ABSTRACT
In 1823, Walter Scott masterminded an effort to establish an Edinburgh antiquarian society known as the Bannatyne Club. While Scott presumes both here and in his Journal, that antiquaries and historians are motivated primarily by an altruistic desire for general 'improvement', early nineteenth-century historical practice does not necessarily bear this out. This chapter considers Scott's 1816 novel The Antiquary as a historiographical commentary in which Scott operates according to a more split agenda. Critics have often read the novel, which tells the story of a middle-aged gentleman watching his community to find a lost heir and prepare for a French invasion that never comes, as a gently mocking self-portrait on Scott's part, identifying Scott exclusively with the titular protagonist Jonathan Oldbuck. Early in the novel, Oldbuck attempts to impress the young outsider; Lovel that Oldbuck's community of Fairport is home to a site of great 'national concern'.
