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Aeneas Press edition Romantic First published 1816

The Black Dwarf

by Walter Scott 1771–1832

The book, and the century it came out of.

A deformed hermit on a Scottish moor, feared as a warlock, keeps his own counsel while a girl is carried off and a rising is plotted — and the Dwarf knows all of it, because he is not what the country people think. Scott invented the historical novel with Waverley and published for years anonymously; this short novel of 1816 was a Tale of My Landlord, and he later admitted his publisher talked him into ending it too fast. Illustrated with 50 full-page plates — paintings by Vernet and Paulsen among them.

Note: Footnotes in the printed book have been inserted in theetext in square brackets close to the place wherethey were referenced by a suffix in the original text.Text in italics has been written in capital letters.
The first sentence of The Black Dwarf
A note on this edition

The Black Dwarf, by Walter Scott, complete and unabridged. Spelling and punctuation follow present-day American usage; the sentences, the paragraphs and the voice are the author’s, word for word.

It was written in another era and may carry attitudes a reader today will find dated. They are kept for the sake of the work and do not reflect the views of this house.

The edition
Format
Ebook
Extent
about 176 pages
Reading time
about 4 hours
Illustrations
Full-page plates, credited
Text
Complete, unabridged
Language
en
This edition
2026
ISBN
9785486965852
The plates

50 paintings are bound into this edition

Six of them are shown here, taken from the volume itself. Each is reproduced full page and named with its painter and year.

Soldiers in a Mountain Gorge, with a Storm, Joseph Vernet
Soldiers in a Mountain Gorge, with a Storm Joseph Vernet 1789
A Cottage in Needwood Forest, Staffordshire, Joseph Wright of Derby
A Cottage in Needwood Forest, Staffordshire Joseph Wright of Derby 1790
A Pastoral Scene, Balthasar-Paul Ommeganck
A Pastoral Scene Balthasar-Paul Ommeganck 1789
A Visit to the Boarding School, George Morland
A Visit to the Boarding School George Morland 1788
Horsemen at the Blacksmith’s, Johann Georg Pforr
Horsemen at the Blacksmith’s Johann Georg Pforr 1787
Iron smelting at Neath Abbey ?, Thomas Rowlandson
Iron smelting at Neath Abbey ? Thomas Rowlandson 1797
The setting

A page from this edition

Not a mock-up: this page is taken from the finished volume. The ornament above the chapter belongs to its shelf and to no other, the opening letter is set as a drop capital, and the plate below carries the name of the painter and the year.

A page of The Black Dwarf as set for this edition
The opening of a chapter
A page of The Black Dwarf as set for this edition
A page where a plate falls

Both photographed from the finished volume.

Colophon

The Black Dwarf, first published 1816, issued in this edition by Aeneas Press in 2026 on the Adventure & the Sea shelf. Newly set, with the ornament of its series above each chapter and a drop capital on the opening page. Illustrated with full-page plates, each named with its painter.

Published as an ebook and not issued in print by this house; it carries one ISBN, 9785486965852, and is supplied worldwide. This edition — its setting, its ornament, its cover art, and the selection and attribution of its plates — © 2026 Aeneas Press.

Before you buy

Questions readers ask

Is this the whole of The Black Dwarf?
Yes — complete and unabridged. Nothing is cut, condensed or paraphrased. This is the book, not a summary of it.
What exactly did you change?
The spelling and the punctuation follow present-day American usage. Walter Scott's sentences are untouched — same words, same order, same rhythm.
Are the pictures really in the book?
Yes. The edition carries full-page plates bound into the text, each one named with its painter and the year it was made. Six of them are shown on this page.
How long is it?
About 176 pages, which is roughly about 4 hours of reading.
What do I actually get?
An illustrated ebook with its own ISBN, sold worldwide. One file, yours to keep, readable on any device.
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The Black Dwarf
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