#waverley

Among other things, one of the main characters, Jacobite true believer Flora MacIvor, is described by her brother to would-be suitor Edward Waverley thusly:

"...since she could spell an English book she has been in love with the memory of the gallant Captain Wogan..."

and

"for, to tell you the truth, I think her more in love with the memory of that dead hero than she is likely to be with any living one..."

More from across Scotland

Marbled Monday

This Monday we're taking a look at a 6-volume set of the Waverley novels written by Scottish historian, poet, novelist, and playwright Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) and originally published between 1814 and 1831. These volumes each include more than one of the novels in the Waverley "series," including what is perhaps Scott's most famous novel Ivanhoe. These volumes were published in the late 1800s, with a best guestimate of around 1880, by DeWolfe, Fiske & Co. in Boston. The Waverley novels gave Scott a reputation as the founder of the historical novel genre, as each novel is set in a different historical time period.

The books themselves are each half-bound in tan leather and marbled paper. The top, bottom, and fore-edge of each book has also been marbled in the same pattern, and the books feature the same marbling on their endpapers! Marbling everywhere! The marbling is a green base with red, blue, white, and yellow veining and white spots sprinkled over top. This is a stone pattern that is meant to look closer to actual marble than the more intricate combed marbling patterns. You can also see the wear on the outer covers of the books and see how dull and faded it is compared to the marbling on the endpapers.

View more Marbled Monday posts.

Evening departures