The Fair Maid of Perth centres on the merchant classes of Perth in the fourteenth century, and their commitment to the pacific values of trade, in a bloody and brutal era in which no right to life is recognised.

This is a remarkable novel, in part because late in his career Scott has a new subject and in part because he employs a spare narrative style that is without parallel in the rest of his oeuvre. Many critics have written off late Scott and seen his last works as evidence of failing powers. This edition will prove these critics wrong, for in it we see a luminous creative intelligence working at high pressure to produce a tightly organized and deeply moving novel.

The Edinburgh Editions of the Waverley Novels are the first critical editions of Scott's fiction. This is the only edition to be based on the original manuscripts and is emended by readings from Scott's manuscripts which were lost in the original process of preparing the novel for publication. It is supported by a full textual apparatus, explanatory notes and glossary.