Preface THAT Abbotsford merits a volume in the present series will be readily conceded. In preparing the letterpress I have found myself, not unnaturally, playing to some extent the part of a biographer, and in this I have generally followed Lockhart, always the ultimate authority on Sir Walter. A number of fresh facts, however, will be found here and there throughout the work. Mrs. Maxwell Scott has kindly read the proof of The Later Abbotsford,' and for the Treasures' chapter I am indebted somewhat to her admirable little 'Catalogue,' which no visitor to Scott's home should miss. 6 W. S. CROCKETT, THE MANSE, TWEEDSMUIR, June 15, 1905. vii |