Only 12 copies of Sir Tristrem were printed in the form in which Scott had intended to publish it, without the expurgation which his friends insisted upon. (Letters to R. Polwhele, etc., p. 18; Lockhart, I. 361). The following book contains a part of the same material:
A Penni worth of Witte, Florice and Blancheflour, and other pieces of ancient English poetry, selected from the Auchinleck manuscript. (With an account of the Auchinleck manuscript by Sir Walter Scott) Edinburgh, 1857. Printed for the Abbotsford Club.
Scott was probably mistaken in considering this to be a genuine autobiography. (See Col. Parnell's argument in The English Historical Review, vi:97.) It has been attributed to Defoe, and Col. Parnell attributes it to Swift, but the question of its authorship is still unsolved. The book was first published in 1728, but Scott used the edition of 1743, which he was so inaccurate as to take for the original edition; and as at that date Defoe had long been dead and Swift had lost his mind, the possibility of attributing it to either of them naturally would not occur to him. Scott wrote scarcely any notes, but his short introduction contains some interesting general reflections which are quoted by Lockhart.
Second edition, 18 vols., Edinburgh, 1821.
Another edition, revised and corrected by George Saintsbury, Edinburgh, 1882-1893.
Memoirs of John Dryden, Paris, 1826.
Scott contributed no introductions, but his notes are copious, especially with regard to the history of the Border. This is one of the books of which Scott is reported to have said to his publisher, Mr. Constable, "Did I not do Hodgson, Carey, Carleton, etc., to serve you; and did I ever ask or receive any remuneration?" (Ballantyne's Refutation, etc., p. 76.)
The biography is included in all the editions of Scott's Prose Works.
It is a question whether Scott edited this book, but it has been ascribed to him, and is given under his name without hesitation in the British Museum catalogue. The prefatory memoir is short and largely made up of quotations, but it sounds as if Scott might have written it. The book is one to which he often refers. Mr. Sidney Lee, in his edition of the Autobiography, says merely, "Walpole's edition was reprinted in 1770, 1809, and in 1826." Reprinted in the Universal Library: Biography, vol. I, London, 1853.
There are some additions. Scott says in the Advertisement: "The Memoirs of the Wars in the Low Countries by the gallant Williams, and the very singular account of Ireland by Derrick, are the most curious of those now published for the first time.... The introductory remarks and notes have been added by the present Editor, at the expense of some time and labour. It is needless to observe, that both have been expended upon a humble and unambitious, though not, it is hoped, an useless task. The object of the introductions was to present such a short and summary view of the circumstances under which the Historical and Controversial Tracts were respectively written, as to prevent the necessity of referring to other works. Such therefore, as refer to events of universal notoriety are but slightly and generally mentioned; such as concern less remarkable points of history are more fully explained. The Notes are in general illustrative of obscure passages, or brief notices of authorities, whether corroborative or contradictory of the text." The following book contains a part of the same material: