Scott, Walter

Scottish novelist and poet. His first works were translations of German ballads and collections of Scottish ballads, which he followed with narrative poems of his own, such as The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805), Marmion (1808), and The Lady of the Lake (1810). He gained a European reputation for his historical novels such as Waverley (1814), Rob Roy (1817), The Heart of Midlothian (1818), and Ivanhoe (1819), all published anonymously.

His last years were marked by frantic writing to pay off his debts, after the bankruptcy of the printing and publishing business of which he was a partner. He was created a baronet in 1820.

Scott exerted a strong influence on the imaginative life of his country. He stimulated an interest in Scottish history and materially affected the literary movement of his time: his unconventional manner of writing and his total freedom from the academic point of view were largely instrumental in arousing the French Romantic movement which produced such writers as Victor Hugo, Alfred de Musset, and Théophile Gautier, and such painters as Corot and Millet. Scott was also the creator of the historical novel, combining naturalness and realism with the historical and romantic element of adventure and the marvels of superstition. His influence on Honoré de Balzac was acknowledged.