Waverley (novel)

Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since

First Edinburgh edition
Author	Walter Scott
Country	Scotland
Language	English, Lowland Scots; some Scottish Gaelic and French
Series	Waverley novels
Genre	Historical novel
Set in	Scotland, 1745–46
Publisher	Archibald Constable & Co. (Edinburgh); Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown (London)
Publication date	7 July 1814[1]
Media type	Print
Pages	365 (Edinburgh Edition, 2007)
Dewey Decimal	823.7
LC Class	PR5322 .W4
Followed by	Guy Mannering

Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since /ˈweɪvərli/^[2][3] is a historical novel by Walter Scott (1771–1832). Scott was already famous as a poet, and chose to publish Waverley anonymously in 1814 as his first venture into prose fiction. It is often regarded as one of the first historical novels in the Western tradition.

Edward Waverley, a young English gentleman, is commissioned into a Scottish regiment shortly before the Jacobite rising of 1745. He goes on leave to visit a family friend, the Baron of Bradwardine, and is shocked to find that Bradwardine and his followers are supporters of Charles Edward Stuart, the exiled Jacobite prince. Waverley is forced to choose between his loyalty to the Crown and his admiration for the Jacobites' romantic cause. His gentlemanly actions gain him friends in this precarious situation, on both sides of the rising, who stand him in good stead when the Jacobites are eventually defeated.

Scott chose to publish his later novels as being "by the author of Waverley". In a letter shortly after publication, Scott writes: "I shall not own Waverley; my chief reason is that it would prevent me of the pleasure of writing again."^[4] His series of works on similar themes written during the same period have become collectively known as the "Waverley Novels". The novel was well-received by contemporary critics, and well-liked by those who purchased novels in the early 19th century. It has continued in favour with later critics.

In 1818 Scott was granted a baronetcy, becoming Sir Walter Scott. It was an open secret that he was "the author of Waverley", and he admitted this at a public dinner in 1827.^[5]