Byron: A Life In Ten Letters, Andrew Stauffer, c. 2024 -1

I have two pages on this book. This is the other page.  I don't plan to update the information below. New updates will be at the other post.

Lord Byron

• an inherited title
• b. 1788
• d. 1824 (36 years old)
• in 1810 when Lord Byron would have been 22 years old, Goethe would have been 61 years old; so Lord Byron would have really known of Goethe 
• Goethe: exact contemporary of the Romantic Era

Goethe

• b. 1749
• d. 1832 (83 years old)

Reminder: Goethe is considered the exact contemporary of the Romantic Era.

So,

• Goethe 39 years old when Lord Bryon born
• Sorrow of Young Werther: 1774, and then re-issued/revision, 1787
• Lord Byron, 1774, not yet born 1787, one. year before Lord Byron born
• so, Lord Byron certainly read that "letter" and was probably greatly affected by it
• in 1832, when Goethe died, Lord Byron had died eight years earlier -- wow!

The ten letters:

To Elizabeth, 1807:

• To "my dear Elizabeth"
• Trinity College, Cambridge
• October 26, 1807

To Drury, 1810:

• To "my dear Drury"
• Salsette frigate
• in the Dardanelles off Abydos
• May 3, 1810
• Abydos: narrowest point in the Dardanelles (Hellespont)
• archaeologically a destination

To Lady Melbourne, 1813:

• To "my dear Ly. M[elbourne-e --
• Aston Hall, Rotherham, Yorkshire
• October 8, 1813

To Lady Byron, 1816:

• To "Lady Bryon"
• 13 Piccadiily Terrace, London
• February 8, 1816

Chapter 5: Haunted Summer
To Augusta, 1816

• To "my dearest Augusta"
• Diodati -- Geneva
• September 8, 1816

• Byron and his doctor-friend Polidor leave for Geneva
• leaves behind his wife Annabelle and daughter Ada
• ménage a trois: Byron, his wife Annabelle, his half-sister Augusta

• To Geneva to meet another, ménage a trois:
• Percy Bysshe Shelley, 25 y/o +/-
• Mary Godwin Shelley, 18 y/o
• Claire Clairmont, half-sister, 18 y/o

• The story of political philosopher, William Godwin
• months-long marriage to Mary Wollstonecroft; dies soon after Mary born
• William re-marries
• two step-daughters
• Claire who also goes to Switzerland
• and Fanny, rejected, left in England, commits suicide two years later

• So, Byron and his doctor-friend Polidor (sounds like a Shakespearean play) to meet with trio, Percy, Mary, and Clair -- similar "homes" in same neighborhood

• The men in their mid-20's; the women in late teens.

To John Murray, 1819:

• To "John Murray"
• Ravenna, Italy
• August 1, 1819

To the Countess Teresa Guiccoli, 1819:

• To the Countess Teresa Guiccioli
• To "Amor Mio"
• Venice
• December 7, 1819

To Thomas Moore, 1822:

• To "Thomas Moore"
• Pisa
• August 27, 1822

To John Cam Hobhouse, 1823

• To John Cam Hobhouse
• To "my dear H. --
• Genoa
• April 7, 1823

To John Murray, 1824

• To "John Murray"
• Messolonghi
• February 25, 1824