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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 February 2021
In 1816 The Quarterly Review issued its number for October 1815, and among the articles was a review of Miss Austen's most recent novel Emma. This was the review, universally attributed ever since to Sir Walter Scott, and consistently spoken of as “that magnanimous article”. Biographers of both Scott and Jane Austen point to it with pleasure as a signal example of one genius recognizing another. In view of the prominence accorded to this review in the literary histories it is remarkable that no one has taken pains to enquire into the truth of its ascription to such a distinguished pen, especially since a discrepancy exists between the date of this review and the dates of Scott's recorded utterances on Jane Austen, and further since the review itself is unlike Scott's known critical work.
1 Quarterly Review, XIV, 188.
2 Quarterly Review, XXIV, 352.
3 Reprinted by Whately in Miscellaneous Lectures and Reviews, London, 1861. (The 1815 Review was probably not included in this volume because it reflects an immature point of view, and this publication was intended to represent the Archbishop's most finished work. This criticism would not apply to the Review of 1821.)
4 Lockhart, Life of Scott, Fireside edition, IV, 3 n.
5 Only a few of the more important repetitions are here recorded.
a)Allibone, Dictionary, under Scott, Sir Walter.
b) Anderson, J. P., Bibliography in Goldwin Smith's Life.
c) Chapman, R. W., Novels of Jane Austen, IV, intro. n.
d) Thomson, J., Descriptive Catalogue of the Writings of Sir Walter Scott, Philadelphia, Nov., 1898.
e) Austen-Leigh, W. & R. A., Lift and Letters of Jane Austen. (The authors in a footnote on p. 326 state that the attribution is confirmed on the basis of information supplied by Mr. John Murray. This information is not printed, and considering the original error and its character, it is doubtful whether the attribution becomes any more valid.)
6 Lockhart, vide supra, IV, 3.
7 Patrick Tytler's Note Book, quoted in Macgunn, Sir Walter Scotts Friends.
8 Sir Walter Scott, Journal, Edin., 1891.
9 Idem.
10 E. J. Whately, Life and Correspondence of Richard Whately, D.D., London, 1868.
11 Dict. of Nat. Bio., under Whately, Richard.
12 E. J. Whately, vide supra.