These two works were brought together and edited by William Chambers in 1871 and are reprinted here in the Scottelanea Series to complement the view of the life and works of Scott taken by Lockhart in his 1837 biography. The first part is a modest biography of Sir Walter Scott, originally written in Edinburgh by William's brother Robert Chambers, shortly after the novelist's death. It is an overview, an easily read summary for popular consumption, written by a close friend. The second half of the volume, assembled by the journalist and writer Robert Carruthers, is devoted to Scott's relationship and correspondence with his factor and confidential adviser at Abbotsford, William Laidlaw. Its aim was to collect, in part for future biographers, 'domestic details and incidents unrecorded' in the course of a friendship 'too honourable to both parties to be readily forgotten'.