lled with from fifteen to twenty thousand volumes, among
which are some of unusual value, and its handsome portrait of the eldest
of Scott's sons.

The building of this splendid dwelling place shows Scott to have been
exceptionally prosperous as a writer. Yet his way was by no means always
smooth. In 1808 he had formed with the Ballantynes a publishing house
that, as a result of poor management, failed completely in 1813. Scott
bore the trouble with admirable coolness, and by means of good
management averted further disaster and made arrangements for the
continued publication of his works.

By this time he had found through the marked success of his novel
_Waverley_, published in 1814, that a new and promising field lay before
him. He decided then to give up poetry and devote himself especially to
writing romances, in which his love of the picturesque and thrilling in
history and of the noble and chivalrous in human character could find
the widest range of expression. With marvelous industry he added one
after another to the long series of his famous Waverley Novels. Perhaps
the height of his power was reached in 1819 in the production of
_Ivanhoe_, though _Waverley_, _Guy Mannering_ and _The Heart of
Midlothian_, previously written, as well as _Kenilworth_ and _Quentin
Durward_, published later, must also be given first rank. In the
intervals of his work on these novels, Scott also wrote reviews and
essays and miscellaneous articles. He became recognized as the most
gifted prose writer of his age, and his works, it is said, became "the
daily food, not only of his countrymen, but of all educated Europe." He
was sought after with eager homage by the wealthy and notable, and was
given the title of baronet, yet remained as simple and sincere at heart
as in the early days of his career.

With the sales of his books amounting to $50,000 or more a year, it is
not strange that he should have felt his fortune assured. But again, and
this time with the most serious results, he was deceived by the
mismanagement of others. The printing firm of James Ballantyne and
Company, in which he had remained a partner, became bankrupt in 1826.
Had it not been for a high sense of honor, he would have withdrawn with
the others of the firm; but the sense of his great debt pressed upon him
so sorely that he agreed to pay all that he owed, at whatever cost to
himself. For the remaining six years of his life he worked as hard as
failing health