THE 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 the _Scotsman_ of 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 and honourably 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 the _Kelso Mail_ in 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 any of 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 the _Edinburgh 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 strictures was 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 Pitt and 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!’”
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 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 same person, 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 in _Scribner’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.’”
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 the _Weekly 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 the _Weekly
Journal_ occurs 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 it up 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 the _tail_ of a
_serving man_, instead of the _tail_ of a _starved mare_.”
So printed in the first edition, but corrected in subsequent editions to
“a miserable cart jade.”
[Illustration]
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 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.”
[Illustration]