CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF SIR WALTER SCOTT’S WORKS
“The Defence of Order, a Poem, by Josiah Walker, M.A. Third Edition. Edinburgh. Printed by James Ballantyne, for Manners and Miller, Parliament Square; and sold in London, by Longman and Rees, Paternoster Row, and Cadell and Davies, Strand.” This book has the imprint at the end: “Printed by James Ballantyne, at the Border Press, Edinburgh. 1803.”
“The Poems of Ossian, Translated by James Macpherson, Esq. In Three Volumes. The Engravings by James Fittler, A.R.A., from Pictures by Henry Singleton. Vol. I. London: Published for William Miller, Albemarle Street; John Murray, Fleet Street; and John Harding, St. James Street. 1805.”
A very fine 12mo Edition of a famous and much-discussed work, with the imprint of James Ballantyne, Paul’s Work. A prior edition of the “Poems of Ossian, containing the Works of James Macpherson, Esq., in Prose and Rhyme,” with Notes and Illustrations by Malcolm Laing, in Two Volumes, 8vo, was printed by Ballantyne in 1802.
“This edition of the poems ascribed to Ossian is illustrated by notes, in which every simile, and almost every poetical image is traced to its source, thus serving as a commentary to point out the real originals from which the poems have been derived.”[48]
“Journal of the Transactions in Scotland, During the Contest between The Adherents of Queen Mary and Those of her Son, 1570, 1571, 1572, 1573. By Richard Bannatyne, Secretary to John Knox. Edinburgh. Printed by James Ballantyne and Co., For A. Constable and Co., Edinburgh, and J. Murray, 32 Fleet Street, London. 1806.”
Very little is known of this old chronicler, besides his connection with John Knox the Reformer and the fact that he was a man of learning. There are two MSS. of the above-named work—one in the University Library and the other in the Advocates’ Library at Edinburgh. From the latter Sir John Graham Dalzell took the volume published in 1806, which excited much interest. Shortly after that time the University MS. was discovered, and the two being collated by Pitcairn, a more complete edition was issued in 1836.
“The Poetical Works of Hector Macneill, Esq. A New Edition, Corrected and Enlarged. Veritatis simplex oratio est. In Two Volumes. Vol. I. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co., for Mundell and Son, Manners and Miller, and A. Constable and Co., and Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and John Murray, London. 1806.”
Hector Macneill (1746-1818) was a popular poet and song-writer. He had a varied experience in life, and showed his poetic ability by publishing in 1789, “The Harp, a Legendary Tale,” which brought him into favourable notice. His most popular poem, “Scotland’s Skaith, or The History of Will and Jean,” appeared in 1795, and its sequel, “The Waes o’ War,” was almost equally successful. All Macneill’s works are in the Scottish dialect. The copy here noted is the second edition (12mo); the first (8vo) was issued in 1801.
“The moral of Will and Jean was admirable,” says Constable (ii. 235), “and in favour of temperance at a time when such advice was at a discount; but it is rather curious and somewhat inconsistent to find the author in the next poem of the series declaring
“I am resolved, be’t right or sinfu’,
To hae at least,—a decent skinfu’”—
of a large bottle of Jamaica rum, which accompanies a rhyming letter to his friend ‘Canty Chairlie.’”
“The Poetical Works of Sir David Lyndsay of The Mount, Lyon King at Arms under James V., with Prefatory Dissertations, and a Glossary. Three vols., crown 8vo. 1806. Longman and Co.”
This edition was the work of George Chalmers, a well-known Scottish antiquary, whose greatest work, “Caledonia,” displays much research and learning.
“Historical Enquiry respecting the Harp in the Highlands of Scotland, 4to. Edinburgh: A. Constable. 1807.”
In regard to this work, reference has been already made (p. 36) to a letter of John Murray to Constable, in which the beauty of the typography is praised.
“An Account of the Life and Writings of James Beattie, LL.D., late Professor of Moral Philosophy and Logic in the Marischal College and University of Aberdeen. Including many of his Original Letters. By Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo, Bart., one of the executors of Dr. Beattie. Second Edition. Vol. I. Edinburgh: Printed for Arch. Constable and Co., Edinburgh; Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, T. Cadell and W. Davies, and John Murray, London. 1807.”
James Beattie (1735-1803) first published a volume of poems and translations in 1760, which he afterwards tried to suppress, though the book had been favourably received. The work which brought him most prominently into notice was “An Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth,” written to refute the scepticism of Hume; and it also gained him a Government pension of £200 a year. “The Minstrel” is Beattie’s best poem, and it will continue to be read when his philosophical productions are forgotten. His poems were again printed at Paul’s Work in 1854, in Nichol’s “British Poets.”
“The Shipwreck, a Poem, by William Falconer, a sailor. With a Life of the Author. Edinburgh: Printed by J. Ballantyne and Co., for Alexander Mackay, High Street, Edinburgh, and John Murray, No. 32, Fleet Street, London. 1807.”
At an early age Falconer became a sailor on board a Leith merchantman, and in his eighteenth year was wrecked in the Britannia off Cape Colonna, only three of the crew being saved. He was again wrecked with the Ramilies, when only twenty-six escaped out of a total of 734. After a period on shore, during which he published several poems, he joined the Aurora, and sailed for India in September 1769. The vessel touched at the Cape, but was never heard of again, and was supposed to have foundered in the Mozambique Channel. “The Shipwreck” is his best work, and is believed to embody his experiences in the wreck of the Britannia.
“Poems by James Grahame. In Two Volumes. Vol. I. containing The Sabbath, Sabbath Walks, Rural Calendar, &c. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co., for William Blackwood, South Bridge Street; and Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, Paternoster Row, London, 1807.”
Two neatly-printed little volumes, each containing a Glossary of Scottish words at the end. “The Sabbath” first appeared in print in 1804, and was published anonymously. So careful was the poet regarding the authorship of this work, that he exacted a promise of secrecy from the printer of the first edition, whom he used to meet clandestinely at coffee-houses for the correction of proofs, but never twice at the same house.
“Shakespeare’s Works, in eight vols. 8vo. 1807. Printed by James Ballantyne for Longman and Co., London.”
“The Cottagers of Glenburnie; a Tale for the Farmer’s Ingle-neuk. By Elizabeth Hamilton, Author of The Elementary Principles of Education, Memoirs of Modern Philosophers, &c. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co., for Manners and Miller, and S. Cheyne, Edinburgh; T. Cadell and W. Davies, Strand, and William Miller, Albemarle Street, London. 1808.”
Elizabeth Hamilton (1758-1816) was born in Belfast of Scottish parentage, and is worthy of note for her faithful pictures of lowly Scottish life, as well as for her works criticising the republicanism and scepticism of the time. The “Cottagers” passed through many editions, and is her best book.
“Memoirs of Capt. George Carleton, an English officer; including Anecdotes of the War in Spain under the Earl of Peterborough, and Many Interesting Particulars relating to the Manners of the Spaniards in the beginning of last century. Written by Himself. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co., for Archibald Constable and Co., Edinburgh; and J. Murray, London, 1808, 8vo.”
Originally published in London in 1728, this work was attributed to Dean Swift, but is now known to have been written by Defoe. In Boswell’s “Johnson” there is the following reference to it: “Lord Eliot: ‘The best account of Lord Peterborough that I have happened to meet with is in Captain Carleton’s Memoirs.’ Johnson said he had never heard of the book. Lord Eliot sent it to him. Johnson was about going to bed when it came, but sat up till he had read it through; and remarked to Sir Joshua Reynolds, ‘I did not think a young lord could have mentioned to me a book in English history that was not known to me.’”
“The Novels of Daniel de Foe. In Twelve Volumes. Vol. I. containing Life of Defoe and Robinson Crusoe. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co., for John Ballantyne and Co., and Brown and Crombie, Edinburgh; and Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, London. 1810.”
“Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances, chiefly written during the early part of the Fourteenth Century, to which is prefixed An Historical Introduction, intended to illustrate the Rise and Progress of Romantic Composition in France and England. By George Ellis, Esq. Second Edition in Three Volumes. Vol. I. London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, Paternoster Row. 1811.”
The first edition of this interesting and valuable work was issued in 1805. The author was a great friend of Sir Walter Scott, who says of him that “George Ellis was the best converser I ever knew. His patience and good breeding made me often ashamed of myself, going off at score upon some favourite topic.”[49] Sir Walter addressed to Ellis the fifth canto of “Marmion,” in which the following lines occur:—
“Dear Ellis! to the bard impart
A lesson of thy magic art,
To win at once the head and heart,—
At once to charm, instruct, and mend,
My guide, my pattern, and my friend!”
George Ellis was also a contributor to “Specimens of the Early English Poets,” which ran through a number of editions.
An edition of Miss Seward’s Poems, in three volumes, 12mo, edited by Scott, printed by James, and published by John Ballantyne in 1810. See ante, p. 38.
“The Secret History of the Court of James the First: containing I. Osborne’s Traditional Memoirs. II. Sir Anthony Weldon’s Court and Character of King James. III. Aulicus Coquinariæ. IV. Sir Edward Peyton’s Divine Catastrophe of the House of Stuart. With Notes and Introductory Remarks. In Two Volumes. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co., For John Ballantyne and Co., Edinburgh; and Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, London. 1811.”
Two large 8vo volumes, about 480 pp. each, edited by Sir Walter Scott.
“The Chase, Field Sports, Rural Games, and Other Poems. By William Somerville. With a Life of the Author. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co., for John Ballantyne and Co., Hanover Street, Edinburgh. 1812.”
The author of “The Chase” (1677-1742) was “a squire well-born, and six foot high.” He had a goodly estate in Warwickshire worth £1500 a year, but being of extravagant habits, he died in distressed circumstances. He was a friend of William Shenstone and Allan Ramsay.
“Tixall Poetry, With Notes and Illustrations, by Arthur Clifford, Esq., Editor of Sir Ralph Sadler’s State Papers. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co., For Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, London; and John Ballantyne and Co., Edinburgh. 1813.”
A beautifully printed 4to volume, with large margins, having some English-made Scotch songs among many other poems. This was one of the unfortunate speculations of Scott, which proved so disastrous to both the printing and publishing firms; and yet, in spite of its non-success, the following was taken in hand not long after:—
“Tixall Letters, or the Correspondence of The Family Aston and their Friends during the Seventeenth Century. With Notes and Illustrations, by Arthur Clifford, Esq. In Two Volumes. London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, Paternoster Row; and for Archibald Constable and Co., and John Ballantyne and Co., Edinburgh. 1815.”
There were two volumes in this latter work, of 216 pp. each in foolscap 8vo. The Letters refer generally to the first half of the seventeenth century.
“The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. By Edward Gibbon, Esq. In Twelve Volumes. Vol. I. A New Edition. London. Printed for Lackington, Allen, and Co., W. Stride, R. Scholey, and G. Cowie and Co., London; and for P. Hill, Doig and Stirling, and Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh. 1815. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co.”
Many editions of this great history have since been printed at Paul’s Work; one of the latest, in six volumes, for the “World’s Classics,” in 1904.
“The City of the Plague and other Poems, by John Wilson, author of ‘The Isle of Palms,’ &c. Second Edition. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co., for Archibald Constable and Company, Edinburgh; John Smith and Son, Glasgow; and Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, London. 1817.”
“The Isle of Palms” was published in 1812, and the first edition of “The City of the Plague” in 1816.
The Bannatyne Club and its books took their initiative from George Bannatyne, a merchant of Edinburgh, who, during a time of great pestilence in 1568, retired to a secluded house in Forfarshire, and there employed his enforced leisure in making a collection of old Scottish poetry, which might otherwise have perished. “Bannatyne’s manuscript,” says Scott, in a Memoir written for the Club, “is in folio form, containing upwards of eight hundred pages, very neatly and closely written; and designed, as has been supposed, to be sent to press.” Allan Ramsay borrowed from it the specimens of old verse which appeared in his “Evergreen,” a Collection of Scots Poems, which he published in 1724; Lord Hailes issued another selection in 1770; and in 1772 the manuscript was presented to the Advocates’ Library by the Earl of Hyndford. In 1822 the Club was instituted for “the publication of substantial volumes illustrative of the history, antiquities, and general literature of Scotland.” Sir Walter Scott became president, and regularly took the chair at its annual meetings from 1823 till 1831. During the period of its existence till 1861, the Club published no fewer than 116 volumes, many of them printed at Paul’s Work. They were all deemed of value, and one complete set was sold in 1887 for £235. The membership at first consisted of thirty-one, but, owing to the desire of many persons of rank and literary distinction to join, it was gradually increased to one hundred in 1828, when it made a final pause. At the first annual dinner of the Club, on March 9, 1823, Scott wrote a song for the occasion to the tune of “One Bottle More,” several verses hitting off the foibles of various bibliophiles. This song was sung by James Ballantyne, and heartily chorused by the company.
Three verses are here given:—
“Assist me, ye friends of Old Books and Old Wine,
To sing the praises of sage Bannatyne,
Who left such a treasure of old Scottish lore
As enables each age to print one volume more.
One volume more, my friends, one volume more,
We’ll ransack old Banny for one volume more.
...
John Pinkerton next, and I’m truly concern’d
I can’t call that worthy so candid as learn’d;
He rail’d at the plaid and blasphemed the claymore,
And sets Scots by the ears in his one volume more.
One volume more, my friends, one volume more,
Celt and Goth shall be pleased with one volume more.
...
As bitter as gall, and as sharp as a razor,
And feeding on herbs as a Nebuchadnezzar,
His diet too acid, his temper too sour,
Little Ritson came out with his two volumes more.
But one volume more, my friends, one volume more,
We’ll dine on roast beef, and print one volume more.”
One noble specimen of the Bannatyne Club books was the “Catalogue of the Library of Abbotsford,” presented to the members by Major Sir Walter Scott, December 1838. This Catalogue was prepared by Mr. Cochrane of the London Library.
“The History of the Ingenious Gentleman, Don Quixote of La Mancha. Translated from the Spanish, by Motteux. A new Edition with Copious Notes; and an Essay on the Life and Writings of Cervantes [by J. G. Lockhart]. In Five Volumes. Vol. I. Edinburgh: Printed for Hurst, Robinson and Co., London; and Archibald Constable and Co., Edinburgh. 1822.”
“The Works of John Home, Esq. Now first Collected. To which is prefixed an Account of his Writings. By Henry Mackenzie, F.R.S.E., &c. In Three Volumes. Vol. I. Edinburgh: Printed for Archibald Constable and Co., Edinburgh; and Hurst, Robinson, and Co., London. 1822.”
John Home (1722-1808) was a clergyman in the Kirk of Scotland, who wrote several plays. His most popular play was “Douglas,” a Scottish romantic drama, in which maternal affection is depicted under novel and striking circumstances—the accidental discovery of a lost child; and Henry Mackenzie, “the Man of Feeling,” here gives his opinion that the chief scene, in which the preservation and the existence of the lost Douglas is discovered, has no equal in modern and scarcely a superior in ancient drama. The play was first performed at Edinburgh on December 14, 1756, and met with instant and brilliant success, but so violent a storm was raised by the fact of a Presbyterian minister so violating the rules of clerical propriety as to write a play, that the author had to succumb to the Presbytery and resign his ministry. It is in “Douglas” that the well-known passage occurs: “My name is Norval: on the Grampian hills my father feeds his flock,” &c.
“A Topographical and Historical Account of the Town of Kelso, and of the Town and Castle of Roxburgh. With a succinct detail of the occurrences in the History of Scotland connected with these celebrated places. And an Appendix, containing various official documents, &c. By James Haig. Edinburgh: Printed for John Fairbairn, Waterloo Place; and James Duncan, London. 1825. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co.”
Demy 8vo, and illustrated with several fine steel engravings.
“The Poems of William Dunbar. Now first Collected. With Notes and a Memoir of his Life. By David Laing. Volume First. Edinburgh: MDCCCXXXIV. Printed for Laing and Forbes, Princes Street, Edinburgh, and William Pickering, London.”
This old Scottish poet was born in East Lothian, and after his education at the University of St. Andrews became a Franciscan friar and travelled through France, England, and Scotland as a mendicant preacher. Little was known of his poems till the beginning of the eighteenth century, though several of them had been issued as tracts by the first Scottish printers, Walter Chepman and Andro Myllar, in 1508. Sir Walter Scott said: “Dunbar was unrivalled by any poet that Scotland has yet produced; he excelled in moral and humorous verse, and was peculiarly happy in using allegory in the advocacy of truth.”
There is evidence that Dr. Laing had a previous edition of a portion of Dunbar’s poems printed at Paul’s Work in 1827; but just as the volume was completed, with the exception of the Introduction, a disastrous fire occurred in the binder’s premises which destroyed the greater portion of the sheets, and only seventy-six copies (four on vellum) were actually published, not a few bearing evidence of the scorching they had sustained.[50]
“Constable’s Miscellany,” extending to seventy-six volumes, was first printed by Willison (Constable’s father-in-law), and after his death, for two years by Hutchinson for Willison’s heirs, and then at Paul’s Work by Ballantyne & Co., who had also given occasional aid in the production of the early volumes. This series comprised books in all branches of literature, such as Lockhart’s “Life of Burns,” Robert Chambers’s “History of the Rebellions in Scotland during the Seventeenth Century,” 2 vols.; the same author’s “History of the Rebellion of 1745,” 2 vols.; Basil Hall’s “Voyages,” &c., &c. The first volume appeared on January 6, 1826. The “Miscellany” was “undoubtedly the pioneer and suggester of all the various ‘Libraries’ which sprang up in its wake, and which, after the inspiration and management of its projector had been withdrawn, may be said to have run it down.... ‘Constable’s Miscellany’ also inaugurated the cloth bindings which are now universally adopted in our own and other countries.”[51] The printing of the same publisher’s Edinburgh Review, begun in October 1802, was done till 1806 by different printers—Mundell, Muirhead, Walker and Son, and Moir. In 1807 Willison’s name first appears and continues till his death, when Hutchinson comes in for two years; and from 1827 till its removal to London it was printed at the Ballantyne Press.
It is impossible to mention a tithe of the other books which have passed through the Ballantyne Press during the century and more that has elapsed since its origin, and all that can be attempted here is a reference to the outstanding publications which have been printed at Paul’s Work. These include several editions of the Waverley Novels, Shakespeare, Browning, Dickens, Thackeray, Bret Harte, Besant and Rice, Charles Reade, Mrs. Gaskell, Charlotte Brontë, Thomas Hardy, Mrs. Sewell, and others; various editions of Ruskin’s Works, including the great Library Edition of thirty-eight volumes—one of the finest works printed at the Press; Walpole’s “History of England”; Maunder’s “Dictionaries”; Chisholm’s “Gazetteer of the World”; “The Armorial Families”; “Chronicles of the Atholl and Tullibardine Families” for the Duke of Atholl; “Military History of Perthshire,” edited by the Marchioness of Tullibardine; Nuttall’s “Dictionary” and “Encyclopædia” and “Dictionary of Quotations”; volumes of the “Encyclopædia Britannica,” the Temple Classics, the Chandos Classics, and Lansdowne Poets; Trübner’s Oriental and Philosophical Libraries of about 200 octavo volumes; editions of Henry’s “Commentary” and of Hymn-books and Church Praise; Bagster’s Bibles and “Daily Light” and Prayer-books; Latin and Greek text-books, Art books, works of Travel and Biography, school-books of all kinds; The Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute; The Records of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, of the Champlain Society of Toronto, and of various other learned Societies.
