Nearly two hundred years after they were written, two lost works of Sir Walter Scott, The Siege Of Malta and Bizarro, have found a publisher. In late June, Edinburgh University Press released a single volume including both works, written in the two years before Scott’s death in 1832, when the author’s health was in decline after he had suffered several strokes.
At the time they were written, Scott’s publisher, Robert Cadell, did not consider the works worthy of publication. Writer John Buchan also criticized the works when compiling his 1932 biography of the author, saying, “It may be hoped that no literary resurrectionist will ever be guilty of the crime of giving them to the world.”
Present-day scholars of Scott’s works, however, have commended the release of the books. Susan Manning, a professor of English literature at Edinburgh University, recently told the Times, “These two works will not enhance his literary reputation, but they are a very moving testimony to the spirit which made him write.”
The Siege of Malta, a historical fiction, was written by Scott after taking a trip to Malta in the summer of 1831 for health reasons, and tells the story of the island’s defense from Moorish forces by the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. Bizarro is a tale of murder and revenge involving an Italian bandit.
In a note introducing the book, editors J. H. Alexander, Jane King, and Graham Tulloch say, “For all that Scott repeats himself, uses the wrong word and sometimes loses control of the shape of his sentences," referring to errors thought to slip through as a result of Scott's illness, "there is no mistaking the onward drive of his story.” Readers can view images of Scott’s original manuscripts on a CD included with the volume.
