CHAPTER IXTHE AUTHOR AND THE REVISER

On the 21st September 1832 Sir Walter Scott died, and four months later James Ballantyne followed him to that bourne “where the petty politics of terrestrial powers no longer inflame men’s minds, and the sound of discord and disagreement is not heard.” The following obituary notice appeared in theScotsmanof January 19, 1833:—

“It is with feelings of sincere regret that we have to announce the death of our able and excellent contemporary and friend, Mr. James Ballantyne. His health for several months past has been very delicate, and he expired on Thursday at noon, rather unexpectedly by his friends, as he had fallen into a soft sleep in the morning, after a night of painful suffering from a vomiting of blood, with which he had of late been visited.

“Mr. Ballantyne has been so long andhonourably distinguished in his connection with the press of Scotland, in the highest acceptation of that expression, that we cannot forbear alluding slightly to the leading points of his life and character in that connection. He began his career by establishing theKelso Mailin his native town; and it was while he was thus engaged, that, in consequence of some suggestion from Mr. Hughes, then and long after in his employment, he made some successful attempts to improve the typography of Scotland. In these the success which attended his efforts was so conspicuous as to attract the notice of some distinguished individuals, and, amongst others, that of his illustrious friend, Sir Walter Scott; and a new era in Scottish typography, as well as of Scottish literature, was ushered in by the printing of the ‘Border Minstrelsy’ at the Border press. Mr. Ballantyne’s well-merited fame for elegance and accuracy as a printer soon extended in the marts of literature, and the encouragement which he received from the booksellers of London and Edinburgh induced him to remove to this city about the year 1802; and it is no disparagement to anyof his brethren to state that, from the time that Mr. Ballantyne devoted himself to the pursuit, the art has been improved among us to the highest pitch, for nothing in typography can exceed the beauty and accuracy which have ever characterised the productions of the Ballantyne Press. These qualities are known to the whole world in the works of his illustrious friend, Sir Walter Scott, and they were the result at once of the most conscientious and scrupulous vigilance over his press, and of an exquisite taste and great intelligence which were applied to the works entrusted to his superintendence. The intimate connection which subsisted betwixt Sir Walter and Mr. Ballantyne from their schoolboy days—the confidential nature of that connection—and the unceasing kindness which was veiled only by the shadows which darken all human friendships in the grave, were such as to associate the name of Ballantyne with that of his much-loved and honoured countryman, and to invest it with consideration and honour. During the last fifteen or sixteen years Mr. Ballantyne has been the editor, and a proprietor of theEdinburgh Weekly Journal,which has been uniformly distinguished for its candour, sound constitutional principles, moderation, and independence. In private life Mr. Ballantyne was amiable and gentlemanly in his demeanour, accomplished, courteous, cheerful; and to have been the intimate associate of Walter Scott, John Leyden, James Grahame, Robert Lundie, was of itself a proof not merely of his intellectual superiority, but of what is more estimable, of his moral worth. He was a dutiful son, brother, husband, father, and friend; and the affectionate qualities of his nature will be long remembered by those who moved within the circles of his friends or his friendships.”

On the death of James Ballantyne his trustees examined his repositories in the printing-office, and found a number of fragmentary portions of the manuscripts of the novels, as well as numerous proof-sheets with corrections, and several manuscripts of the later novels which had been overlooked. These fragmentary leaves and proof-sheets remained in possession of the trustees till James Ballantyne’s son came of age; and the latter, on formally taking up his position at the printing-office,presented some of them to friends as memorials—among others, the MS. of “Old Mortality” was presented to Mr. (afterwards Sir) John Cowan of Beeslack. The state of the business, however, led a few years after to sequestration, and the rest of the Scott relics, as well as James Ballantyne’s library, were sold for behoof of the estate by Mr. Dowell of Edinburgh, in May 1848. Among the lots sold at this time were the MS. of the “Black Dwarf,” and the author’s proofs of the “Life of Napoleon” (nine vols.), “Woodstock,” “Nigel,” “Quentin Durward,” “Ivanhoe,” “Peveril,” &c., as well as the author’s interleaved copy, with many notes, of the “Letters on Demonology,” &c., realising altogether £121, 13s. 6d.

These proof-sheets contained the notes and letters which passed between the author and the printer, as well as the author’s corrections and additions during the progress of the books through the press. The suggestions and remarks of Ballantyne are many, and occasionally curious; and Sir Walter appears frequently to have adopted the advice of his friend, who for his occasional strictureswas sometimes playfully designated “Tom Telltruth.” “The proof-sheets of ‘Redgauntlet’ exist,” says Mr. Lang in his Introduction to that novel, “and show some noteworthy points, as we see Mr. James Ballantyne’s suggestions, Scott’s corrections, and an occasional aside to Ballantyne.... James objects to the mixture of ‘thou’ and ‘you’ in Fairford’s letter, but Scott does not make any change.... Ballantyne rather timidly suggests that Green Mantle at the fishers’ dance reminds him of Di Vernon, so Scott slightly modifies her cavalier tone. James is scandalised at the mention of young advocates as ‘boys.’ Scott writes, ‘Aye, aye!’” The printer makes a “useful suggestion, which Scott accepts, when Alan reads the wrong letter in the trial.”

The author and the printer often differed, and other replies of Scott to his corrector are characteristic, as the following, which appears in one of the proofs of “Woodstock”: “‘Completing’ wants a nominative,” says James. “You certainly have had the toothache,” says the author in reply; “why, it puts me in mind of the epigram when Pittand Dundas came drunk into the House of Commons:—

“‘I cannot see the Speaker, Hal, can you?’‘Not see the Speaker! d—n me, I see two!’”

“‘I cannot see the Speaker, Hal, can you?’

‘Not see the Speaker! d—n me, I see two!’”

On another occasion Sir Walter says in his “Journal” (January 11, 1826): “I got proof-sheets, in which it seems I have repeated a whole passage of history which had been told before. James is in an awful stew, and I cannot blame him.... However, as Chaucer says:—

“‘There is na workemanThat can bothe worken wel and hastilie;This must be done at leisure parfitly.’”

“‘There is na workeman

That can bothe worken wel and hastilie;

This must be done at leisure parfitly.’”

It must be admitted that Scott was occasionally careless, partly because he could save time by allowing others to correct his errors and inconsistencies resulting from rapid composition. For example, in “The Antiquary” he makes the sun set in the German Ocean; in the “Legend of Montrose” he uses in one place westward where it should be eastward; in “Kenilworth” the text has “In the employment both of Burleigh and Cecil,” but Burleigh and Cecil are one and the sameperson, and it should probably read Walsingham and Cecil; in “Anne of Geierstein” in two places Nancy is used instead of Aix.

The proof-sheets of “Peveril” were sold in London some time in the middle of last century and bought by an American. They afterwards formed part of an article inScribner’s Magazine(February 1889) on Sir Walter Scott and his works, from which several of the instances are here given:—

“Proof.‘He was never visited by any doubt.’ Note by J. B. See p. 127, where this doubt is strongly expressed by him. Scott thereupon alters to—‘any permanent doubt.’“Proof.‘The cutler agreed.’ Note by J. B. He had gone downstairs in the last sentence. Scott hurries him back, and alters to ‘the cutler returns at this summons and agreed.’“Proof.Motto to Heading to Chapter VIII. J. B. This motto is repeated in the next chapter. Scott alters to ‘My native land, good-night.—Byron.’”

“Proof.‘He was never visited by any doubt.’ Note by J. B. See p. 127, where this doubt is strongly expressed by him. Scott thereupon alters to—‘any permanent doubt.’

“Proof.‘The cutler agreed.’ Note by J. B. He had gone downstairs in the last sentence. Scott hurries him back, and alters to ‘the cutler returns at this summons and agreed.’

“Proof.Motto to Heading to Chapter VIII. J. B. This motto is repeated in the next chapter. Scott alters to ‘My native land, good-night.—Byron.’”

So it goes on throughout, and there are also such marginal remarks by Ballantyne as these: “Imperfect;” “Incomplete;” “Incorrect;” “This is inimitable in all respects;” “Capital! there is something new under the sun;” “Unintelligible and probably incomplete;” “This is almost magnificent.”

Many of the proof-sheets still existing show that the author and the printer remained the best of friends, even under the pressure of financial troubles, till the unfortunate differences arose in regard to the political views of theWeekly Journal. They leave no doubt that James Ballantyne by his courageous and unprejudiced criticism pointed out many an error which the reviewers would have seized upon with eagerness. Referring again to this subject, Mr. Lang, in his “Life of Lockhart,” says: “Why, one is inclined to ask, why with Lockhart at his side did Scott turn to Ballantyne for criticism? The truth probably is that in Ballantyne, comparatively uneducated and ignorant of things which one supposes everybody to know, Scott thought he had a measure of the ordinary taste, and a judge who would never veil his actual opinion, nor ‘seek for a glossy periphrase.’” “Comparatively uneducated and ignorant of things!” This is said of one who not only passed but practised as a solicitor, and whom Scott himself—surely a sufficient judge of his ability—recommended for the editorship of a proposed new paper(November 1819), as “a thoroughly well-principled, honourable man.... He writes a good enough style, and has often been happy in his opening articles.” Even stronger testimony regarding James Ballantyne and theWeekly Journaloccurs in an entry in Scott’s “Journal” (December 18, 1825), “for sure they cannot find a better editor.”[38]

Moore[39]describes Scott’s marvellous labour and power of composition, as well as the extent to which he had carried the art of book-making. “Besides writing his history of Scotland for Dr. Lardner’s ‘Encyclopædia,’” he observes, “he is working at the prefaces for the re-publication of the Waverley Novels, the ‘Tales of a Grandfather,’ and has still found time to review Tytler, which he has done out of the scraps and chips of his other works. A little while ago he had to correct some of the proofs of the History of Scotland, and, being dissatisfied with what was done, he nearly wrote it over again, and sent itup to the editor. Some time after, finding another copy of the proofs, he forgot that he had corrected them before, and he re-wrote these also and sent them up, and the editor is at this moment engaged in selecting from the two corrected copies the best parts of each.”

In spite of all the printer’s care and personal supervision, however, Sir Walter sometimes had the chance of giving James “a Roland for his Oliver,” as the following letter testifies:—

“Dear James,—I return the sheets of ‘Tales,’ with some waste of ‘Napoleon’ for ballast. Pray read like a lynx, for with all your devoted attention things will escape. Imagine your printing that the Douglases, after James II. had dirked the Earl, trailed the royal safe-conduct at thetailof aserving man, instead of thetailof astarved mare.”

So printed in the first edition, but corrected in subsequent editions to “a miserable cart jade.”

The accompanying facsimiles are from proof-sheets in the possession of Lord Rosebery, who has courteously given permission for their reproduction. One shows the title-page of a volume of the “Life of Napoleon,” while the other is a page of the same work, with Sir Walter’s corrections, and one of James Ballantyne’s remarks. The playful missives sent by the author to his printer have been already referred to, and there is to be seen along with the MS. of “Rob Roy,” and bound up with the last proof-sheet, the following note to James Ballantyne:—

“Dear James—With great joyI send you Roy;’Twas a tough job,But we’re dune wi’ Rob.“I forget if I mentioned Terry in my list of friends. Pray send me two or three copies as soon as you can. And we must not forget Sir William Forbes.—Yours ever,“W. S.”

“Dear James—

With great joyI send you Roy;’Twas a tough job,But we’re dune wi’ Rob.

With great joy

I send you Roy;

’Twas a tough job,

But we’re dune wi’ Rob.

“I forget if I mentioned Terry in my list of friends. Pray send me two or three copies as soon as you can. And we must not forget Sir William Forbes.—Yours ever,

“W. S.”

The allusion to its being a “tough job” refers to the labour of producing the book in his shattered state of health in 1817, the year of the publication of “Rob Roy.”

Transcriber’s Note: image is clickable for larger version

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