immediate critical and financial success He followed it with "Marmion"(1808)and the hugely popular“The Lady ofthe Lake'”(l8Io). Scott published all his novels anonymously.Initially this may have been a precaution against the possible failure of "Waverley";but even after its enormous success,Scott seems to have enjoyed prolonging the mystery (he was nicknamed "The Great Unknown"and "The Wizard Of The North"). His identity as the author of "Waverley"and its successors soon became an open secret,fairly widely known,but it was not until February 1827 that he officially "revealed"himself, at a public dinner in Edinburgh. The Waverley Novels express his belief in the need for social progress that does notreject the traditionsofthe past. He was the first novelist to portray peasant characters sympathetically and realistically,and was equally just to merchants,soldiers,andeven kings IV.Walter Scott's major works Central themes of many of Scott's novels are about conflicts between opposing cultures. o. Ivanhoe(1819)is about war between Normans andSaxons. The Talisman(1825)is about conflict between Christians andimmediate critical and financial success. He followed it with “Marmion” (1808) and the hugely popular “The Lady of the Lake” (1810). Scott published all his novels anonymously. Initially this may have been a precaution against the possible failure of "Waverley"; but even after its enormous success, Scott seems to have enjoyed prolonging the mystery (he was nicknamed "The Great Unknown" and "The Wizard Of The North"). His identity as the author of "Waverley" and its successors soon became an open secret, fairly widely known, but it was not until February 1827 that he officially "revealed" himself, at a public dinner in Edinburgh. The Waverley Novels express his belief in the need for social progress that does not reject the traditions of the past. He was the first novelist to portray peasant characters sympathetically and realistically, and was equally just to merchants, soldiers, and even kings. IV. Walter Scott’s major works Central themes of many of Scott's novels are about conflicts between opposing cultures. Ivanhoe (1819) is about war between Normans and Saxons. The Talisman (1825) is about conflict between Christians and 10’