"These are studies, indeed, proverbially dull," he once wrote, speaking of Horace Walpole's antiquarian researches, "but it is only when they are pursued by those whose fancies nothing can enliven."[199] _The Lives of the Novelists, and Comments on Other Eighteenth Century Writers_ The _Novelists' Library_--Writers discussed--Value of the _Lives_--General tone of competence in these essays--Scott's catholic taste--Points of special interest in the discussion--Relations of the novel and the drama--Supernatural machinery in novels--Mistakes in the criticism of Defoe--Realism--Motive in the novel--Aim of the prefaces--Scott's familiarity with eighteenth century literature.
It has already been said that a large part of Scott's critical work concerned itself with the eighteenth century.

Of his greater editorial labors two may be considered as belonging to that period, for Ballantyne's _Novelists' Library_, though an enterprise which was commercially a failure and which consequently remained incomplete, may from the point of view of Scott's contributions fitly be compared with the _Dryden_ and the _Swift_.

Such parts as were published appeared in 1821.

The bulk of the volumes and the small type in which they were printed were considered to be the cause of their failure, and it was not until the critical biographies were extracted and published separately, by Galignani the Parisian bookseller, in 1825, that they seem to have attracted notice.
Scott wrote these _Lives of the Novelists_ at a time when his hands were full of literary projects, altogether for John Ballantyne's benefit.

The author afterwards spoke of them as "rather flimsily written,"[200] but we may surmise that to the fact that they were not the result of special study is due something of their ripeness of reflection and breadth of generalization.