Hogg was one of the most complex Scots of his time, as his most famous friend Scott realised when he acknowledged he was a genuine genius. It has taken Scotland a long time to wake up to the enduring importance of the author of the Justified Sinner and all the works to be included in, when complete, what will amount to the 31 volumes of the Stirling/South Carolina edition of the whole Hogg. Scotland perennially recognises only one writer, but Burns is not the whole story. Gillian Hughes has masterfully and meticulously edited the Lay Sermons. An invaluable resource not only to Hogg scholars, but to those interested in the genre ! and, more generally, to those devoted to Scottish literature of the period. It should be in the holdings of any major research library. Hogg was one of the most complex Scots of his time, as his most famous friend Scott realised when he acknowledged he was a genuine genius. It has taken Scotland a long time to wake up to the enduring importance of the author of the Justified Sinner and all the works to be included in, when complete, what will amount to the 31 volumes of the Stirling/South Carolina edition of the whole Hogg. Scotland perennially recognises only one writer, but Burns is not the whole story.
