Sir Walter Scott

Scott, Sir Walter (1771–1832), Scottish poet and the foremost romantic novelist in the English language. Scott was the inventor of the historical novel, and his vivid recreations of Scotland's past were widely read throughout Europe. He started by writing popular narrative poems, including The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805). After these successes he turned to fiction and completed 28 novels and many nonfiction works. His novels included Waverly (1814), The Heart of Midlothian (1818), and Ivanhoe (1819).