Clan-Albin: A National Tale

Christian Isobel Johnstones Clan-Albin: A National Tale was published in 1815, less than a year after Walter Scotts Waverley; or tis Sixty Years Since enthralled readers and initiated a craze for Scottish novels. Both as a novelist and as editor of Taits Edinburgh Magazine from 1834 to 1846, Johnstone was a powerful figure in Romantic Edinburghs literary scene. But her works and her reputation have long been overshadowed by Scotts. In Clan-Albin, Johnstone engages with themes on British imperial expansion, metropolitan Englands economic and political relationships with the Celtic peripheries, and the role of women in public life. This rare novel, alongside extensive editorial commentary, will be of much interest to students of British Literature.