Three octavo vols. viii, 321; 324; 348pp. Scott's myth-making Waverley novel was rooted in his own concerns with the social and economic situation in Scotland after the Jacobite uprising. Speculation receives particular criticism, a possible sign, as Van Antwerp suggests, of Scott's later financial destitution. Nevertheless the mystique of Roy, the historical figure and fictional character, has dominated the novel's legacy and its enshrinement in the Scottish literary canon. Despite the stated date, it was published December 31, 1817, something of a Hogmanay revival. It met immediate commercial approval, eclipsing the initial run of 10,000 and calling for 3,000 more within two weeks. With first state points: "H2" misprinted as "2H" as signature to p. 177, p. 248 as "842" of Vol. I; "w" absent in "whose" on p. 168 of Vol. II; and "F2" and "P2: signatures transposed as "2F" and "2P" in Vol. III. As Todd's descriptive bibliography indicates, various first/first copies contain combinations of these and other points, some with priority and some without, because the printer clearly mixed printings on shared settings of type. This set still in the original boards backed in cloth and with paper labels. Spines uniformly sunned, edges rubbed overall, modest soiling to covers and to labels. Interiors bear surprisingly little marking, sporting only the occasional mote of foxing or offsetting. Former owner's signature to top right corners of upper covers. (Van Antwerp, p. 100-102; Todd 112Aa)