It may be doubted if, in the history of British poetry, any other work ever equalled the demand for the “Lay.” In 1825 the poem had reached its fourteenth edition, upwards of 33,000 copies having been circulated; and before 1830 11,000 copies more were printed and disposed of. Scott entrusted the revision of the manuscript of the poem to his two friends—William Erskine and James Ballantyne. Regarding the latter at this time, Lockhart observes—and in the light of his strictures after the financial crash the passage may well be deemed worthy of note: “The printer was himself a man of considerable literary talents: his own style had the incurable faults of pomposity and affectation, but his eye for more venial errors in the writings of others was quick, and though his personal address was apt to give a stranger the impression of insincerity, he was in reality an honest man, and conveyed his mind on such matters with equal candour and delicacy during the whole of Scott’s brilliant career. In the vast majority of instances he found his friend acquiesce at once in the propriety of his suggestions; nay, there certainly were cases, though rare, in which his advice to alter things of much more consequence than a word or a rhyme was frankly tendered, and on deliberation adopted by Scott.[13] Mr. Erskine was the referee whenever the poet hesitated about taking the hints of the zealous typographer, and his refined taste and gentle manners rendered his critical alliance highly valuable.”[14] Shortly after the publication of the “Lay,” Ballantyne found his capital inadequate to meet the business which was flowing to his press. He accordingly applied to his great patron for assistance, and Scott assented, on condition of his becoming partner with Ballantyne, and having a third share in the profits. This arrangement was kept strictly private.[15] Attracted by Ballantyne’s superior taste and beauty of workmanship, Scott made it a point from the first, that whatever he wrote or edited should be printed at the Ballantyne Press; and his personal connection with it stimulated his inventive genius, directly and indirectly, to add to the rapidly growing printing-house. In April 1805 Scott wrote to Ballantyne: “I have imagined a very superb work. What think you of a complete edition of British poets, ancient and modern?” This work he proposed to edit for thirty guineas a volume. The publishers did not quite respond to his views in the matter, as the booksellers refused to admit into the series certain poets whom the editor was insisting upon, and the scheme was abandoned. But it is interesting to know that, if not so complete in all respects as Scott would have desired, a Library Edition of the British Poets, begun in 1853, was issued from Paul’s Work in forty-eight demy octavo volumes, in every respect worthy of its reputation. This series was edited by the Rev. George Gilfillan, and published by James Nichol in Edinburgh.