Byron’s Letters

Howe, Anthony (2024) Byron’s Letters. In: The Oxford Handbook of Lord Byron. Oxford University Press, pp. 218-232. ISBN 9780191893445

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Abstract

This essay considers the publication history, the evolving critical reception, and the relation to a growing body of scholarship on Romantic period epistolary culture of Byron’s letters. Byron’s immersion in this epistolary culture is examined in detail. The essay sets out, and proceeds to interrogate, the well-established view that the letters are equal to, and perhaps exceed, much of Byron’s poetry as literary performances. The essay also considers the letters chronologically, as representing different periods of Byron’s life, with a particular focus on the effect of fame on the poet’s sense of audience and the letters’ relation to travel writing. The later letters to John Murray, more coterie than private writing, are given detailed consideration. Close readings of particular letters set out some of the literary qualities that distinguish this unique body of epistolary writing.

Item Type:	Book Section
Identification Number:	10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198808800.013.21
Dates:	Date Event 22 October 2024 Published
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Lord Byron, letters, epistolary culture, John Murray, poetics, celebrity, Romanticism, travel writing
Subjects:	CAH19 - language and area studies > CAH19-01 - English studies > CAH19-01-03 - literature in English
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts, Design and Media > College of English and Media
Depositing User:	Gemma Tonks
Date Deposited:	10 Jun 2025 10:12
Last Modified:	10 Jun 2025 10:12
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/16414

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