3 Review(s)

As son-in-law and literary executor to Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), John Gibson Lockhart (1794-1854) was uniquely placed to produce a definitive biography of the great poet and novelist. First published in 1837-8, shortly after Scott's death, this celebrated seven-volume work is based on personal memories, correspondence, and Scott's own autobiographical sketches. Wide-ranging in his purview, Lockhart is also detailed in his descriptions: the Aberdeen Journal of the day observed that the volumes trace Scott's life and literary efforts with 'the most minute distinctness'. Volume 1 opens with Scott's brief autobiography, written in 1808 and revised in 1825. Lockhart's biography proper opens with Scott's birth in 1771, provides an account of his education, and concludes here with his first contributions to the Edinburgh Review in 1804.