Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 386

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

0.7 linear feet (3 boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Baron George Gordon Byron collected papers, 1806-1832, Ms. Coll. 386, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1806-1832 (inclusive)

Form:

Lithographs, Memorabilia, Poetry, Writings (documents), and Correspondence

Abstract:

The Baron George Gordon Byron collected papers contains materials belonging to or relating to the romantic poet Baron George Gordon Byron (1788-1824), best known as Lord Byron. These materials include correspondence, writings by Byron and related materials, lithographs of Byron and Sir Walter Scott, two display albums containing correspondence and locks of hair, and Lord Byron's last will and testament.

Baron George Gordon Byron (1788-1824), commonly known as Lord Byron, was an English poet active during the Romantic movement. He is best known for his long narrative poems Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and the short lyric poem She Walks in Beauty as well as his aristocratic extravagance and scandalous love affairs.

This collection includes hair samples from two of his lovers, Countess Teresa Guiccioli (1801-1873), an Italian lady whose love affair with Byron began when she was about seventeen years old and continued until Byron's death, and Lady Caroline Lamb (1785-1828), a British aristocrat and novelist, who had an affair with Byron in 1812.

The Baron George Gordon Byron papers contains materials belonging to or relating to the romantic poet Baron George Gordon Byron (1788-1824), best known as Lord Byron. These papers are categorized into six series.

Series I includes correspondence to and from Byron. Correspondents include Henry Edward Yelverton, 19th Baron Grey de Ruthin; Francis Hodgson; Edward Noel Long; John Murray; and Count Gamba. Some of these letters are accompanied by typed transcripts.

Series II contains writings by Byron and associated papers, including "Some Observations upon an Article in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine" and a translation of Anacreon, Ode III, translation written in 1806 and printed in Hours of Idleness.

Series III holds correspondence by people other than Lord Byron. Correspondents include Teresa, Contessa Guiccioli; Lady Morgan; Leigh Hunt; John Hunt; Lady Caroline Lamb; Thomas Moore; Sir Walter Scott; Mrs. Charles Robert Maturin. Some of these letters are accompanied by typed transcripts.

Series IV includes lithographs of Lord Byron and Sir Walter Scott.

Series V contains two display albums, the first of which formerly held correspondence between Lord Byron and Lord Grey de Ruthven (removed and placed in box 1 folder 1) as well as a lock of Byron's hair. The second holds handwritten and illuminated transcripts of letters between handwritten and illuminated copies of correspondence with Countess Teresa Guiccioli, Lady Caroline Lamb, and Count Gamba with locks of hair and portraits of Byron, Guiccioli, and Lamb.

Series VI consists of Lord Byron's last will and testament.