The Waverley novels are a long series of novels by Sir Walter Scott (1771âÂÂ1832). For nearly a century, they were among the most popular and widely read novels in Europe.
Because Scott did not publicly acknowledge authorship until 1827, the series takes its name from Waverley, the first novel of the series, released in 1814. The later books bore the words "by the author of Waverley" on their title pages.
The Tales of My Landlord sub-series was not advertised as "by the author of Waverley" and thus is not always included as part of the Waverley Novels series.
The novels were all originally printed by James Ballantyne on the Canongate in Edinburgh. James Ballantyne was the brother of one of Scott's close friends, John Ballantyne ("Printed by James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co., Edinburgh").
There are two definitive editions. One is the "Magnum Opus", a 48-volume set published between 1829 and 1833 by Robert Cadell, based on previous editions, with new introductions and notes by Scott. This was the basis of almost all subsequent editions until the appearance of the standard modern edition, the Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels, a 30-volume set, based on early-edition texts emended mainly from the surviving manuscripts, published by Edinburgh University Press between 1993 and 2012.
Scott's Waverley novels provided an important cultural touchstone for British emigrants, especially those re-settling in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Among other forms of influence documented in Ann Rigney's The Afterlives of Walter Scott, many places are named for Waverley, its hero Ivanhoe, and the name Scott coined for own house, Abbotsford. The historian Ewan Morris has argued that Scott is second only to William Shakespeare for his legacy of places named after entirely fictional people.
In Scotland, Waverley Station was named after the novels. Other names inspired by the novels include the paddle steamer Waverley and the Heart of Midlothian F.C.
In the United States, towns named "Waverly" were founded in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana (including a New Waverly), Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas (including a New Waverly), Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Waverly Hall, Georgia is also named for the novel.
In Australia and New Zealand, the series' legacy includes Waverley, New South Wales; Glen Waverley and Mount Waverley in Victoria; Waverley, Dunedin; Waverley, Invercargill; Waverley, Taranaki; Ivanhoe, New South Wales; Ivanhoe, Victoria; Kenilworth, Queensland; and Mannering Park (for Guy Mannering). Additionally, Abbotsford, New South Wales and Abbotsford, Victoria are named for Scott's house. However, Abbotsford, New Zealand and the former Abbotsford in Hawke's Bay were both named for men named Abbott (though the latter does have streets named Waverley and Kenilworth for the novels of those titles). Ewan Morris has argued that Scott's novels were seen as particularly appropriate for colonial settlement names -- which typically displaced existing inhabitants and their historical place names -- because the novels "imagine the experience of settlement in romantic but ultimately reassuring terms", and evoke a historical legitimacy for the colonialism of the British empire.