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Byron: A Self-Portrait: Letters and Diaries 1798-1824
Literary legend has it that Byron left behind the beginnings of an autobiography, but that his publisher, John Murray, destroyed it after his death because he found it too shocking. With this fascinating selection of correspondence written by one of England's greatest letter writers, Peter Quennell comes as close as anyone can to salvaging what was lost by the alleged actions of one overcautious publisher.
Drawing on letters from Byron's pre-Harrow days to those written in the weeks before his death, Quennell has pieced together the extraordinary story of Byron's life as told by himself. As Byron records his thoughts as a schoolboy, man-of-the-world, rake and womanizer, literary sensation, and poet-in-exile, he reveals the rebellious, warm-hearted, disorderly, fun-loving, and neurotic sides to his private character. The volume conveys how his writing, veering from racy vulgarity to polished eloquence, vividly evokes the worlds in which he lived--London and Venetian high society, the Swiss and Italian countryside, and the Greek war tents at Missolonghi. It also includes Byron's journals reprinted in full.
Drawing on letters from Byron's pre-Harrow days to those written in the weeks before his death, Quennell has pieced together the extraordinary story of Byron's life as told by himself. As Byron records his thoughts as a schoolboy, man-of-the-world, rake and womanizer, literary sensation, and poet-in-exile, he reveals the rebellious, warm-hearted, disorderly, fun-loving, and neurotic sides to his private character. The volume conveys how his writing, veering from racy vulgarity to polished eloquence, vividly evokes the worlds in which he lived--London and Venetian high society, the Swiss and Italian countryside, and the Greek war tents at Missolonghi. It also includes Byron's journals reprinted in full.
- GenresBiography
Paperback
First published January 1, 1950
24 people want to read
About the author
Lord Byron
4,061 books2,066 followersGeorge Gordon Byron (invariably known as Lord Byron), later Noel, 6th Baron Byron of Rochdale FRS was a British poet and a leading figure in Romanticism. Amongst Byron's best-known works are the brief poems She Walks in Beauty, When We Two Parted, and So, we'll go no more a roving, in addition to the narrative poems Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and Don Juan. He is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and remains widely read and influential, both in the English-speaking world and beyond.
Byron's notabilty rests not only on his writings but also on his life, which featured upper-class living, numerous love affairs, debts, and separation. He was notably described by Lady Caroline Lamb as "mad, bad, and dangerous to know". Byron served as a regional leader of Italy's revolutionary organization, the Carbonari, in its struggle against Austria. He later travelled to fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero. He died from a fever contracted while in Messolonghi in Greece.
Byron's notabilty rests not only on his writings but also on his life, which featured upper-class living, numerous love affairs, debts, and separation. He was notably described by Lady Caroline Lamb as "mad, bad, and dangerous to know". Byron served as a regional leader of Italy's revolutionary organization, the Carbonari, in its struggle against Austria. He later travelled to fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero. He died from a fever contracted while in Messolonghi in Greece.
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April 21, 2010
Lord Byron is a fabulous letter writer. He is funny even by modern standards and sometimes rather lewd. Even those who aren't familiar with his writings should pick this up if they get the chance.
Displaying 1 of 1 review