Guy Mannering

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Ginn, 1923 - Fiction - 516 pages
The tale was originally told me by an old servant of my father's, an excellent old Highlander, without a fault. He believed as firmly in the story as in any part of his creed. A grave and elderly person, according to old John MacKinlay's account, while traveling in the wilder parts of Galloway, was benighted. With difficulty he found his way to a country seat, where he was readily admitted. The owner of the house was much struck by the reverend appearance of his guest, and apologized to him for a certain degree of confusion which must unavoidably attend his reception. The lady of the house was, he said, confined to her apartment, and on the point of making her husband a father for the first time. Not so, sir, said the stranger; my wants are few, and easily supplied, and I trust the present circumstances may even afford an opportunity of showing my gratitude for your hospitality. Let me only request that I may be informed of the exact minute of the birth. I will not conceal from you that I am skillful in understanding and interpreting the movements of those planetary bodies which exert their influences on the destiny of mortals. competent estate, and only use the knowledge I possess for the benefit of those in whom I feel an interest...

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About the author (1923)

Walter Scott was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on August 15, 1771. He began his literary career by writing metrical tales. The Lay of the Last Minstrel, Marmion, and The Lady of the Lake made him the most popular poet of his day. Sixty-five hundred copies of The Lay of the Last Minstrel were sold in the first three years, a record sale for poetry. His other poems include The Vision of Don Roderick, Rokeby, and The Lord of the Isles. He then abandoned poetry for prose. In 1814, he anonymously published a historical novel, Waverly, or, Sixty Years Since, the first of the series known as the Waverley novels. He wrote 23 novels anonymously during the next 13 years. The first master of historical fiction, he wrote novels that are historical in background rather than in character: A fictitious person always holds the foreground. In their historical sequence, the Waverley novels range in setting from the year 1090, the time of the First Crusade, to 1700, the period covered in St. Roman's Well (1824), set in a Scottish watering place. His other works include Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, and The Bride of Lammermoor. He died on September 21, 1832.

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