Byron's Letters and Journals: 'Famous in my time' : 1810-1812

by George Gordon Byron Baron Byron

1973 · Harvard University Press

George Gordon Byron was a superb letter-writer: almost all his letters, whatever the subject or whoever the recipient, are enlivened by his wit, his irony, his honesty, and the sharpness of his observation of people. They provide a vivid self-portrait of the man who, of all his contemporaries, seems to express attitudes and feelings most in tune with the twentieth century. In addition, they offer a mirror of his own time. This first collected edition of all Byronâe(tm)s known letters supersedes Protheroâe(tm)s incomplete edition at the turn of the century. It includes a considerable number of hitherto unpublished letters and the complete text of many that were bowdlerized by former editors for a variety of reasons. Protheroâe(tm)s edition included 1,198 letters. This edition has more than 3,000, over 80 percent of them transcribed entirely from the original manuscripts.The second volume of Byronâe(tm)s letters embraces his second year in Greece, his revealing accounts to Hobhouse and others of his life in Athens, his visit to Veli Pasha, and his return by Malta to England. It covers the period of the loss of his mother and of several of his closest friends, of his first acquaintance with Moore and Rogers, his maiden speech in the House of Lords, the publication of Childe Harold, and the resulting fame that brought him into Whig society. It marks the beginning of his correspondence with Lady Melbourne, who became the confidante of his liaisons with Lady Caroline Lamb and Lady Oxford, and who forwarded his first (rejected) proposal to Annabella Milbanke.Leslie A. Marchand, the author of critical studies and of the definitive biography of Byron, has brought a lifetime of study to the major task of editing these letters. He has done it with a restraint and objectivity that allows Byron to come through to us with unimpeded clarity.

"Wedlock's the Devil"

by George Gordon Byron Baron Byron

1975 · Harvard University Press

In this volume Byron corresponds with writers such as Thomas Moore, Coleridge, Leigh Hunt, and "Monk" Lewis; and with John Murray about the publication of The Corsair, Lara, and The Hebrew Melodies. The crucial events of his private life at this time are his engagement to Anabella Milbanke and their marriage early in 1815.

"Alas! the Love of Women"

by George Gordon Byron Baron Byron

1974 · Harvard University Press

The third volume starts with Byron at the first crest of his fame following the publication of Childe Harold. It includes his literary letters to Tom Moore, frank and intimate ones to Hobhouse, pungent ones to Hanson and Murray, and his lively and amusing missives to Lady Melbourne, his confidante through all his love affairs.