Ivanhoe A Romance

The Author of the Waverley Novels had hitherto proceeded in an unabated course of popularity and might in his peculiar district of literature have been termed LEnfant Gate of success. It was plain however that frequent publication must finally wear out the public favour unless some mode could be devised to give an appearance of novelty to subsequent productions. Scottish manners Scottish dialect and Scottish characters of note being those with which the author was most intimately and familiarly acquainted were the groundwork upon which he had hitherto relied for giving effect to his narrative. It was however obvious that this kind of interest must in the end occasion a degree of sameness and repetition if exclusively resorted to and that the reader was likely at length to adopt the language of Edwin in Parnells Tale: Reverse the spell he cries And let it fairly now suffice. The gambol has been shown. Nothing can be more dangerous for the fame of a professor of the fine arts than to permit (if he can possibly prevent it) the character of a mannerist to be attached to him or that he should be supposed capable of success only in a particular and limited style. The public are in general very ready to adopt the opinion that he who has pleased them in one peculiar mode of composition is by means of that very talent rendered incapable of venturing upon other subjects. The effect of this disinclination on the part of the public towards the artificers of their pleasures when they attempt to enlarge their means of amusing may be seen in the censures usually passed by vulgar criticism upon actors or artists who venture to change the character of their efforts that in so doing they may enlarge the scale of their art.