Walter Scott and Washington Irving: On the History of Personal and Professional Relationship

Abstract

Walter Scott and Washington Irving are prominent representatives of the Romantic era who were bound by both professional and friendly relations. Their friendship is a remarkable episode in the history of transatlantic literary contacts. In 1817, in Abbotsford, their personal meeting took place, which positively influenced Irving's career. Scott introduced his colleague to his friend John Murray, who was one of the most influential Scottish publishers of his day. Through this meeting, Irving became the first American writer to gain recognition in the UK. An idea of the relationship between Scott and Irving is given by their personal correspondence. Despite the fact that some letters have been lost or are currently in the hands of private collectors, there is enough published material to outline the main topics and interests that united these two writers. In an addendum to the article there are four letters in Russian translation, written in October–December 1819. They are especially noteworthy because they touch on a number of important aspects for Irving's career. In 1819, the American writer took the first steps towards publication in Great Britain and turned to Scott for help. From the master he received a professional assessment of his American editions of The Sketch Book. Scott gave advice on what books are best to publish for an English reader, as well as offered to take the editor post of an anti-Jacobin magazine. In addition, in these letters Scott introduced his American colleague to the intricacies of 19thcentury Scotland book-making and offered the most beneficial ways to communicate with publishers, which is also of interest from the point of view of the history of publishing in the 19th century Great Britain.

Keywords

• british-american literary connections
• romanticism
• washington irving
• walter scott
• correspondence
• the sketch book
• publishing
• archibald constable