The first great-wave Romantic novelist in English, Sir Walter Scott is also regarded by many to be the father of the historical novel. Wild as he was at heart, Scott grew up with an affinity for tradition. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1771, Scott took interest in the written arts from a very young age, specifically works with focuses on romance and history. Throughout his schooling years, Scott took an interest in German Romanticism and Scottish ballads, translating several pieces in his free time. Success came in the form of Scott’s first poem collection, The Lay of the Last Minstrel, which was also his first piece of historical fiction and featured romantic themes. Scott opted for work as a poet until the mid 1810s, when he published his first novel Waverley (1814), anonymously. It is often regarded as the first historical novel in the western world and details a piece of Scottish history.
Although Scott was already widely successful as a poet, Waverley brought him a lot of success, though his authorship was not revealed until 1827. He published most of his novels, many of which are included in the set known as the Waverley Novels, up until that point anonymously. He had a romantic and poetic style and took pride in the bits of history he liked to write about, specifically his Scottish heritage. Although many of his novels were about Scotland, some of his most famous ones were about other parts of European history, such as Ivanhoe (1820) which is set in medieval Europe. Another important aspect of his works is the focus on everyday people as heroic figures, which was a change in the trend of novels regarding history, considering many before Scott tended to focus on royals or aristocrats. Scott wrote until his death in 1832, and is remembered as one of the founders of the historical novel, and enjoyed a lifelong friendship with another hugely popular writer of his time, American author Washington Irving. Scott’s passion for history and romance shines through every piece, making his works wildly successful during his life and turning them into classics after his death.