The Letters of Lord Byron (1936)

What a lovely revelation. So much is revealed that all I can really say is that these are essential reading. There is the necessity of countering the received notion of Byron that comes down through popular culture, which this definitely does, but of course that notion has come from somewhere, and this also elucidates that genesis. There are 232 letters or letter-excerpts here which range from early childhood epistles to his mother to a letter written on the day that he caught his fatal fever. The primal strength and determination of the man is evident throughout, but, as he says himself, if one was expecting someone roaring in a wolf's pelt one would be sorely disappointed. An absolute fascination in these is the progress of the works; the letters have been chosen carefully enough to give a remarkable picture of the to and fro of the development of many of them, and also to give voice to his responses to their critical reception. It's a fiery portrait, and an exciting one. They also naturally provide a vision of the vicissitudes of his life; matrimonial wars, deep analyses of society and culture, his love for his daughters, opinions of literary effort, political machinations, memories of lost friends - whatever really mattered. A vital book.