ABSTRACT
The memoirs of James Hogg take us to the heart of one of the most important features of biographical accounts of Scott: the breadth of his social contacts and his affectionate relationships with people of all ranks, ages, and literary affiliations. The history of Hogg’s memoirs of Scott is complicated but revealing. Towards the end of 1832 the London publisher John McCrone, who was preparing to write a biography of Scott, asked Hogg to supply anecdotes and reminiscences. Scott’s own relationship with Hogg was full of contradictions, many of which Hogg implies in his memoirs. The class difference itself was not the defining issue: rather, it was Hogg’s disconcerting ability to cross boundaries which most seems to have disrupted the flow of friendship with Scott.
