SIR WALTER SCOTT'S JOURNAL AND ITS EDITOR By J. G.
Tait
Professor Grierson in the preface to his centenary edition of Scott's letters has stated that David Douglas in his well- known edition of the Familiar Letters, like Lockhart in the Life, had not scrupled to " manipulate " the text. It now appears from Mr. Tait's scholarly pamphlet (Edinburgh : Oliver and Boyd) that Douglas was equally careless in pre- paring his edition of the Journal which Scott kept from 1825 to 1832. This edition, published in 1870, purports to give the diary " in its entirety," save for " the correction of obvious slips of the pen and the omission of some details chiefly of family and domestic interest." Unfortunately for Douglas's reputation, Dr. Tait has examined the photostat copy of the Journal, now in the Scottish National Library, and finds the printed edition swarming with errors of commission and omission. The unusual and the homely words that Scott often used are altered, many words are misread, sentences are omitted, and literary quotations are mangled. Dr. Tait gives facsimiles to prove his case and four pages of corrections for the first 112 pages of the printed Journal. As the copy- right expires in 1940, a new and accurate reprint should be put in hand. Scott's Journal surely ought to be as carefully edited as his letters now are, thanks to Professor Grierson.
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