The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood first published by Scribner's in 1883, and met with immediate success, ushering in a new era of Robin Hood stories. It helped solidify the image of a heroic Robin Hood, which had begun in earlier works such as Walter Scott's 1819 novel "Ivanhoe". In Pyle's wake, Robin Hood has become a staunch philanthropist protecting innocents against increasingly aggressive villains. Along with the publication of the Child Ballads by Francis James Child, which included most of the surviving Robin Hood ballads, Pyle's novel helped increase the popularity of the Robin Hood legend in the United States. "The Merry Adventures" also had
Robin Hood in popular culture (1712), Alexander Smith's "A Complete History of the Lives and Robberies of the Most Notorious Highwaymen, Footpads, Shoplifts and Cheats" (1719), Charles Johnson's "Lives and Exploits of the Most Noted Highwaymen" (1734). In addition, there were numerous books printed throughout the late seventeenth and eigheenth centuries that went by the name of "Robin Hood's Garland". These were cheaply printed collections of later Robin Hood ballads. The first Robin Hood novel written, although not published, is Robert Southey's 'Harold, or, The Castle of Morford' (1791). This exists in manuscript form in the Bodleian Library. The first published Robin Hood novel was