Paul's Letters to His Kinfolk by Scott, Sir Walter, 1771-1832 - 1816

Edinburgh: Constable and Co. Limited, 1816. Octavo. 468 pages. Gift inscription on title page: "Richard Montgomery to Stephlis Marsh 1816". Edinburgh University describes the background of this book. On hearing the news of the Allied victory at Waterloo (June 18, 1815), Scott longed to visit the battlefield and to see newly conquered Paris. Continental Europe had been closed to British visitors during the Napoleonic Wars, and Scott had never before travelled abroad. In August, he set sail for Belgium, hoping to recuperate his expenses by writing a series of imaginary letters recording his impressions. Collected as Paul's Letters to His Kinsfolk (1816), these not only document Scott's personal reaction to the scenes he passed through, but provide a detailed history of Napoleon's last campaign based on interviews with participants and (not always reputable) eyewitnesses. Here, Scott is notably equitable in his treatment of the Emperor, acknowledging his military genius and regretting only that he chose not to lay down his own life along with his Guard. A similarly non-partisan approach would later be adopted in Scott's Life of Napoleon Buonaparte (1827). A clean copy bound in a modern brown leather, boards double ruled in gilt, raised bands decorated in gilt, red leather spine label gilt, some scattered foxing to title page but internally fresh.