Memoir of John Murray
Caroline Norton to John Murray, 4 November 1837
November 4th, 1837.
Dear Sir,
I have received ‘Don Juan’ and the October Quarterly. .
. . In thanking you for the two volumes of Byron
![]()
| MRS. NORTON’S LETTERS. | 415 |
![]()
belonging to the present
beautiful edition, I must tell you that I had never read ‘Don Juan’ through before,
which very few women 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—“Mi rincrese solo che Don
Giovani non resti al inferno.” It is a book which
no woman 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.
I am in town for a short time, occupied with lawyers and
law—as usual. I used to boast of my partiality for the Bar as a
profession, but I begin to think it would be pleasanter to follow a marching
regiment than to see the seamy side of this intellectual trade.
Who has sprung up as Mrs. Norton in
Bentley’s
Miscellany! It is pretty cool of the lady taking the name
and title of my husband’s wife; and I do not much like the mistake, as I
have been too ill to write for those to whom I was bound by the bond of hire.
Yours ever,
Teresa Guiccioli (1800-1873)
Byron's lover, who in 1818 married Alessandro Guiccioli. She composed a memoir of Byron,
Lord Byron,
Jugé par les Témoines de sa Vie (1868).
Bentley's Miscellany. 64 vols (1837-1868). Edited by Charles Dickens (1837-39) and W. H. Ainsworth (1839-41).
The Quarterly Review. (1809-1967). Published by John Murray, the
Quarterly was instigated by Walter
Scott as a Tory rival to the
Edinburgh Review. It was edited by
William Gifford to 1824, and by John Gibson Lockhart from 1826 to 1853.
George Gordon Byron, sixth Baron Byron (1788-1824)
Don Juan. (London: 1819-1824). A burlesque poem in ottava rima published in installments: Cantos I and II published in
1819, III, IV and V in 1821, VI, VII, and VIII in 1823, IX, X, and XI in 1823, XII, XIII,
and XIV in 1823, and XV and XVI in 1824.
