 || 16 || Saint Ronan's Well || 1824 || Southern Scotland || Mark Weinstein || 1995 || 373 |- | 18th century || 24 || The Shorter Fiction''': 1 The Inferno of Altisidora 2 Christopher Corduroy 3 Alarming Increase of Depravity Among Animals 4 Phantasmagoria 5 My Aunt Margaret's Mirror 6 The Tapestried Chamber 7 The Death of the Laird's Jock 8 A Highland Anecdote || 1811-32 || Various || Graham Tulloch and Judy King || 2009 || 100 |- | 1829-32 || 25a 25b || Introductions and Notes from the Magnum Opus'' 1829-33 J. H. Alexander with P. D. Garside and Claire Lamont 2012 492 776
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