Waverley novels

The Waverley Novels is a long series of novels by Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832). For nearly a century, they were among the most popular and widely read novels in all of 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.

Originally printed by James Ballantyne on the Canongate in Edinburgh, brother of one of Scott's close friends, John Ballantyne ("Printed by James Ballantyne and Co. For Archibald Constable and Co., Edinburgh"). Some of the early editions were lavishly illustrated by George Cattermole.

The two definitive editions are the 48-volume set published between 1829 and 1833 by Robert Cadell (the "Magnum Opus"), based on previous editions, with new introductions and appendices by Scott, and the 30-volume set, based on manuscripts, published by the Edinburgh University Press and Columbia University Press in the 1990s.

The towns of Waverly, Nebraska; Waverley, New York; Waverley, Nova Scotia; Waverly, Ohio; and Waverly, Tennessee, take their names from these novels, as does Waverley Station and Waverley Bridge in Edinburgh. Waverley School in Louisville, Kentucky, which later became the Waverly Hills Sanatorium, was named after the novels as well.

Many were given names from the novels.

Over two thousand streets in Britain have names from titles of individual novels, with 650 from Waverley alone.

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