The Scottish writer and editor, John Gibson Lockhart, published his first full attempt at a biography of his late father-in-law in 1837. This is Volume 1 of a new reprint of that Seven Volume edition. The story begins with the ‘Asheteil fragment’, autobiographical notes - written in 1808 and found in an old cabinet at Abbotsford - which tell of Scott’s early life before his call to the Bar in July 1792. Lockhart follows this with his own ‘Illustrations’ of and reflections on Scott’s history and character in this period of school, apprenticeship and study, plus early travel, debate and correspondence. He then sets his own pace for the story of ‘literary anecdote and private history’ - from courtship and marriage to The Edinburgh Review, in the years 1793 to 1804. Published simultaneously with this reprint is a volume bringing together the 1838 publication ‘Refutation of the Mistatements and Calumnies contained in Mr Lockhart’s Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart respecting The Messrs Ballantyne, Lockhart’s response to 'The Ballantyne-Humbug and the Ballantyne Trust’s subsequent retort.