Byron, George Gordon, Lord

George Gordon, Lord Byron
The Noel Collection
22 January 1788 - 19 April 1824

One of the major figures of British Romantic-era poetry, perhaps better known for his life than his poetry, both in his own day and, certainly, in ours. That wild life and the assured, compelling poetry that came out of it conspired to create what is arguably Byron's greatest contribution to the Gothic tradition, the figure of the Byronic hero, although some folks argue that he deserves credit for the vampire thing as well.

Sites:
Crede Byron
A richly informative site with a good range of biographical information (including a discussion of "the Byronic vampire"), some etexts, and links. [L. J. Webb]
Byron: a comprehensive study of his life and works
A rich site, with biographical information, a chronology, some texts (letters and journal entries), images, and more.
George Gordon, Lord Byron
Strong emphasis on Byron's letters (which provide fascinating glimpses into the mind and life of a most interesting character); also includes the etext of E. H. Coleridge's 1905 biograpy of Byron as well as extracts from Edward Trelawney's Recollections of the Last Days of Shelley and Byron, itself a rather titillating read. [Jeffrey D. Hoeper, Arkansas State]
Centre for Byron Studies this link opens a new window
At the U of Nottingham (near Newstead Abbey, Byron's family home), the Centre was once a helpful directory to all web-things Byron, but is now nothing more than a placeholder page. [Matt Green, U of Nottingham]
Byron Chronology
Very nicely detailed. [Romantic Circles]
Biographical note
[SLAINTE]
The Byron Society  this link opens a new browser window
Publishers of The Byron Journal (only tables of contents are available online)
Keats-Shelley House, Rome this link opens a new window
Includes biographical info of Byron, Keats, the Shelleys and others as well as information on the house itself.
International Byron Society
Another rich Byron site, w/ a timeline, a substantial biography, etexts, and much more.
Biographical note
[Malcolm Kelsall, U Cardiff; Literary Encyclopedia]
Biographical essay
[Wikipedia]
Brief biographical note
[Gothic Labyrinth]
Biographical note
[Thomson-Gale, the research publishing house, offering a sample]
Biographical note
[The Authors Calendar]
Brief biographical note
Discusses Byron in the context of "natural history" in the Romantic period. [Ashton Nichols, Dickinson College]
The Life of Byron
Written by John Galt and published in 1830. [About.com]
Brief biographical note
[Columbia Encyclopedia, Bartleby]
Brief biographical note
With some etexts. [Literature Network]
Brief biographical note a LitGothic etext
[John W. Cousins, A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature, 1910]
Newstead Abbey
Tourism site devoted to Byron's famed English estate.
Byron Hyper-Concordance
Part of the The Victorian Literary Studies Archive, this concordance allows you to search etexts by Byron, including Manfred.
Portraits
[National Portrait Gallery, London]


Etexts:
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"Darkness"
- at U Toronto

"Fragment of a Novel"
Composed in 1816, this is the notorious prose fragment thought by some to be the basis of John Polidori's vampire novel.
- at Lit of the Fantastic (13K)
- at Crede Byron (14K)

The Giaour
A vampiric extract from the full poem.
- at LitGothic [ a LitGothic etext ]

"Manfred"
- at LitGothic (73K) [a LitGothic etext ]
- at International Byron Society. Includes notes.

Selected Poems [U Toronto]; includes excerpts from Childe Harold III and IV.


Books:
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The above poems, and many more, are available in Lord Byron: The Major Works, in the Oxford World's Classics series and edited by the pre-eminent Byron scholar of our time, Jerome J. McGann: click for more info from amazon.com
click the cover image for more info from amazon.com
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Don't forget Byron's Fragment of a Novel, an important document in the history of the vampire tale; it's part of this classic Dover volume edited by E. F. Bleiler.
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Discussion:
Byron discussion list
This will take you to the homepage of the list, where subscription info is available.
"Lord Byron."