prove inconvenient, if not dangerous, to his formidable kinsman
and vassal of Burgundy.

[Some of these departures from historical accuracy, as when
the death of the Bishop of Liege is antedated, are duly set forth
in the notes. It should be mentioned that Mr. J. F. Kirk, in his
elaborate History of Charles the Bold, claims that in some points
injustice has been done to the Duke in this romance. He says: "The
faults of Charles were sufficiently glaring, and scarcely admitted
of exaggeration; but his breeding had been that of a prince, his
education had been better than that of other princes of his time,
his tastes and habits were more, not less, refined than theirs,
and the restraint he imposed upon his sensual appetites was as
conspicuous a trait as his sternness and violence."]

Abbotsford, 1830.

Quentin Durward was published in June, 1823, and was Scott's
first venture on foreign ground. While well received at home, the
sensation it created in Paris was comparable to that caused by
the appearance of Waverley in Edinburgh and Ivanhoe in London. In
Germany also, where the author was already popular, the new novel
had a specially enthusiastic welcome. The scene of the romance was
partly suggested by a journal kept by Sir Walter's dear friend,
Mr. James Skene of Rubislaw, during a French tour, the diary being
illustrated by a vast number of clever drawings. The author, in
telling this tale laid in unfamiliar scenes, encountered difficulties
of a kind quite new to him, as it necessitated much study of maps,
gazetteers, and books of travel. For the history, he naturally found
above all else the Memoirs of Philip de Comines "the very key of