University of Virginia Library

The Early Editions and Issues of Scott's Border Antiquities
by
William B. Todd

The Border Antiquities of England and Scotland (1814-1817) comprises two large quarto volumes, lavishly illustrated with 94 plates, and appropriately printed, in part by Thomas Davison of London, in part by James Ballantyne of Edinburgh.[1] Notwithstanding its size, however, the work is very unstable, originally issued in several forms not represented by any of the copies I have seen and, of those observed, now existing in variants differing with every exemplar. This account must therefore be regarded as provisional, sufficient I trust to identify the true first edition in book form and its various impressions, sufficient also to expose a number

of reprints or piracies, but hardly adequate to define every possible irregularity.

From the beginning the production of this book was determined very much by accident, very little by design, and attended throughout with many uncertainties. The original announcement, appearing in the February 1812 number of the Scots Magazine (p. 132), sets the precedent, never broken thereafter, of promising more than could be fulfilled. "A splendid original work," it reports, "delineating the Border-Antiquities of England and Scotland, is in great forwardness. The first part will be published on the 31st of March, and a part will be continued every three months." After this firm commitment the first part was delayed until June 1 and then, as the Monthly Literary Advertiser affirms,[2] contained only six of the nine plates required. Though all of those originally included are dated May 1812 only five actually belonged to this number, the sixth to a text not published until the fifth part; so four remained to be issued, one dated September (Warkworth Castle) but published with the second number in November, another dated September (Interior of the Castle at Newcastle) but published with the third number in April 1813, a third in May of that year, and the fourth as late as September. The second part, scheduled to appear three months after the first, was eventually published in November 1812 when, as the Advertiser notes, it also included six plates for a text that now, however, required only three. Of the six, though, only one dated September belonged to this part, the four other September plates to the first, third (2), and fifth numbers, and the one dated November also to the third number. Thus the second part was originally encumbered with five superfluous illustrations and lacked two pertaining to its own text, the two finally issued in September 1813 and June 1815. So for every part the text was invariably delayed and the plates invariably mixed, to the utter confusion of the hapless subscribers. Toward the end, as at the beginning, the Scots Magazine has some hopeful news, now that the engraver, John Greig, would complete his work by December 1815;[3] but this too was premature, because four of his plates are dated January and one November 1816. One of the January plates had been promised as early as November 1814, and properly belongs to the ninth number issued in December of that year.[4]

Much of this confusion may be laid directly to Greig, who seems to have been something of a vagabond, never about when he was wanted, and often unreported at his last known address. In June 1812 he was living at Chapel Street, Pentonville; in September at 261 High Street, Edinburgh; in November at Broomhills, Great Burstead, Essex; in April 1813 not located; in July variously reported at Great Burstead or Pentonville; in May 1814 again not located; and in December at Upper Street, Islington.[5] Once settled at this last address, however, he did not move again, and thereafter his order of engraving more closely approximated—but never quite matched—the order of printing.

Greig, though, was not entirely to blame, for the editors followed no definite plan. To give some distinction to their work they had, by the seventh number, enlisted the aid of Walter Scott—whose name then and thereafter graced every issue—but from first to last they were unable to determine the extent of their edition. In the announcement of the first number it is said that the work would not exceed four volumes, each consisting of eight parts. The first volume, however, contained four parts when issued in July 1813, then nine when issued in December 1814, and finally only six when issued with the second volume in September 1817. By the ninth number the editors were advertising (in a note still represented in the final six-part volume) their intention to limit the work to 16 parts in two volumes; but the second volume eventually comprised parts 7 through 17, and of these, contrary to all announcements early and late, parts 7 to 11 are labeled Vol. I.

Despite the haphazard conduct of the engraver and editors, the printers managed their affairs in a most efficient manner. After Ballantyne of Edinburgh had run off the first two numbers (B-I) the work was for some reason transferred to Davison of London, who completed the remaining fifteen (K-3I), the preliminary sheet for the first volume, and a few sheets of an "Introductory Sketch" (b-e in some copies). While the "Sketch" was being printed in London, however, Scott or one of the other Scots "proprietors" sent to Ballantyne a full Introduction (a-q) which interrupted the other effort in mid-sentence and immediately displaced it. Ballantyne then ran off the Appendix (a-n) and Davison the preliminary sheet for the second volume and the index (o-q). All of this printing, as exhibited by the final issue in book form, was finished in three impressions, each of which may be easily recognized by its size or paper. These impressions are ordered, from one to another, by typographical corrections noted in the bibliographical description and ordered again, within each impression, by the progression of watermarks identified in the accompanying chart.

Distribution of Presswork and Paper

                                 

Sig.	Printer	Medium Qto. Paper dated	Royal Qto. Paper dated	Super-Royal Qto. Whatman paper dated
B-E	[6] Ballantyne	1809	[8] 1808	1808
F-I	"	"	"	1811
K-Y	[7] Davison	"	[9] 1808	"
Z-2B	"	"	1806	"
2C-2L	"	"	"	1811 & 1813
[10] i(I)	"	"	"	"
2M-2Q	"	"	"	"
2R-3E	"	"	"	1813
[11] b-e	"	"	[12] [,,]	"
[13] a-g	Ballantyne	1809 & 1815	"	1813 & 1815
[14] a-b	"	"	"	"
3F-3I	Davison	1815	undated	undated
[13]h-q	Ballantyne	"	"	"
[14] c-n	"	"	"	"
[15] o-q	Davison	"	"	"
i(II)	"	"	"	"

A comparison between the prices cited in the 1812-1817 advertisements and those noted in the 1824 edition of Watt's Bibliotheca Britannica indicates that by the later date copies were being sold at half the original cost.

         

	1812-1817	1824
	Each no.	2 vols.	2 vols.
Medium	£ 0	10	6	£ 9	0	0	£ 4	14	6
Royal	0	16	0	13	13	0	7	4	0
Super-Royal	1	11	6	27	0	0	14	3	6

The later discount, however, was probably not for the original edition but for three undifferentiated reprints which, by then, were in circulation. Unlike the first edition, with its two volumes correctly dated 1814 and 1817, these three, though watermarked as late as 1822, are dated 1814 in both volumes. To meet a continuing demand for India proof illustrations, originally offered only in the Super-Royal impression, one of these later editions reproduces a complete set, now taken, of course, from the plates in their final and somewhat retouched state.

Still later Bohn states that "this book was republished under the old date with very inferior impressions of the plates, although some are put forth as India proofs."[16] Here the reference is apparently to a fifth edition, printed on paper dated 1831, but now catalogued, for the only copy observed, under the dates 1813-1815. As this copy is defective, the dates have been taken from the engraved title-pages, both of which, together with all other illustrations, were produced on India paper from re-engraved plates. Since the copy lacks all pages carrying any identification, it is impossible to say whether this edition, issued probably on the occasion of Scott's death in 1832, follows the others in listing Constable as one of the publishers and Ballantyne as one of the printers. Should these names appear in a perfect example, however, the reprint may be dismissed as a piracy, for this particular publisher failed in 1826 and his printer went bankrupt immediately thereafter. Here then is an appropriate terminus ad quem not only for all editions legitimately issued, but for all my attempts to describe them.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DATA

Since the impressions of the first edition run in contrary directons—with the super-royal size containing the plates in the earliest but text in the latest state and the medium size with plates in the latest but text in the earliest state—it seems best to list first the largest size, as being the one most desired by collectors.

A. FIRST EDITION

• Issue 1 17 parts published separately June 1, 1812—Sept. 1, 1817. [See fn.2]
• Issue 2 First 4 parts in 1 vol. Published July 1, 1813.
• Issue 3 First 9 parts in 1 vol. Published Dec. 1, 1814. No copies of these three issues observed.
• Issue 4 Complete edition of 17 parts in 2 vols. Published Sept. 1, 1817

Titles (in earliest state of 4th issue)

THE | BORDER ANTIQUITIES | OF | ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND; | COMPRISING | SPECIMENS OF ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE, | AND OTHER VESTIGES OF FORMER AGES, | ACCOMPANIED

BY DESCRIPTIONS. | TOGETHER WITH | ILLUSTRATIONS OF REMARKABLE INCIDENTS IN BORDER | HISTORY AND TRADITION, AND ORIGINAL POETRY. | BY WALTER SCOTT, ESQ. | [Short Oxford rule] | VOL. I. [II.] | [Short Oxford rule reversed] | LONDON: | PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, PATERNOSTER-ROW; | J. MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET; JOHN GREIG, UPPER-STREET, ISLINGTON: | AND CONSTABLE AND CO. EDINBURGH. | [dash] | 1814. [1817.]

Normal collation (excluding plates): 4to. with text in twos. I: i 2 a4 b-q4 B-M2 N1 O-Q2 R1 S-2B2. II: i 2 2C-3I2 a-m 4 n 2 χ1 o-q 2.

I: 1 title, 2 Davison colophon, 3 note [applicable to the 3d issue, in 9 parts], 4 blank; i half-title, iii iv-cxxvii introduction, cxxviii blank; 1 2-92 text, parts 1-6. II: 1 half-title, 2 Davison colophon, 3 title, 4 blank; 93 94-209 text, parts 7-17 [12-17 unnumbered], 210 blank, 211-212 list of plates; i-iii iv-ci appendix, ci Ballantyne colophon, cii blank, ciii-cxiii index, cxiv Davison colophon.

In this edition only, all numbers through the 11th are labeled "Vol. I." followed by the part reference.

Press-figures (as represented in more than one impression): Introduction: xxxii-11 xxxix-3 xlvi-6 lvi-3 lx-3 lxx-3 lxxv-6 lxxxv-3 xcii-3 ci-8 cix-3 cxvii-1 cxxvi-8. Text: 4-1 8-6 16-1 20-1 24-1 27-1 32-1. Appendix: vii-3 x-11 xviii-6 xlvii-3 or 6 lvi-6 lxiv-8 lxxiv-6 lxxxiv-1 xciii-6 c-8.

Watermarks in each impression: see Table.

• 1. Super-Royal impression. Size uncut (Todd copy) 38 x 27.3 cm. Typography: Vol. I only, imprint corrected to ISLINGTON; Page lvi of introduction in one copy (B.M.) footnote reset and last word of text pointed: adherents* Press-figure unique to this impression, introduction xxxii-3. No figures in introduction xlvi or (if fn. reset) lvi; none in appendix vii, x. Plates: 1st state. No plate impression. Unfinished etchings printed, with one exception,[17] directly on heavy cartonnage, generally before letters and rules, with persons and animals sketched in bare outline. Some plates, however, contain double rules without letters or letters without double rules; and one, an exterior view of Lanercost Priory (facing p. 42) has only one rule around the picture. These, the true proofs, were not announced for sale. 2d state. Plate impression 35.2 x 26 cm. Finished illustrations, with letters and rules, on India paper mounted on cartonnage. Occasionally when the paper is too small to accommodate the impression the last line of letter is printed directly on the cartonnage, a sign that these are "manufacured"

  ---

  250

  
  
  
  proofs. Again, as in 1st state, the view of Lanercost Priory has 1 rule. Copies: Harvard (Br 3740.7.3F*): With illustrations in both states. B.M. (189.e.16): Illustrations in 2d state. With suppressed "Introductory Sketch" collating b-e2, consisting of three chapters and breaking off in mid-sentence "of a frontier". Todd: Illustrations in 2d state, protected in this copy by guard tissue generally dated 1818. Supplementary note: Another, uncatalogued set at Harvard, though now bound with 9 parts in the 1st volume, is not properly of the 3d issue since it contains plates released more than a year after that publication. Like the B.M. copy this carries the suppressed "Sketch" (here on unwatermarked paper) and, in the full introduction, the reset footnote on page lvi. Like the Bodleian copy of the Medium Impression, described below, it also bears the earliest issue of sheet R, but lacks the full sheet S which displaced it. All plates are of the 2d state except the Interior of Carlisle Castle, which is of the third.
• 2. Royal impression. Size uncut (Berg copy) 34.3 x 26 cm. Typography: Vol. I title as in super-royal impression. Page lvi, fn. in earlier setting, last word of text unpointed: adherents. Plates: 3d state. Finished illustrations printed directly on heavy paper. View of Lanercost Priory now enclosed by 2 rules. Copies: B.M. (563.e.6): Sheets d and f of same impression as super-royal issue, with figure 3, p. xxxii, and no figure p. xlvi. N. Y. Public Library (Berg) :First part (B-E) reset and without press-figures. In this copy the illustrations are protected by guard tissue generally dated 1820.
• 3. Medium impression. Size cut 27.5 x 21.2 cm. Typography: Both imprints uncorrected ISLINGTON: Page lvi as in royal impression. Press-figures unique to this impression, introduction lx-1; appendix xxxi-1, xxxvii-6. Plates: As in royal impression. Copies: Cambridge. Bodley: With suppressed introductory sketch, as described in note for B.M. super-royal copy, and an earlier issue of R, here consisting of two leaves. The second leaf, a cancellandum, has on recto the same text later appearing in S1r, and on verso one 19 line paragraph later extended to eleven paragraphs in S.

B. SECOND EDITION ca. 1823

Variant collation, with text in fours. Both vols. dated 1814. Sheets in first indicate vol. but not part numbers. Illustrations directly printed.

Copytext A. Page xlv last word "Payment"; lxxx last figure reads correctly "p. 396"; 113 first word last line "horror".

Paper watermarked Whatman 1821 and 1822 or Whatman Turkey Mill 1822.

Copy: N. Y. Public Library (Draper).

C. THIRD EDITION ca. 1823-1826

Variant collation, with text in twos. Both vols. dated 1814. Sheets without vol. or part reference. Illustrations on India paper. Plate impression 30.5 x 23.4 cm.

Cited readings follow copytext B except that lxxx last figure misprinted "p. 399".

Paper unwatermarked.

Copy: Harvard (Br 3740.7.5F*)

D. FOURTH EDITION ca. 1823-1826

Variant collation, with text in fours. Both vols. dated 1814. Sheets without vol. or part reference. Illustrations directly printed.

Cited readings follow copytext C except p. xlv "Pay-", 113 "riding".

Paper unwatermarked except for odd sheet d, dated 1809.

Copy: N. Y. Public Library (Williams).

E. FIFTH EDITION ca. 1832

Variant collation, with text in fours. Sheets without vol. or part reference. Plates re-engraved and printed on India paper

Follows copytext A, with p. 113 first word last line "north-riding".

Paper watermarked 1831.

Copy: Univ. of London: Lacks prelims, introduction, and all after 2E1.

Notes