{"exhibit":{"id":3,"title":"Scott's Waverley Novels and their Midwest Legacy","description":"<p>Published anonymously in 1814, Walter Scott's first novel\u00a0<em>Waverley; Or, \u2018Tis Sixty Years Since<\/em>\u00a0met tremendous acclaim and\u00a0inaugurated a series that became known as the Waverley novels, because Scott signed subsequent novels by \"The Author of Waverley\u201d until he publically acknowledged authorship in 1827. His novels soon became the first modern bestsellers. In 1815, one year after <em>Waverley<\/em> was published, three American editions appeared, and by 1830, Scott was the most popular author in the United Kingdom and United States (Cayton 8).\u00a0By the end of the nineteenth century, his fiction had been published in hundreds of editions.<\/p>\n<p>The Waverley novels clearly intrigued Americans settling across the United States, particularly in the Midwest.\u00a0From the Mid-Atlantic region through the central United States, towns named Waverly multiplied between 1830 and the 1880s, as settlers established ports, canals, and railroads to access major waterways and undeveloped prairies.\u00a0They also\u00a0connected nineteenth-century readers across the world as Scott\u2019s\u00a0<em>oeuvre<\/em>\u00a0grew to immense proportions and became an \u201call-pervasive point of reference,\u201d as Ann Rigney argues (2). Together, towns named Waverly\u00a0formed an aggregate of communities visible on maps, signs, and letters sent with Waverly postmarks.<\/p>\n<p>Today, evocative signs still welcome travelers to towns named Waverly. Newcomers may ask, what or who is\u00a0Waverly? Scott himself established at least six referents when he began writing fiction. Living on an estate called \u201cWaverley-Honour\u201d in his youth, Edward Waverley is the protagonist in Scott\u2019s first historical novel, entitled\u00a0<em>Waverley; or, \u2018Tis Sixty Years Since<\/em>. In addition, the collection\u00a0of twenty-seven novels became known as the Waverley novels, since they were written by an anonymous author who called himself the Author of\u00a0<em>Waverley<\/em>! In other words, the name refers to a place, character, family name, novel, series of novels, and anonymous author.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This digital exhibit offers answers to the following questions: Why did Scott's novels appeal to readers, especially Americans? \u00a0When and where did towns named Waverly appear? What themes connect Scott\u2019s stories and Midwest cultures? How can the past inform present and future communities? These are their stories!!\u00a0<\/p>","credits":"","featured":0,"public":1,"theme":"","theme_options":null,"slug":"signs","added":"2016-06-17 18:40:02","modified":"2018-10-04 20:36:28","owner_id":2,"use_summary_page":1,"cover_image_file_id":null},"item":{"id":63,"item_type_id":null,"collection_id":3,"featured":0,"public":1,"added":"2016-06-15 20:46:15","modified":"2017-04-26 15:00:50","owner_id":2}}