▁Crit ical ▁Review . ▁L ending ▁libraries ▁were ▁established ▁in ▁Edinburgh , ▁Glasgow ▁and ▁Aber de en . ▁Private ▁man or ▁libraries ▁were ▁established ▁in ▁estate ▁houses . ▁The ▁univers ities ▁began ▁to ▁ac quire ▁nov els ▁and ▁they ▁became ▁part ▁of ▁the ▁curr icul um . ▁By ▁the ▁ 1 7 7 0 s ▁about ▁thirty ▁nov els ▁were ▁being ▁printed ▁in ▁Britain ▁and ▁Ireland ▁every ▁year ▁and ▁there ▁is ▁pl ent iful ▁evidence ▁that ▁they ▁were ▁being ▁read , ▁particularly ▁by ▁women ▁and ▁students ▁in ▁Scotland . ▁Scotland ▁and ▁Scottish ▁authors ▁made ▁a ▁mod est ▁contribution ▁to ▁this ▁early ▁development . ▁About ▁forty ▁full ▁length ▁pro se ▁books ▁were ▁printed ▁in ▁Scotland ▁before ▁ 1 8 0 0 . ▁One ▁of ▁the ▁earliest ▁was ▁the ▁an onym ously ▁author ed ▁Select ▁Collection ▁of ▁Oriental ▁T ales ▁( 1 7 7 6 ). ▁ ▁Tob ias ▁Sm ol lett ▁( 1 7 2 1 – 7 1 ) ▁was ▁a ▁poet , ▁ess ay ist , ▁sat ir ist ▁and ▁play w right , ▁but ▁is ▁best ▁known ▁for ▁his ▁pic ares que ▁nov els , ▁such ▁as ▁The ▁Advent ures ▁of ▁R oder ick ▁Random ▁( 1 7 4 8 ) ▁and ▁The ▁Advent ures ▁of ▁Per egr ine ▁Pick le ▁( 1 7 5 1 ) ▁for ▁which ▁he ▁is ▁often ▁seen ▁as ▁Scotland ' s ▁first ▁novel ist . ▁His ▁most ▁influ ential ▁novel ▁was ▁his ▁last , ▁the ▁ep istol ary ▁novel ▁The ▁Ex ped ition ▁of ▁Hum