'Readers of my generation owe a great debt of gratitude to the enterprise of Messrs. Dicks. My first introduction to great fiction dates from the publication by them of Scott's novels in threepenny paper-covered volumes, easily pocketable, when my apprenticeship, in its early days, consisted of sorting and picking - wearisome, dull, mechanical, solitary work. The appearance of "Waverley" marked an epoch. I read it and its succeeding volumes with absorbing interest, stealing at times scraps of hours which should have been devoted to my work.'