The Tale of Old Mortality (Penguin Classics) - Softcover

Scott, Walter

3.77

542 ratings by Goodreads

9780140436532: The Tale of Old Mortality (Penguin Classics)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140436537 ISBN 13: 9780140436532

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 2000

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Drawn from Scott's original text, the first authoritative edition of his classic historical romance.

Set in 1679 during the Scottish populist rebellion known as the Covenanter uprising, The Tale of Old Mortality is one of the outstanding historical fictions of the nineteenth century. Henry Morton of Milnewood is compelled to take up arms against the royalists, who are led by Claverhouse, a true villain in Scottish history who is, nonetheless, one of Scott's most complex characters. A moderate Covenanter, Morton--whose loyalties are divided by his love for Edith, the beautiful granddaughter of Lady Margaret Bellenden--is one of the "people's heroes" who challenge King Charles II and change the course of Scottish history. Old Mortality is Scott's undisputed masterpiece and distills the humor, grit, and romance of the west of Scotland, past and present.
Edited with an Introduction by Douglas S. Mack
This Penguin Classics edition is based on the acclaimed Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels

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About the Author:

Walter Scott (1771-1832), born in Edinburgh, was the most famous and prestigious novelist of his age. Best known for his Waverley Novels, Scott was also a poet and the author of several histories.

Douglas S. Mack, a Reader in the Department of English Studies at the University of Stirling, Scotland, is General Editor of the Stirling/South Carolina Research Edition of the works of James Hogg.

Review:

The Edinburgh Edition respects Scott the artist by 'restoring' versions of the novels that are not quite what his first readers saw. Indeed, it returns to manuscripts that the printers never handled, as Scott's fiction before 1827 was transcribed before it reached the printshop. Each volume of the Edinburgh edition presents an uncluttered text of one work, followed by an Essay on the Text by the editor of the work, a list of the emendations that have been made to the first edition, explanatory notes and a glossary! The editorial essays are histories of the respective texts. Some of them are almost 100 pages long; when they are put together they constitute a fascinating and lucid account of Scott's methods of composition and his financial manoeuvres. This edition is for anyone who takes Scott seriously. The Edinburgh Edition respects Scott the artist by 'restoring' versions of the novels that are not quite what his first readers saw. Indeed, it returns to manuscripts that the printers never handled, as Scott's fiction before 1827 was transcribed before it reached the printshop. Each volume of the Edinburgh edition presents an uncluttered text of one work, followed by an Essay on the Text by the editor of the work, a list of the emendations that have been made to the first edition, explanatory notes and a glossary! The editorial essays are histories of the respective texts. Some of them are almost 100 pages long; when they are put together they constitute a fascinating and lucid account of Scott's methods of composition and his financial manoeuvres. This edition is for anyone who takes Scott seriously.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.