The Autobiography of William Jerdan
John Murray to William Jerdan, [January 1825]
“Albemarle Street, Tuesday.
“My dear Sir,
“I send you the fair sheets of Count Gamba’s account of Lord Byron’s
proceedings amongst the Greeks, and trust that you will find it a simple,
unaffected statement of facts and actions that do credit both to the author and
his subject. Lord Byron, like Lord Nelson and Lord
Erskine, sinks into contempt in the common affairs of life, but
his mind awakens, like theirs, in any great cause. He appears here as a man of
good taste, sound judgment, and discretion—totally the opposite of his
colleague, the Hon. L * * * S * *
Thomas Erskine, first baron Erskine (1750-1823)
Scottish barrister who was a Whig MP for Portsmouth (1783-84, 1790-1806); after defending
the political radicals Hardy, Tooke, and Thelwall in 1794 he was lord chancellor in the
short-lived Grenville-Fox administration (1806-07).
Pietro Gamba (1801-1827)
The brother of Teresa Guiccioli and member of Carbonieri. He followed Byron to Greece and
left a memoir of his experiences.
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.
Horatio Nelson, viscount Nelson (1758-1805)
Britain's naval hero who destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of the Nile (1798) and
defeated the combined French and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar (1805) in which action he was
killed.
Leicester Fitzgerald Charles Stanhope, fifth earl of Harrington (1784-1862)
The third son of the third earl; in 1823 he traveled to Greece as the Commissioner of the
London Greek Committee; there he served with Byron, whom he criticizes in
Greece in 1823 and 1824 (1824). He inherited the earldom from his brother in
1851.
