to him is one which can be
understood only by the many students who have known his kindness.

MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE,
June, 1907.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.

Introduction: An Outline of Scott's Literary Career 1

CHAPTER II.

Scott's Qualifications as Critic 9

CHAPTER III.

Scott's Work as Student and Editor in the Field of Literary History

1. The Mediaeval Period
(a) Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border 17
(b) Studies in the Romances 32
(c) Other Studies in Mediaeval Literature 40

2. The Drama 46

3. The Seventeenth Century: Dryden 59

4. The Eighteenth Century
(a) Swift 65
(b) The Somers Tracts 70
(c) The Lives of the Novelists, and Comments on other
Eighteenth Century Writers 72

CHAPTER IV.

Scott's Criticism of His Contemporaries 81

CHAPTER V.

Scott as a Critic of His Own Work 108

CHAPTER VI.

Scott's Position as Critic 134

APPENDICES

I. Bibliography of Scott, Annotated 147
II. List of Books Quoted 174
Index 179

A DATED LIST OF SCOTT'S BOOKS, ASIDE FROM THE POEMS AND NOVELS, AND OF
THE PRINCIPAL WORKS WHICH HE EDITED (PERIODICAL CRITICISM NOT INCLUDED).

1802-3 Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (edited).

1804 Sir Tristrem (edited).

1806 Original Memoirs written during the Great Civil War; the Life of
Sir H. Slingsby, and Memoirs of Capt. Hodgson (edited).

1808 Memoirs of Capt. Carleton (edited).

1808 The Works of John Dryden (edited).

1808 Memoirs of Robert Carey, Earl of Monmouth, and Fragmenta Regalia
(edited).

1808 Queenhoo Hall, a Romance; and Ancient Times, a Drama (edited).

1809 The State Papers and Letters of Sir Ralph Sadler (edited).

1809-15 The Somers Tracts (edited).

1811 Memoirs of the Court of Charles II, by Count Grammont (edited).

1811 Secret History of the Cour