| TITLE
| Sir Walter Scott (after Sir Francis Chantrey) |
| CREATOR | Unknown |
| DATE | 1800-1840 |
| DIMENSIONS | 19 x 15 x 9 in. |
| ORIGINAL FORMAT | Sculpture |
| MEDIUM | Plaster |
| PHYSICAL NOTE | This plaster sculpture is one of the 16 that sit atop the bookshelves in the library’s main hall. |
| DONOR | Gift of James Phalen |
| DATE OF ACCESSION | 1840 |
| LOCATION | Providence Athenæum: Main Library |
This bust of the renowned Scottish novelist, playwright, and poet, Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), is one of sixteen that circle the Athenæum’s main hall. Ten of the busts, including this one, were donated by James Phalen in 1840. Phalen, a Providence resident, was a managing contractor for U.S. lotteries. In 1838, Phalen’s Exchange and Lottery Office was located on North Main Street, very close to the newly opened Athenæum.
Scott was born in Edinburgh, and as a child became ill with polio, which left him disabled. This is said to have greatly affected his life and writing career. Graduating from Edinburgh University at age seventeen, he became a lawyer, like his father before him. Scott started writing several years later, and by the 1820s was arguably the most famous writer in Scotland, as well as one of its leading intellectuals. He developed the historical novel genre, and many of his works, including Ivanhoe and Waverly, remain classics of the Romantic period.
The Phalen bust is a plaster reproduction of an 1828 marble bust by Sir Francis Chantrey [English, 1781-1841], which is owned by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.