His humour.

 
 
           But the singularity of Scott is the peculiar combination in him of the humourist with the romance
           writer, of the man of the world with the devoted lover of nature and ardent worshipper of the
           past. While, with a certain superficiality in the portrayal of particular characters, he, pace
           Carlyle, displays an extraordinary felicity in the portrayal of others, he unites with this peculiar
           gift an exceptional power of vivifying the past on a very extended scale—the past, at least, as
           conceived by him. The question has been raised as to the historic value or historic correctness
           of his presentations. It need hardly be said that he was much more minutely and
           comprehensively versed in Scottish history and Scottish antiquarianism than in those of other
           countries, and had a much better understanding of Scottish than of other national
           characteristics. At the same time, his training as a Scottish novelist was of immense service to
           him when he found it advisable to seek fresh woods and pastures new. Without his previous
           Scottish experiences he could, for example, hardly have been so successful as he was in the
           case either of Quentin Durward or of Ivanhoe, which may be deemed his purely romantic
           masterpieces. He had no original mastery of the period of Louis XI. He had not even visited
           the scenes of his story; for these, he relied mainly on certain drawings of landscapes and
           ancient buildings made by his friend Skene of Rubislaw, who had just returned from a tour in
           the district. Lockhart, also, observed him “many times in the Advocates’ Library, poring over
           maps and gazetteers with care and anxiety.” For his historical and biographical inspiration, he
           was dependent mainly on the Mémoires of Philippe de Comines, supplemented by details
           from the chronicles of the period. We have only to turn to these authorities in order to see with
           what deftness he created his living world from a few records of the past, and the striking
           character of his success was attested by the admiring enthusiasm with which the work was
           received in France.
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

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    Academic Year 2000-2001

         © a.r.e.a./ Dr. Vicente Forés López

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    Universitat de Vàlencia Press