The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Lockhart, John Gibson
1794–1854, Scottish editor, lawyer, literary critic, and biographer; son-in-law and biographer of Sir Walter Scott. A major contributor to Blackwood’s Magazine, he also was editor of and contributor to the Quarterly Review (1825–53). He became known as “The Scorpion” because of the fierceness of his criticism. Among his works are a volume of adaptations (1823) from ancient Spanish ballads, several novels, and a biography of Burns (1828). However, his fame rests on his Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott (7 vol., 1837–38). Although eulogistic, the biography is organized in a unique, discursive manner that produces a vivid portrait of Scott. It is generally ranked among English biographies as second only to Boswell’s Johnson.
