Sir Walter Scott as a Poet.

SPROAT, Gilbert Malcolm.

Published by Edmonston & Douglas. Edinburgh, 1871

About this Item

pp. (vi), 102, (ii) Scott's Poetical Works. Contemporary blind-ruled calf, all edges gilt, the spine edges rubbed and beginning to split at the ends, the front board bending at the fore-edge and the paper tending to brown, despite all of this, an interesting copy with a presentation inscription from Sproat to THOMAS ROWAN EYRE. *Gilbert Malcolm Sproat (19 April 1834 4 June 1913) was a Scottish-born Canadian businessman, office holder, and author. Born in Brighouse Farm Borgue near Kirkcudbright, Scotland, he arrived on Vancouver Island in 1860, where he helped to found the first sawmill in Port Alberni, British Columbia. On 24 July. 1863 he was made a justice of the peace for the Colony of Vancouver Island. When the sawmill burnt down in 1865, Sproat returned to England, but maintained his interest in the affairs of the colony, which was united with the mainland in 1866. Sproat's fascination with the First Nations people he encountered on Vancouver Island, led to his best remembered book, The Nootka:Scenes and studies of savage life, which appeared in 1868. In 1870 he wrote Education of the Rural Poor which argued for the extension of elementary education to all, including agricultural labourers. Following British Columbia's entry into Canadian Confederation in 1871, Sproat became the new province's agent general in London, a position he held from 1872 until his return to the province in 1876. Beginning in 1883, Sproat began travelling to the Interior of British Columbia, especially to the Kootenay region, where he held several regional offices. After 1898, Sproat returned to Victoria, where he spent the majority of his time writing. He died there on 4 June 1913. Sproat Lake and Sproat Lake Provincial Park on Vancouver Island are named in his honour by Robert Brown. WIKIPEDIA. Sproat's Canadian context explains the oddity of this book having been printed by the GAZETTE STEAM PRINTING HOUSE, MONTREAL, P.Q., despite the Edinburgh imprint. It probably also explains the poorer quality of the paper.

Seller Inventory # 63389

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Sir Walter Scott as a Poet.
• Publisher: Edmonston & Douglas. Edinburgh
• Publication Date: 1871
• Binding: Hardcover