Walter Scott

The plans of Edgar, Master of Ravenswood to regain his ancient family estate from the corrupt Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland are frustrated by the complexities of the legal and political situations following the 1707 Act of Union, and by his passion for his enemy's beautiful daughter Lucy. First published in 1819, this intricate and searching romantic tragedy offers challenging insights into emotional and sexual politics, and demonstrates the shrewd way in which Scott presented his work as historical document, entertainment, and work of art. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

The Siege of Malta is one of Scott's most moving works. The story of the Siege itself is remarkable, with its combination of individual defeat and group survival against overwhelming odds. It had been part of Scott's mental furniture from his early days, and it acquires a new and powerful resonance when remembered alongside his then-failing health. To read it is an enlarging experience, which anyone at all interested in Scott should share. The incomplete narrative of Bizarro is also a fascinating document from the end of Scott's life. In it he returns to the figure of the bandit/outlaw which had intrigued him all his life and had played such an important part in two of his greatest novels, in the persons of Rob Roy himself in Rob Roy and Robin Hood in Ivanhoe. * The only available editions of these two works by Scott * Provides reading texts that remain broadly faithful to the manuscripts, but tidying them up in the way that the original intermediaries might have been expected to do * Diplomatic transcriptions, which involves attempting to reproduce the manuscripts as faithfully as possible in type, using appropriate conventions to indicate deletions and doubtful readings * Access to a digital reproduction of the manuscripts on an accompanying CD * An Essay on the Text that outlines its genesis and composition, describing the manuscripts, and presenting and illustrating the procedures involved in preparing the reading text * A Historical Note and set of Explanatory Notes along with a combined Glossary * Accompanying CD-rom containing digital photographs of the manuscripts.