[According to Flora Thompson], "Modern writers who speak of the booklessness of the poor at that time must mean books as possessions...there were always books to borrow"... One could borrow Pamela and the Waverley novels from a neighbour, Christies Old Organ from the Sunday School library. Her uncle, a shoemaker, had once carted home from a country-house auction a large collection of books that no-one would buy: novels, poetry, sermons, histories, dictionaries. She read him Cranford while he worked in his shop... Later she could borrow from her employer (the village postmistress) Shakespeare and Byron's Don Juan, as well as Jane Austen, Dickens and Trollope from the Mechanics' Institute library.'
Century: 1850-1899 Reader/Listener/Group: Flora Thompson Print: Book
In Byron's Journal (14 November 1813-19 April 1814), 5 December 1813, on pleasure at learning of his works' popularity in the USA: "The greatest pleasure I ever derived, of this kind, was from an extract, in Cooke the actor's life, from his journal, saying that in the reading-room of Albany, near Washington, he perused English Bards and Scotch Reviewers."
Century: Reader/Listener/Group: George Frederick Cooke Print: Book
In extract from journal of George Frederick Cooke in W. Dunlap, Memoirs of George Frederick Cooke: "Read English Bards and Scotch Reviewers, by Lord Byron. It is well written, His Lordship is rather severe ... on Walter Scott ... "
Century: Reader/Listener/Group: George Frederick Cooke Print: Book
Byron to Thomas Moore, 15 September 1814:
'I believe I told you of Larry and Jacquy [ie Lara and Jacqueline, poems by Byron and Samuel Rogers respectively, published together]. A friend of mine was reading -- or at least a friend of his was reading -- said Larry and Jacquy in a Brighton coach. A passenger took up the book and queried as to the author. The proprietor said "there were two" -- to which the answer of the unknown was, "Ay, ay, a joint concern, I suppose, summot like Sternhold and Hopkins [publishers in 1547 of versified Psalms, which went into many editions]."
'Is not this excellent?'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: anon Print: Book
'Murray had written to Byron on September 12 [1816] that he had carried the manuscript of the third canto of Childe Harold to [William] Gifford [his literary advisor]... Although Gifford was suffering from jaundice, he sat up until he had finished the whole of it ...'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: William Gifford Manuscript: Unknown
Byron to Thomas Moore, 25 March 1817, on Alpine travels in 1816: 'I kept a journal of the whole for my sister Augusta, which she copied and let Murray see.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Augusta Leigh Manuscript: Codex
Byron to Thomas Moore, 25 March 1817, on Alpine travels in 1816: 'I kept a journal of the whole for my sister Augusta, which she copied and let Murray see.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: John Murray Manuscript: Codex
Byron to John Murray, 9 April 1817: 'I will tell you something about [The Prisoner of] Chillon. -- A Mr. De Luc ninety years old -- a Swiss -- had it read to him & is pleased with it -- so my Sister writes. -- He said that he was with Rousseau at Chillon -- & that the description is perfectly correct ...'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: John Andre de Luc Print: Book
Byron to John Murray, 15 September 1817, on what he perceives to be inferiority of contemporary authors to Pope: 'I am the more confirmed in this - by having lately gone over some of our Classics - particularly Pope ... I took Moore's poems & my own & some others - & went over them side by side with Pope's - and I was really astonished ... and mortified - at the ineffable distance in point of sense - harmony - effect - & even Imagination Passion - & Invention - between the little Queen Anne's Man - & us of the lower Empire ...'
Unknown
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: George Gordon Lord Byron
'Robert White... had somewhat more progressive tastes [than Robert Story], which extended to Shelley, Keats, Childe Harold, and The Lady of the Lake. But his reading stopped short at the Romantics. In 1873 he confessed that he could not stomach avant-garde poets like Tennyson. "As for our modern novel-writers - Dickens, Thackeray and others I do not care to read them, since Smollett, Fielding and Scott especially are all I desire".'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Robert White Print: Book
Byron to John Murray, 6 July 1821: 'At the particular request of the Countess G[uiccioli] I have promised not to continue Don Juan ... She had read the two first [cantos] in the French translation -- & never ceased beseeching me to write no more of it.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Countess Teresa Guiccioli Print: BookManuscript: Letter
Byron to John Murray, 24 November 1821, regarding his MS Memoirs: 'Is there anything in the M.S.S. that could be personally obnoxious to himself [John Cam Hobhouse]? ... Mr. Kinnaird & others had read them at Paris and noticed none such.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Douglas Kinnaird Manuscript: Unknown
Leslie A. Marchand notes regarding 1812 letter in which Byron mentions sending a book (possibly Childe Harold's Pilgrimage) to Lady Caroline Lamb 'which [she] is not to look at till Mr. Lamb has first gone through it for there is one passage which I have doubts whether it would be proper for ladies to see': '... according to Caroline she had read a copy [of Childe Harold], loaned by [Samuel] Rogers, before she met Byron.'
Unknown
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Lady Caroline Lamb
Letter H. 39 - (12/10/1856) - "I don't know when I read a poem, since a boy I first read "The Assyrian came down" - which has given me such intense pleasure as the "Burden of Nineveh" in No. 8 of Oxford & Cambridge."
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: John Ruskin Print: Book
"... by August [1840] ... [Anne Jemima Clough admits in journal] doing 'one bad thing' (which turns out to be reading Byron's 'The Corsair') ..."
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Anne Jemima Clough Print: Book
" ... Elizabeth Sewell's consumption of 'modern' works in the late 1820s and 1830s, she records [in her autobiography], specifically mentioning Scott and Byron, led to worry and 'hysteria' based on the feeling that it would be pleasant to have someone caring for her. She had not yet learnt, she claims, the joy that comes through caring for others."
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Elizabeth Sewell Print: Book
'Moore's Lallah Rookh & Byron's Childe Harold canto fourth formed an odd mixture with these speculations. It was foolish, you may think, to exchange the truths of philosophy, for the airy nothings of these sweet singers: but I could not help it. Do not fear that I will spend some time in criticising the tulip-cheek.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Thomas Carlyle Print: Book
Fanny Kemble, journal letter to Harriet St. Leger, 27 June 1835, listing 'the books just now lying on my table, all of which I have been reading lately':
'Alfieri's "Life", by himself, a curious and interesting work; Washington Irving's last book, "A Tour on the Prairies", rather an ordinary book, upon a not ordinary subject, but not without sufficiently interesting matter in it too; Dr. Combe's "Principles of Physiology"; and a volume of Marlowe's plays, containing "Dr. Faustus". I have just finished Hayward's Translation of Goethe's "Faust", and wanted to see the old English treatment of the subject. I have read Marlowe's play with more curiosity than pleasure. This is, after all, but a small sample of what I read, but if you remember the complexion of my studies when I was a girl at Heath Farm and read Jeremy Taylor and Byron together, I can only say that they are still apt to be of the same heterogenous quality. But my brain is kept in a certain state of activity by them, and that, I suppose, is one of the desirable results of reading.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Fanny Kemble Print: Book
'"Gull" & the Bulbul and a young Galeongee are just so many baits to draw sneers--which however disposed are always better avoided--I think the Bride of Abydos full of these lesser faults but the Corsair is quite beautiful--indeed he [Byron] has a very splendid Genius--& I cannot but feel a deep & lasting anxiety that he should be himself [underlined] in all things it is all I ask--you owe his quotations from Dante and the beginning of the Bride to me--& not to Mad. De Staal--for I sent him Dante last year so that you see I was not useless even to his Genius.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Lady Caroline Lamb Print: Book
'"Gull" & the Bulbul and a young Galeongee are just so many baits to draw sneers--which however disposed are always better avoided--I think the Bride of Abydos full of these lesser faults but the Corsair is quite beautiful--indeed he [Byron] has a very splendid Genius--& I cannot but feel a deep & lasting anxiety that he should be himself [underlined] in all things it is all I ask--you owe his quotations from Dante and the beginning of the Bride to me--& not to Mad. De Staal--for I sent him Dante last year so that you see I was not useless even to his Genius.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Lady Caroline Lamb Print: Book, Unknown
'How you surprise me--write me but one word more [--] it is not true that he [Byron] sent word to you that he was very angry "Weep daughter" was cut out of the other editions--is it not true that he stood firm to what he had done & took blame wholly upon himself--this I trust is true'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Lady Caroline Lamb Print: Unknown
'I never saw two Women more in love with you than my favourite Lady Hamilton & her sister.
They talk of you in a manner I cannot bear to hear [...] I read to them in your voice & they nearly cried & kissed me till I was suffocated all for love of you.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Lady Caroline Lamb Print: Unknown
'I think I shall live to see the day--when some beautiful & innocent Lady Byron shall drive to your door [...] I really believe that when that day comes, I shall buy a pistol at Mantons & stand before the Giaour [Lord Byron] & his legal wife & shoot myself'.
Unknown
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Lady Caroline Lamb
'Many a dull thing goes down by a puff--& all in all is fame Witness the Hebrew Melodies which I have though you did not send them me--they are not worthy of him--trust one who can appreciate his Genius they are very common place lowly performances'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Lady Caroline Lamb Print: Book
'"She walks in beauty like the night," for example--if Mr. Twiss had written it how we should have laughed! Now we can only weep to see how little just judgement there is on earth, for I make no doubt the name of Byron will give even these lines a grace. I who read his loftier lay with transport will not admire his flaws and nonsense. You will say it is only a song, yet a song should have sense'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Lady Caroline Lamb Print: Book
'At a moment of such deep agony & I may add shame--when utterly disgraced judge Byron what my feelings must be at Murrays shewing me some beautiful verses of yours--I do implore you for God sake not to publish these could I have seen you one moment I would explain why--I have only time to add that however those who surround you may make you disbelieve it you will draw ruin on your own head and hers [Augusta Leigh's] if at this moment you shew these lines'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Lady Caroline Lamb Manuscript: Unknown
'[B]e not thrown into wild delight because his genius has shone forth--misfortune & rage have occasioned this & whenever he may speak himself [underlined] Lord Byron will succeed--self is the sole inspirer of his genius he cannot like Homer Dante Virgil Milton Dryden Spencer Gray--Goldsmith [underlined] Tasso write on other subjects well[--]but what he feels he can describe extravagantly well--& therefore I never did doubt that he would one day or other write again as at first--but for God sake do not let this circumstance make you forget what a Rogue he is'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Lady Caroline Lamb Print: Book
'[A]nd so you have never heard of Beppo--I think you said so at Devonshire House supper. Now Heaven fail in granting me pardon for all my offenses if it is not by himself [Byron], & in his very best wit as good as any thing Swift ever wrote a flatterer would say better. I read it having taken an Emetic for that head ache which troubled me so much the night I sat beside you & I must own it did delight me so that the Emetic faild [sic] in affecting me--now though this is not a pretty illustration of what should be felt in reading Poetry--believe me it is emphatic & expresses much more than fairer words--after all it would be kind in you to tell me if it is his'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Lady Caroline Lamb Print: Book
'How very very clever I think Beppo--I am quite sure it is his [Byron's]--& still more that Mr. Frere never could have written any thing like it'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Lady Caroline Lamb Print: Book
'I told Murray to tell you that I read his journal with sorrow & perhaps with anger'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Lady Caroline Lamb Manuscript: Unknown
'have been reading a little on philology, have finished the 24th book of the Iliad, the first book of the Faery Queene, Clough's poems, and a little about Etruscan things in Mrs Grey and Dennis. Aloud to G. I have been reading some Italian, Ben Jonson's Alchemist and Volpone, and Bright's speeches, which I am still reading - besides the first four cantos of Don Juan'.
Century: 1850-1899 Reader/Listener/Group: George Eliot [pseud.] Print: Book
'Coming upon a copy of "Don Quixote" in a warder's house, he thought it was "the most wonderful book [he] had ever seen". When he refused to give it up, the warder said he might keep it... "Don Quixote" awakened in Arthur a "passion for reading", and before long, he had read Scott, then Byron, who, he had been told was" a very, very great poet, and a very, very wicked man, an atheist, a writer whom it was dangerous to read".'
Century: 1850-1899 Reader/Listener/Group: Arthur Symons Print: Book
'What Books have you been perusing - and how did you like Sha[ke]spea[re]? - Since I saw you I have toil'd thro' many a thick octa[vo] - many of them to little purpose. Byron's and Scott's "Poems" I have read and must admire - tho' you recollect, we used to give Campbell a de[cided] preference - and I still think, with justice. Have you ever seen Hoole's "Tas[so?]" I have among many others read, it, "Leonidas", "The Epigoniad", "Oberon", "Savage[e's] Poems" &.c. Miss Porter's "Scottish Chiefs" and "Waverl[e]y" have been the principal of my Novels - With regard to "Waverl[e]y" I cannot help remarking t[hat] in my opinion it is the best novel that has been published these thirty years. The characters of Ebenezer Cru[i]ckshank[s] mine host of the garter, the Reverend Mr. Gowk - thrapple and Squire Bradwardian display a Cervantic vein of humour which has seldom been surpassed - whilst the descriptions of the gloomy caverns of the Highlands, and the delineations of the apathic Callum Beg and enterprising Vich Ian Vohr show a richness of [italics]Scottean[end italics] colouring which few have equalled. Give me your opinion of it if you have read it; - and if not - endeavour by all means to procure it.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Thomas Carlyle Print: Book
'Try, by way of change, Byron?s "Mazeppa", you will be astonished. It is grand and no mistake, and one sees through it a fire, and a passion, and a rapid intuition of genius, that makes one rather sorry for one?s own generation of better writers and ? I don?t know what to say; I was going to say ?smaller men?; but that?s not right; read it and you will feel what I cannot express. Don't be put out by the beginning; persevere; and you will find yourself thrilled before you are at an end with it.'
Century: 1850-1899 Reader/Listener/Group: Robert Louis Stevenson Print: Book
Lord Dufferin to Alfred Tennyson [1858]:
'For the first 20 years of my life I not only did not care for poetry, but to the despair of my friends absolutely disliked it, at least so much of it as until that time had fallen in my way. In vain my mother read to me Dryden, Pope, Byron, Young, Cowper and all the standard classics of the day, each seemed to me as distasteful as I had from early infancy found Virgil, and I shall never forget her dismay when at a literary dinner I was cross-examined as to my tastes, and blushingly confessed before an Olympus of poets that I rather disliked poetry than otherwise.
'Soon afterwards I fell in with a volume of yours, and suddenly felt such a sensation of delight as I never experienced before. A new world seemed to open to me, and from that day, by a constant study of your works, I gradually worked my way to a gradual appreciation of what is good in all kinds of authors.'
Century: 1800-1849 / 1850-1899 Reader/Listener/Group: Helen Selina Sheridan Blackwood Print: Book
'She [Anne Isabella Milbanke] read enormously [...] A list of her books makes the unregenerate blood run cold, though it did include some novels -- Miss Edgeworth's and Beckford's [sic] sensation-making Vathek, in which she detected the source of some passages in the Book of the Season, "Lord Byron's Childe Harold." Childe Harold's only rival in her poetic reading was The Faerie Queene.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Anne Isabella Milbanke Print: Book
'To Caroline Lamb, Queen of the Drawing-Rooms, a very early copy of Childe Harold was lent by Samuel Rogers [...] Instantly Rogers was summoned to Melbourne House, where the William Lambs were then living.
'"I must see him -- I am dying to see him!"
'"He has a club-foot," said Rogers, "and he bites his nails."
'"If he is as ugly as Aesop, I must see him!"'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Lady Caroline Lamb Print: Book
'On March 15 [1812] [...] [Anne Isabella Milbanke] dined at Lady Melbourne's [...] [William Lamb] may have been genuinely tired of the principal topic as recorded in Annabella's journal — Childe Harold, poem and poet, about both of whom his wife [Lady Caroline Lamb] had lost her head [...]
Annabella could not join in that discussion, for she had not read Childe Harold. And she let another week go by before she did read it [...] on the following Sunday she surrendered to the spirit of the season, and began. Two days later she had finished the two cantos of which it then consisted; in her diary for March 24, she set down her opinion:
'"It contains many stanzas in the best style of poetry. He is rather too much of a mannerist, that is, he wants variety in the turns of his expression. He excels most in the delineations of deep feeling, and in reflections relative to human nature." [...]
Annabella met him the day after that entry in her diary.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Anne Isabella Milbanke Print: Book
'Annabella had [...] written to her aunt [Lady Melbourne; during autumn 1813], after having read the enlarged edition of the Giaour. "The description of Love almost makes [italics]me[end italics] in love ... I consider his [Byron's] acquaintance so desirable that I would incur the risk of being called a Flirt for the sake of enjoying it."'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Anne Isabella Milbanke Print: Book
Anne Isabella Milbanke to Lord Byron (1814):
'Your ode to Buonaparte was read in the company which I have just left. It was thought not perfectly lyrical -- of this I cannot judge, but it appeared to me like a spontaenous effusion.... I was amazed indeed when his "magic of the mind" melted into air. I rejoice in the hope of peace, yet could not join in the triumphant exultation over his fall -- a very serious, if not melancholy contemplation'.
Unknown
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Anne Isabella Milbanke
'At present [August 1814] she [Anne Isabella Milbanke] was reading Sismondi's Italian Republics. And she had read Lara.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Anne Isabella Milbanke Print: Book
'[John] Murray [Byron's publisher] sent an advance-copy of the new Harold. She [Lady Byron] read the imprecation, supposed to be spoken in the Colosseum:
'"... Let me not have worn
This iron in my soul in vain -- shall [italics]they[end italics] not mourn?"
'-- with the two lines which prophesied his immortality of personal rather than poetic fame:
'"But I have that within me that shall tire
Torture and Time, and breathe when I expire."
'She feigned indifference at first. "The passage was probably intended to make a great impression on [italics]me[end italics]. Whilst I am so free from disordered brains, this will at least be postponed." It was not long postponed. A day or two later she was "well, but very [italics]weak[end italics] ... The new canto is beautiful indeed"'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Anne Isabella Lady Byron Print: Book
'Early in July [1819] appeared the first part of Don Juan. "The impression was not so disagreeable as I expected, wrote Annabella [Anne Isabella, Byron's estranged wife].
'"In the first place I am very much relieved to find that there is not anything which I can be expected to notice [...] I do not think that my sins are in the pharisaical or pedantic line, and I am very sure that he does not think they are, but avails himself of the prejudices which some may entertain against me, to give a plausible colouring to his accusations. I must however confess that the quizzing in one or two passages was so good as to make me smile at myself -- therefore others are quite welcome to laugh.... I do not feel inclined to continue the perusal. It is always a task to me now to read his works, in which, through all the levity, I discern enough to awaken very painful feelings."'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Anne Isabella Lady Byron Print: Book
'Moore had owned that the Memoirs [of Byron] were of "such a low pot-house description" that [John Murray] could not have published them'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Thomas Moore Manuscript: Unknown
'There were conflicting voices among those who had read the MS. [of Byron's Memoirs]. Lord John Russell and Lord Holland said there were at most four or five indelicate pages [...] Lord Rancliffe told [John Cam] Hobhouse that "the flames were the fit place for it," and that no decent person could regret the destruction.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Lord John Russell Manuscript: Unknown
'There were conflicting voices among those who had read the MS. [of Byron's Memoirs]. Lord John Russell and Lord Holland said there were at most four or five indelicate pages [...] Lord Rancliffe told [John Cam] Hobhouse that "the flames were the fit place for it," and that no decent person could regret the destruction.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Lord Holland Manuscript: Unknown
'There were conflicting voices among those who had read the MS. [of Byron's Memoirs]. Lord John Russell and Lord Holland said there were at most four or five indelicate pages [...] Lord Rancliffe told [John Cam] Hobhouse that "the flames were the fit place for it," and that no decent person could regret the destruction.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Lord Rancliffe Manuscript: Unknown
'Early in 1831 there is the following entry in a diary [of Lady Byron's]: "Read to Ada the beautiful lines on Greece in The Giaour, the Fare thee well, and the Satire. With the first she was highly pleased, from its [italics]effusion-of-feeling[end italics] character; the 2nd she thought laboured and inferior in pathos; the 3rd very amusing though very unlike the person." This disproves once for all the legend invented by Teresa Guiccioli [Byron's last mistress] that Ada never heard of her father's poetry until a year before she died in 1852!'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Anne Isabella Lady Byron Print: Book
'Early in 1831 there is the following entry in a diary [of Lady Byron's]: "Read to Ada the beautiful lines on Greece in The Giaour, the Fare thee well, and the Satire. With the first she was highly pleased, from its [italics]effusion-of-feeling[end italics] character; the 2nd she thought laboured and inferior in pathos; the 3rd very amusing though very unlike the person." This disproves once for all the legend the legend invented by Teresa Guiccioli [Byron's last mistress] that Ada never heard of her father's poetry until a year before she died in 1852!'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Anne Isabella Lady Byron Print: Book
'Early in 1831 there is the following entry in a diary [of Lady Byron's]: "Read to Ada the beautiful lines on Greece in The Giaour, the Fare thee well, and the Satire. With the first she was highly pleased, from its [italics]effusion-of-feeling[end italics] character; the 2nd she thought laboured and inferior in pathos; the 3rd very amusing though very unlike the person." This disproves once for all the legend the legend invented by Teresa Guiccioli [Byron's last mistress] that Ada never heard of her father's poetry until a year before she died in 1852!'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Anne Isabella Lady Byron Print: Book
Harriet, Countess Granville, to her sister Lady Georgiana Morpeth, 22 July 1819:
'I think parts of "Don Juan" more beautiful than anything he has written, some wit and a great
deal of bad taste.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Harriet Countess Granville Print: Book
Harriet Countess Granville to her sister, Lady Georgiana Morpeth, 1 January 1822:
'I think "Cain" most wicked, but not without feeling or passion. Parts of it are magnificent, and the effect of Granville [husband] reading it out loud to me was that I roared [i.e. wept] till I could neither hear nor see. The scene, too, in "Sardanapalus" where Myrrha says "Oh, frown not on me," and the speech, "Why do I love this man?" I think beautiful and affecting.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Granville Leveson Gower Print: Book
Harriet Countess Granville to her sister, Lady Georgiana Morpeth, 1 January 1822:
'I think "Cain" most wicked, but not without feeling or passion. Parts of it are magnificent, and the effect of Granville [husband] reading it out loud to me was that I roared [i.e. wept] till I could neither hear nor see. The scene, too, in "Sardanapalus" where Myrrha says "Oh, frown not on me," and the speech, "Why do I love this man?" I think beautiful and affecting.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Harriet Countess Granville Print: Book
Sunday, 20 November 1825 (first entry):
'I have all my life regretted that I did not keep a regular [journal] [...] I have bethought me on
seeing lately some volumes of Byron's notes that he probably had hit upon the right way of
keeping such a memorandum-book by throwing aside all pretence to regularity and order and
marking down events just as they occurred to recollection. I will try this plan'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Walter Scott Manuscript: Unknown
Walter Scott to John Murray, 2 July 1812, with enclosed letter of appreciation to Lord Byron:
'I trouble you with a few lines to his Lordship [...] I hope he will not consider it as intrusive in a veteran author to pay my debt of gratitude for the high pleasure I have received from the perusal of "Childe Harold," which is certainly the most original poem which we have had this many a day'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Walter Scott Print: Book
John Murray to Lord Byron (November 1813):
'I am so very anxious to procure the best criticism upon the "Bride [of Abydos]," that I ventured last night to introduce her to the protection of Mr. Frere. He has just returned, quite delighted; he read several passages to Mr. Heber as exquisitely beautiful. He says there is a simplicity running through the whole that reminds him of the ancient ballad. [...] I asked if it was equal to the "Giaour;" he said that the "Giaour" contained perhaps a greater number of splendid passages, but that the mind carries something to [italics]rest upon[end italics] after rising from the "Bride of Abydos." It is more perfect.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Frere Print: Book
John Murray to Lord Byron (November 1813):
'I am so very anxious to procure the best criticism upon the "Bride [of Abydos]," that I ventured last night to introduce her to the protection of Mr. Frere. He has just returned, quite delighted; he read several passages to Mr. Heber as exquisitely beautiful. He says there is a simplicity running through the whole that reminds him of the ancient ballad. [...] I asked if it was equal to the "Giaour;" he said that the "Giaour" contained perhaps a greater number of splendid passages, but that the mind carries something to [italics]rest upon[end italics] after rising from the "Bride of Abydos." It is more perfect.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Frere Print: Book
John Murray to Lord Byron, 3 February 1814, on first reception of The Corsair:
'Never, in my recollection, has any work, since the "Letter of Burke to the Duke of Bedford," excited such a ferment [...] I sold, on the day of publication, -- a thing perfectly unprecedented -- 10,000 copies; and I suppose thirty people, who were purchasers (strangers), called to tell the people in the shop how much they had been delighted and satisfied. Mr. Moore says it is masterly, -- a wonderful performance. Mr. Hammond, Mr. Heber, D'Israeli, every one who comes [...] declare their unlimited approbation. Mr. Ward was here with Mr. Gifford yesterday, and mingled his admiration with the rest [...] Gifford did what I never knew him do before -- he repeated several passages from memory [...] I was with Mr. Shee this morning, to whom I had presented the poem; and he declared himself to have been delighted [...] I have the highest encomiums in letters from Croker and Mr. Hay'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Thomas Moore Print: Book
John Murray to Lord Byron, 3 February 1814, on first reception of The Corsair:
'Never, in my recollection, has any work, since the "Letter of Burke to the Duke of Bedford," excited such a ferment [...] I sold, on the day of publication, -- a thing perfectly unprecedented -- 10,000 copies; and I suppose thirty people, who were purchasers (strangers), called to tell the people in the shop how much they had been delighted and satisfied. Mr. Moore says it is masterly, -- a wonderful performance. Mr. Hammond, Mr. Heber, D'Israeli, every one who comes [...] declare their unlimited approbation. Mr. Ward was here with Mr. Gifford yesterday, and mingled his admiration with the rest [...] Gifford did what I never knew him do before -- he repeated several passages from memory [...] I was with Mr. Shee this morning, to whom I had presented the poem; and he declared himself to have been delighted [...] I have the highest encomiums in letters from Croker and Mr. Hay'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Hammond Print: Book
John Murray to Lord Byron, 3 February 1814, on first reception of The Corsair:
'Never, in my recollection, has any work, since the "Letter of Burke to the Duke of Bedford," excited such a ferment [...] I sold, on the day of publication, -- a thing perfectly unprecedented -- 10,000 copies; and I suppose thirty people, who were purchasers (strangers), called to tell the people in the shop how much they had been delighted and satisfied. Mr. Moore says it is masterly, -- a wonderful performance. Mr. Hammond, Mr. Heber, D'Israeli, every one who comes [...] declare their unlimited approbation. Mr. Ward was here with Mr. Gifford yesterday, and mingled his admiration with the rest [...] Gifford did what I never knew him do before -- he repeated several passages from memory [...] I was with Mr. Shee this morning, to whom I had presented the poem; and he declared himself to have been delighted [...] I have the highest encomiums in letters from Croker and Mr. Hay'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: ?Richard Heber Print: Book
John Murray to Lord Byron, 3 February 1814, on first reception of The Corsair:
'Never, in my recollection, has any work, since the "Letter of Burke to the Duke of Bedford," excited such a ferment [...] I sold, on the day of publication, -- a thing perfectly unprecedented -- 10,000 copies; and I suppose thirty people, who were purchasers (strangers), called to tell the people in the shop how much they had been delighted and satisfied. Mr. Moore says it is masterly, -- a wonderful performance. Mr. Hammond, Mr. Heber, D'Israeli, every one who comes [...] declare their unlimited approbation. Mr. Ward was here with Mr. Gifford yesterday, and mingled his admiration with the rest [...] Gifford did what I never knew him do before -- he repeated several passages from memory [...] I was with Mr. Shee this morning, to whom I had presented the poem; and he declared himself to have been delighted [...] I have the highest encomiums in letters from Croker and Mr. Hay'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Isaac Disraeli Print: Book
John Murray to Lord Byron, 3 February 1814, on first reception of The Corsair:
'Never, in my recollection, has any work, since the "Letter of Burke to the Duke of Bedford," excited such a ferment [...] I sold, on the day of publication, -- a thing perfectly unprecedented -- 10,000 copies; and I suppose thirty people, who were purchasers (strangers), called to tell the people in the shop how much they had been delighted and satisfied. Mr. Moore says it is masterly, -- a wonderful performance. Mr. Hammond, Mr. Heber, D'Israeli, every one who comes [...] declare their unlimited approbation. Mr. Ward was here with Mr. Gifford yesterday, and mingled his admiration with the rest [...] Gifford did what I never knew him do before -- he repeated several passages from memory [...] I was with Mr. Shee this morning, to whom I had presented the poem; and he declared himself to have been delighted [...] I have the highest encomiums in letters from Croker and Mr. Hay'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Ward Print: Book
John Murray to Lord Byron, 3 February 1814, on first reception of The Corsair:
'Never, in my recollection, has any work, since the "Letter of Burke to the Duke of Bedford," excited such a ferment [...] I sold, on the day of publication, -- a thing perfectly unprecedented -- 10,000 copies; and I suppose thirty people, who were purchasers (strangers), called to tell the people in the shop how much they had been delighted and satisfied. Mr. Moore says it is masterly, -- a wonderful performance. Mr. Hammond, Mr. Heber, D'Israeli, every one who comes [...] declare their unlimited approbation. Mr. Ward was here with Mr. Gifford yesterday, and mingled his admiration with the rest [...] Gifford did what I never knew him do before -- he repeated several passages from memory [...] I was with Mr. Shee this morning, to whom I had presented the poem; and he declared himself to have been delighted [...] I have the highest encomiums in letters from Croker and Mr. Hay; but I rest most upon the warm feeling it has created in Gifford's critical heart.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: William Gifford Print: Book
John Murray to Lord Byron, 3 February 1814, on first reception of The Corsair:
'Never, in my recollection, has any work, since the "Letter of Burke to the Duke of Bedford," excited such a ferment [...] I sold, on the day of publication, -- a thing perfectly unprecedented -- 10,000 copies; and I suppose thirty people, who were purchasers (strangers), called to tell the people in the shop how much they had been delighted and satisfied. Mr. Moore says it is masterly, -- a wonderful performance. Mr. Hammond, Mr. Heber, D'Israeli, every one who comes [...] declare their unlimited approbation. Mr. Ward was here with Mr. Gifford yesterday, and mingled his admiration with the rest [...] Gifford did what I never knew him do before -- he repeated several passages from memory [...] I was with Mr. Shee this morning, to whom I had presented the poem; and he declared himself to have been delighted [...] I have the highest encomiums in letters from Croker and Mr. Hay; but I rest most upon the warm feeling it has created in Gifford's critical heart.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: John Wilson Croker Print: Book
John Murray to Lord Byron, 3 February 1814, on first reception of The Corsair:
'Never, in my recollection, has any work, since the "Letter of Burke to the Duke of Bedford," excited such a ferment [...] I sold, on the day of publication, -- a thing perfectly unprecedented -- 10,000 copies; and I suppose thirty people, who were purchasers (strangers), called to tell the people in the shop how much they had been delighted and satisfied. Mr. Moore says it is masterly, -- a wonderful performance. Mr. Hammond, Mr. Heber, D'Israeli, every one who comes [...] declare their unlimited approbation. Mr. Ward was here with Mr. Gifford yesterday, and mingled his admiration with the rest [...] Gifford did what I never knew him do before -- he repeated several passages from memory [...] I was with Mr. Shee this morning, to whom I had presented the poem; and he declared himself to have been delighted [...] I have the highest encomiums in letters from Croker and Mr. Hay; but I rest most upon the warm feeling it has created in Gifford's critical heart.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Hay Print: Book
John Murray to Lord Byron, 6 August 1814, on first reception of Lara:
'Mr. Frere likes the poem greatly, and particularly admires the first canto. I mentioned the passages in the second canto -- descriptive of the morning after the battle, which delighted me so much, and indeed Mr. Wilmot and many other persons. His [Frere's] remark was that he thought it rather too shocking. This is perhaps a little fastidious. Sir Jno. Malcolm [...] called to express his satisfaction; and by the way, I may add that Mr. Frere has been here this moment to take another copy with him to read again in his carriage. He told me that Mr. Canning liked it equally. Mr. Frere, and in his report, Mr. Canning, are the only persons who have spoken in praise of "Jacqueline"; but they say it is beautiful'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Frere Print: Book
John Murray to Lord Byron, 6 August 1814, on first reception of Lara:
'Mr. Frere likes the poem greatly, and particularly admires the first canto. I mentioned the passages in the second canto -- descriptive of the morning after the battle, which delighted me so much, and indeed Mr. Wilmot and many other persons. His [Frere's] remark was that he thought it rather too shocking. This is perhaps a little fastidious. Sir Jno. Malcolm [...] called to express his satisfaction; and by the way, I may add that Mr. Frere has been here this moment to take another copy with him to read again in his carriage. He told me that Mr. Canning liked it equally. Mr. Frere, and in his report, Mr. Canning, are the only persons who have spoken in praise of "Jacqueline"; but they say it is beautiful'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Frere Print: Book
John Murray to Lord Byron, 6 August 1814, on first reception of Lara:
'Mr. Frere likes the poem greatly, and particularly admires the first canto. I mentioned the passages in the second canto -- descriptive of the morning after the battle, which delighted me so much, and indeed Mr. Wilmot and many other persons. His [Frere's] remark was that he thought it rather too shocking. This is perhaps a little fastidious. Sir Jno. Malcolm [...] called to express his satisfaction; and by the way, I may add that Mr. Frere has been here this moment to take another copy with him to read again in his carriage. He told me that Mr. Canning liked it equally. Mr. Frere, and in his report, Mr. Canning, are the only persons who have spoken in praise of "Jacqueline"; but they say it is beautiful'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Wilmot Print: Book
John Murray to Lord Byron, 6 August 1814, on first reception of Lara:
'Mr. Frere likes the poem greatly, and particularly admires the first canto. I mentioned the passages in the second canto -- descriptive of the morning after the battle, which delighted me so much, and indeed Mr. Wilmot and many other persons. His [Frere's] remark was that he thought it rather too shocking. This is perhaps a little fastidious. Sir Jno. Malcolm [...] called to express his satisfaction; and by the way, I may add that Mr. Frere has been here this moment to take another copy with him to read again in his carriage. He told me that Mr. Canning liked it equally. Mr. Frere, and in his report, Mr. Canning, are the only persons who have spoken in praise of "Jacqueline"; but they say it is beautiful'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Sir J. Malcolm Print: Book
John Murray to Lord Byron, 6 August 1814, on first reception of Lara:
'Mr. Frere likes the poem greatly, and particularly admires the first canto. I mentioned the passages in the second canto -- descriptive of the morning after the battle, which delighted me so much, and indeed Mr. Wilmot and many other persons. His [Frere's] remark was that he thought it rather too shocking. This is perhaps a little fastidious. Sir Jno. Malcolm [...] called to express his satisfaction; and by the way, I may add that Mr. Frere has been here this moment to take another copy with him to read again in his carriage. He told me that Mr. Canning liked it equally. Mr. Frere, and in his report, Mr. Canning, are the only persons who have spoken in praise of "Jacqueline"; but they say it is beautiful'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Canning Print: Book
Walter Scott to John Murray, 6 January 1814:
'I have read Lord Byron's "Bride of Abydos" with great delight, and only delay acknowledging the receipt of a copy from the author till I can send him a copy of the "Life of Swift."'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Walter Scott Print: Book
William Blackwood to John Murray, 8 November 1814:
'Since I was a little better [following illness] I have been again reading "Lara," and the delight it afforded me was exquisite. The very incongruities which a number of our small critics have been nibbling at, afforded me the highest enjoyment.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: William Blackwood Print: Book
From recollections of John Murray junior:
'Sometimes, though not often, Lord Byron read passages from his poems to my father. His voice and manner were very impressive. His voice, in the deeper tones, bore some resemblance to that of Mrs. Siddons.'
Unknown
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: George Gordon Lord Byron
John Murray to Lord Byron (December 1815):
'I tore open the packet you sent me, and have found in it a Pearl. It is very interesting,
pathetic, beautiful -- do you know, I would almost say moral [...] I have been most agreeably
disappointed (a word I cannot associate with the poem) at the story, which -- what you hinted
to me and wrote -- had alarmed me; and I should not have read it aloud to my wife if my eye
had not traced the delicate hand that transcribed it.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: John Murray Manuscript: Unknown, In hand of Anne Isabella, Lady Byron
Isaac D'Israeli to John Murray (December 1815):
'I find myself, this morning, so strangely affected by the perusal of the poem last night, that I
feel it is one which stands quite by itself [...] There is no scene, no incident, nothing so
marvellous in pathos and terror in Homer, or any bard of antiquity [comments further ] [...]
Homer has never conveyed his reader into a vast Golgotha, nor harrowed us with the vulture
flapping the back of the gorged wolf, nor the dogs: the terror, the truth, and the loneliness of
that spot will never be erased from my memory [...] I never read any poem that exceeded in
power this, to me, extraordinary production. I do not know where I am to find any which can
excite the same degree of emotion.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Isaac D'Israeli Manuscript: Unknown
John Murray to Byron (c. January 1816):
'I enclose Ward's note after reading the "Siege of Corinth." I lent him "Parisina" also, and he
called yesterday to express his mind at your hesitation about their merits [...] I lent Parisina
to Mr. Hay (Mr. Wilmots friend) last night, and I enclose his note. I send the proof [...] I will
send a revise of "Corinth" to-night or to-morrow.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Ward Manuscript: Unknown
John Murray to Byron (c. January 1816):
'I enclose Ward's note after reading the "Siege of Corinth." I lent him "Parisina" also, and he
called yesterday to express his mind at your hesitation about their merits [...] I lent Parisina
to Mr. Hay (Mr. Wilmots friend) last night, and I enclose his note. I send the proof [...] I will
send a revise of "Corinth" to-night or to-morrow.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Ward Manuscript: Unknown
John Murray to Byron (c. January 1816):
'I enclose Ward's note after reading the "Siege of Corinth." I lent him "Parisina" also, and he
called yesterday to express his mind at your hesitation about their merits [...] I lent Parisina
to Mr. Hay (Mr. Wilmots friend) last night, and I enclose his note. I send the proof [...] I will
send a revise of "Corinth" to-night or to-morrow.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Hay Manuscript: Unknown
John Murray to Byron, 4 January 1816:
'Nothing can be more interestingly framed and more interestingly told than this story
[Parisina] [...] I read it last night to D'Israeli and his family, and they were perfectly
overcome by it [comments further on text].'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: John Murray Manuscript: Unknown
Dr John Polidori, Byron's secretary, to John Murray, 10 July 1816:
'Since it has given you hopes of entering well into the literary world next winter, that "Childe
Harold" has got another canto [...] you will be more pleased to hear of another poem of 400
lines called "The Castle of Chillon" [sic]; the feelings of a third of three brothers in prison on
the banks of the Geneva Lake. I think it very beautiful, containing more of his tender than his
sombre poetry.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: John Polidori Manuscript: Unknown
John Murray to Byron, 12 September 1816, on William Gifford's response to Childe Harold's
Pilgrimage, Canto IV:
'He has been exceedingly ill with jaundice [...] He said he was unable to leave off last night,
and that he had sat up until he had finished every line of the canto. It had actually agitated
him into a fever [...] He had persisted this morning in finishing the volume [...] He says that
what you have heretofore published is nothing to this effort. He says also, besides its being
the most original and interesting, it is the most finished of your writings; and he has
undertaken to correct the press for you.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: William Gifford Manuscript: Unknown
'The "Sketch from Private Life" was one of the most bitter and satirical things Byron had ever written [...] Mr. Murray showed the verses to Rogers, Frere, and Stratford Canning. In communicating the result to Byron, he said:--
'"They have all seen and admired the lines; they agree that you have produced nothing better; that satire is your forte; and so in each class as you choose to adopt it [goes on to add readers' suggestions]."'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Samuel Rogers Manuscript: Unknown
'The "Sketch from Private Life" was one of the most bitter and satirical things Byron had ever written [...] Mr. Murray showed the verses to Rogers, Frere, and Stratford Canning. In communicating the result to Byron, he said:--
'"They have all seen and admired the lines; they agree that you have produced nothing better; that satire is your forte; and so in each class as you choose to adopt it [goes on to add readers' suggestions]."'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: John Hookham Frere Manuscript: Unknown
'The "Sketch from Private Life" was one of the most bitter and satirical things Byron had ever written [...] Mr. Murray showed the verses to Rogers, Frere, and Stratford Canning. In communicating the result to Byron, he said:--
'"They have all seen and admired the lines; they agree that you have produced nothing better; that satire is your forte; and so in each class as you choose to adopt it [goes on to add readers' suggestions]."'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Stratford Canning Manuscript: Unknown
John Murray to Byron, 12 September 1816:
'Respecting the "Monody," I extract from a letter which I received this morning from Sir James Mackintosh: "I presume I have to thank you for a copy of the "Monody" on Sheridan received this morning. I wish it had been accompanied by the additional favour of mentioning the name of the writer, at which I only guess: it is difficult to read the poem without desiring to know."
'Generally speaking it is not, I think, popular, and spoken of rather for fine passages than as a whole [...] Gifford does not like it; Frere does.'
Unknown
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Sir James Mackintosh
John Murray to Byron, 12 September 1816:
'Respecting the "Monody," I extract from a letter which I received this morning from Sir James Mackintosh: "I presume I have to thank you for a copy of the "Monody" on Sheridan received this morning. I wish it had been accompanied by the additional favour of mentioning the name of the writer, at which I only guess: it is difficult to read the poem without desiring to know."
'Generally speaking it is not, I think, popular, and spoken of rather for fine passages than as a whole [...] Gifford does not like it; Frere does.'
Unknown
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: William Gifford
John Murray to Byron, 12 September 1816:
'Respecting the "Monody," I extract from a letter which I received this morning from Sir James Mackintosh: "I presume I have to thank you for a copy of the "Monody" on Sheridan received this morning. I wish it had been accompanied by the additional favour of mentioning the name of the writer, at which I only guess: it is difficult to read the poem without desiring to know."
'Generally speaking it is not, I think, popular, and spoken of rather for fine passages than as a whole [...] Gifford does not like it; Frere does.'
Unknown
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: John Hookham Frere
John Murray to Byron, 22 January 1817:
'I had a letter from Mr. Ward, to whom, at Paris, I sent the poems, and he is delighted; and Mr. Canning, most particularly so with the third canto [...] Walter Scott always mentions you with kindness in his letters, and he thinks nothing better than Canto III.'
Unknown
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Ward
John Murray to Byron, 22 January 1817:
'I had a letter from Mr. Ward, to whom, at Paris, I sent the poems, and he is delighted; and Mr. Canning, most particularly so with the third canto [...] Walter Scott always mentions you with kindness in his letters, and he thinks nothing better than Canto III.'
Unknown
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: William Gifford
John Murray to Byron, 22 January 1817:
'I had a letter from Mr. Ward, to whom, at Paris, I sent the poems, and he is delighted; and Mr. Canning, most particularly so with the third canto [...] Walter Scott always mentions you with kindness in his letters, and he thinks nothing better than Canto III.'
Unknown
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Canning
John Murray to Byron, 22 January 1817:
'I had a letter from Mr. Ward, to whom, at Paris, I sent the poems, and he is delighted; and Mr. Canning, most particularly so with the third canto [...] Walter Scott always mentions you with kindness in his letters, and he thinks nothing better than Canto III.'
Unknown
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Walter Scott
Maria Graham to John Murray (March 1817):
'A thousand thanks, my dear sir, for the loan of the Journal, which I have perused with the greatest interest. A more superstitious age would certainly have believed him possessed of the [italics]art magic[end italics], so completely does he continue to force attention and sympathy wherever he pleases [comments further in praise of text and author] [...] I always forget myself when I think of our greatest genius [i.e. Byron]. Therefore I will hasten to thank you for the two dramas. The French one amuses me, the other does so for a different reason.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Maria Graham Manuscript: Unknown
John Cam Hobhouse to John Murray, from Venice, 7 December 1817:
'Your new acquisition is a very fine finish to the three cantos already published [comments further] [...] it is possible that all other readers may agree with my simple self in liking this fourth canto better than anything Lord B. has ever written. I must confess I feel an affection for it more than ordinary, as part of it was begot, as it were, under my own eyes; for some of the stanzas owe their birth to our morning walk or evening ride at La Mara.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: John Cam Hobhouse Manuscript: Unknown
John Murray to Byron, 16 June 1818:
'Mr. Frere is at length satisfied that you are the author of "Beppo." He had no conception that you possessed the protean talent of Shakespeare, thus to assume at will so different a character.'
Unknown
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: John Hookham Frere
'Lady Caroline Lamb informed [John] Murray [Byron's publisher]: "You cannot think how clever I think 'Don Juan' is, in my heart."'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Lady Caroline Lamb Print: Book
John Cam Hobhouse to John Murray, 22 October 1821, prior to publications of Byron's plays Cain, The Two Foscari, and Sardanapalus:
'If it be not presumptuous of me to say so, I should venture to assert that tragedy-writing is not Lord Byron's forte; that is to say, it will not turn out to be the best thing that he can do. According to my poor way of thinking, the "Corsair" and the Fourth Canto [of "Childe Harold"] will always bear away the palm.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: John Cam Hobhouse Print: Book
'Mr. Hobhouse wrote that [Sardanapalus] interested him very deeply, though it might be thought fantastical and unnatural by some [goes on to quote letter from Hobhouse to Murray of 22 October 1821].'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: John Cam Hobhouse Manuscript: Unknown
Walter Scott to John Murray, regarding Byron's Cain:
'I do not know that his Muse has ever taken so lofty a flight amid her former soarings. He has certainly matched Milton upon his own ground. Some part of the language is bold, and may shock one class of readers [...] But then they must condemn "Paradise Lost" if they have a mind to be consistent [comments further].'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Walter Scott Print: Book
Sharon Turner (lawyer) to John Murray, 31 January 1822:
'Mr. Shadwell, whom I have just seen, has told me that he had read "Cain" some time ago, -- that he thinks it contains nothing but what a bookseller can be fairly justified in publishing, that it is not worse in many parts than "Paradise Regained" and in "Paradise Lost" [...] He is King's Counsel and a religious man. He thinks it can hurt no reasonable mind. He will lead the case.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Shadwell Print: Book
'During the period that Mr. Moore had been in negotiation with the Longmans and Murray
respecting the purchase of the Memoirs [of Byron], he had given "Lady Holland the MS. to
read." Lord John Russell also states, in his "Memoirs of Moore," that he had read "the greater
part, if not the whole," and that he should say that some of it was too gross for publication.
When the memoirs came into the hands of Mr. Murray, he entrusted the Memoirs to Mr.
Gifford, whose opinion coincided with that of Lord John Russell. A few others saw the
memoirs, amongst them Washington Irving and Mr. Luttrell.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Lady Holland Manuscript: Unknown
'During the period that Mr. Moore had been in negotiation with the Longmans and Murray
respecting the purchase of the Memoirs [of Byron], he had given "Lady Holland the MS. to
read." Lord John Russell also states, in his "Memoirs of Moore," that he had read "the greater
part, if not the whole," and that he should say that some of it was too gross for publication.
When the memoirs came into the hands of Mr. Murray, he entrusted the Memoirs to Mr.
Gifford, whose opinion coincided with that of Lord John Russell. A few others saw the
memoirs, amongst them Washington Irving and Mr. Luttrell.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Lord John Russell Manuscript: Unknown
'During the period that Mr. Moore had been in negotiation with the Longmans and Murray
respecting the purchase of the Memoirs [of Byron], he had given "Lady Holland the MS. to
read." Lord John Russell also states, in his "Memoirs of Moore," that he had read "the greater
part, if not the whole," and that he should say that some of it was too gross for publication.
When the memoirs came into the hands of Mr. Murray, he entrusted the Memoirs to Mr.
Gifford, whose opinion coincided with that of Lord John Russell. A few others saw the
memoirs, amongst them Washington Irving and Mr. Luttrell.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: William Gifford Manuscript: Unknown
'During the period that Mr. Moore had been in negotiation with the Longmans and Murray
respecting the purchase of the Memoirs [of Byron], he had given "Lady Holland the MS. to
read." Lord John Russell also states, in his "Memoirs of Moore," that he had read "the greater
part, if not the whole," and that he should say that some of it was too gross for publication.
When the memoirs came into the hands of Mr. Murray, he entrusted the Memoirs to Mr.
Gifford, whose opinion coincided with that of Lord John Russell. A few others saw the
memoirs, amongst them Washington Irving and Mr. Luttrell.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Mr Luttrell Manuscript: Unknown
'When Murray was about to publish Byron's "Siege of Corinth" and "Parisina," he promised to
send the early sheets to Blackwood, who proposed to hold a dinner in honour of the occasion,
to which Scott, Erskine, and James Ballantyne were to be invited. Scott [...] unfortunately,
could not accept the invitation for the day named; but, to secure his attendance, the dinner
was put off for a week, and then he made his appearance with Erskine and Ballantyne. The
poems were read, to the immense delight of the audience.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Walter Scott Print: Unknown
'When Murray was about to publish Byron's "Siege of Corinth" and "Parisina," he promised to
send the early sheets to Blackwood, who proposed to hold a dinner in honour of the occasion,
to which Scott, Erskine, and James Ballantyne were to be invited. Scott [...] unfortunately,
could not accept the invitation for the day named; but, to secure his attendance, the dinner
was put off for a week, and then he made his appearance with Erskine and Ballantyne. The
poems were read, to the immense delight of the audience.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Walter Scott Print: Unknown
Maria Graham to John Murray, 2 November 1817:
'Pray what is the 4th Canto of "Childe Harold" doing? and where is Lord Byron? You know my admiration for his works, and my thoughts for the best, the very best, of the man [...] I have seen but one new book -- a Danish account of the north of Africa, interesting and curious [...] It is straight from the Baltic, having been comissioned by my good friend, Dr. Ross'.
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Maria Graham Print: Book
Caroline Norton to John Murray, 4 November 1837:
'I have received "Don Juan" and the October Quarterly [Review]. ... In thanking you for the two volumes of Byron belonging to the present beautiful edition, I must tell you that I had never read "Don Juan" [italics]through[end italics] before, which very few women in England of my age in England could say, -- and which I do not mind owning, since it adds greatly to the pleasure with which I perused the poem. I am afraid, in spite of the beauty, the wit, and the originality of the work, I think, with the Guiccioli [Byron's last mistress] -- "Mi rincrese solo che Don Giovanni non resti al inferno." It is a book which no [italics]woman[end italics] will ever like, whether for the reasons given by the author, or on other accounts, I will not dispute. To me the effect is like hearing some sweet and touching melody familiar to me as having been sung by a lost friend and companion, suddenly struck up in quick time with all the words parodied.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Caroline Norton Print: Book
