He also made use of modern studies of Switzerland, Provence, and the Secret Tribunal, of the recently published history of the Dukes of Burgundy by Barante, and of manuscript material deriving from continental journeys by his friend James Skene of Rubislaw.

Scott revised the text, concentrating on the earlier part of the novel, and provided it with an introduction and notes for the 'Magnum' edition where it appeared as Volumes 44 and 45 in January and February 1833, after his death.

Two exiled Lancastrians are on a secret mission to the court of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, hoping to gain his help in regaining the English crown from the Yorkist Edward IV.

As the merchant John Philipson and his son Arthur were travelling towards Basel they were overtaken by a storm, and found themselves at the edge of a precipice caused by a recent earthquake.

The travellers were invited to continue their journey in company with a deputation of Switzers, commissioned to remonstrate with Charles the Bold respecting the exactions of Hagenbach; and the magistrates of Basel having declined to let them enter the city, they took shelter in the ruins of a castle.

During his share in the night watches, Arthur fancied that he saw an apparition of Anne, and was encouraged in his belief by Rudolph, who narrated her family history, which implied that her ancestors had dealings with supernatural beings.

Hoping to prevent a conflict on his account between the Swiss and the duke's steward, the merchant arranged that he and his son should precede them; but on reaching the Burgundian citadel they were imprisoned by the governor in separate dungeons.

Arthur, however, was released by Anne with the assistance of a priest, and his father by Biederman, a body of Swiss youths having entered the town and incited the citizens to execute Hagenbach, just as he was intending to slaughter the deputation, whom he had treacherously admitted.

A valuable necklace which had been taken from the merchant was restored to him by Sigismund, and the deputies having decided to persist in seeking an interview with the duke, the Englishman undertook to represent their cause favourably to him.

On their way to Charles's headquarters father and son were overtaken by Anne disguised as a lady of rank, and, acting on her whispered advice to Arthur, they continued their journey by different roads.

The elder fell in with a mysterious priest who provided him with a guide to the "Golden Fleece," where he was lowered from his bedroom to appear before a meeting of the Vehmic court or holy tribunal, and warned against speaking of their secret powers.

In the cathedral there they met Margaret of Anjou, who recognised Philipson as John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, a faithful adherent of the house of Lancaster, and planned with him an appeal to the duke for aid against the Yorkists.

On reaching Charles's camp the earl was welcomed as an old companion in arms, and obtained a promise of the help he sought, on condition that Provence be ceded to Burgundy.

The same evening Queen Margaret died in her chair of state; and all the earl's prospects for England being thwarted, he occupied himself in arranging a treaty between her father and the King of France.

After raising fresh troops, Charles decided to wrest Nancy from the young Duke of Lorraine, and during the siege Arthur received another challenge from Rudolph.

The rivals met, and, having killed the Bernese, the young Englishman obtained Count Albert's consent to his marriage with Anne, with strict injunctions to warn the duke that the Secret Tribunal had decreed his death.

Being still an exile, the earl accepted the patriot Biederman's invitation to reside with his countess at Geierstein, until the battle of Bosworth placed Henry VII on the throne, when Arthur and his wife attracted as much admiration at the English Court as they had gained among their Swiss neighbours.

1: John Philipson and his son Arthur, passing as merchants, and their Swiss guide lose their way in the mountains between Lucerne and Basel and are impeded by a landslip, but they catch sight of the castle of Geierstein.

Rudolph Donnerhugel brings a request for Arnold to join a Bernese delegation to the Duke of Burgundy seeking redress for attacks on Swiss commercial activities, and Philipson arranges to travel with them.

9: Arthur pities Anne when she shows signs of distress; mounting night guard at the pleasure-house he thinks he sees her walking into the forest.

5 (17): As the Philipsons pursue their journey Anne (lightly disguised) warns Arthur that they face imminent danger under the guidance of Brother Bartholomew, and they agree to take separate routes.

7 (19): Philipson arranges to stay the night at a village inn recommend by the Black Priest, whose entry puts a sudden stop to the revelry of the guests.

2 (24): Reunited, the Philipsons (revealed to be the Earl of Oxford and his son) encounter Margaret of Anjou in Strasburg Cathedral, where they agree to put to Charles of Burgundy her proposal to persuade her father King René to cede Provence to the Duke in return for his support for the Lancastrian cause.

3 (25): At the Burgundian camp outside Dijon, Oxford secures Charles's agreement to Margaret's proposal, though René will also be required to disown his grandson Ferrand de Vaudemont.

Oxford and his son then re-enter the political arena and play a prominent part in the defeat of the last Yorkist king Richard III at Bosworth in 1485, using the necklace bequeathed to them by Margaret for funds to levy troops.

Dissentient voices or comments found the relationship between history and plot unbalanced, 'not a novel but an ancient chronicle, with a love story worked in upon it' as The Examiner put it.

[7] In 1913, an American writer commented: There can be little doubt that much of the modern superstition regarding the supposed unlucky quality of the opal owes its origin to a careless reading of Sir Walter Scott's novel, Anne of Geierstein.

In 1875, less than fifty years after the publication of Scott's novel, Sir Henry Ponsonby felt compelled to write to Notes and Queries to ask for the foundation of the superstition, and received several different answers, none of which mention Anne of Geierstein.

[9] A brief assertion of such a connection is made by Sir John Piggot in an earlier issue, but it is hedged with a quotation from the gemmologist Charles Barbot (who ascribes it to the influence of Robert le Diable) and the scholars responding to Queen Victoria's secretary do not refer to it.