Letters and Journals of Lord Byron
Lord Byron to John Murray, 23 October 1812
“Thanks, as usual. You go on boldly; but have a care of glutting the public, who have by this time had enough of Childe Harold. ‘Waltzing’ shall be prepared. It is rather above two
hundred lines, with an introductory Letter to the Publisher. I think of publishing, with
Childe Harold, the opening lines of
the ‘Curse of Minerva,’ as far
as the first speech of Pallas,—because some of the readers like that part better than
any I have ever written, and as it contains nothing to affect the subject of the
subsequent portion, it will find a place as a Descriptive
Fragment.
“The plate is broken? between ourselves, it was unlike the picture; ![]()
| A. D. 1812. | LIFE OF LORD BYRON. | 383 |
![]()
and besides, upon the whole, the frontispiece of an author’s visage
is but a paltry exhibition. At all events, this would have been
no recommendation to the book. I am sure Sanders
would not have survived the engraving. By the by, the picture may remain with you or him (which you please), till my return. The one of two remaining copies is at your service till I can give you a better; the other must be burned
peremptorily. Again, do not forget that I have an account with you, and that this is included. I give you too much
trouble to allow you to incur expense
also.
“You best know how far this ‘Address riot’ will
affect the future sale of Childe Harold.
I like the volume of ‘Rejected
Addresses’ better and better. The other parody which Perry has received is mine also (I believe). It is Dr. Busby’s speech versified. You are removing to
Albemarle-street, I find, and I rejoice that we shall be nearer neighbours. I am going
to Lord Oxford’s, but letters here will be
forwarded. When at leisure, all communications from you will be willingly received by
the humblest of your scribes. Did Mr. Ward write the
review of Horne Tooke’s Life in the Quarterly? it is excellent.”
Thomas Busby (1754-1838)
English composer and miscellaneous writer; his translation of Lucretius's
De rerum natura (1813) attracted ridicule.
John Murray II (1778-1843)
The second John Murray began the
Quarterly Review in 1809 and
published works by Scott, Byron, Austen, Crabbe, and other literary notables.
James Perry (1756-1821)
Whig journalist; founder and editor of the
European Magazine
(1782), editor of the
Morning Chronicle (1790-1821).
George Sanders (1774-1846)
Scottish portrait painter, educated in Edinburgh; he made several portraits of Lord
Byron.
John Horne Tooke (1736-1812)
Philologist and political radical; member of the Society for Constitutional Information
(1780); tried for high treason and acquitted (1794).
John William Ward, earl of Dudley (1781-1833)
The son of William Ward, third Viscount Dudley (d. 1823); educated at Edinburgh and
Oxford, he was an English MP, sometimes a Foxite Whig and sometimes Canningite Tory, who
suffered from insanity in his latter years.
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.
