Letters and Journals of Lord Byron

George Gordon Noel Byron 6th Baron Byron of Rochdale (17881824) is one of the central writers of British Romanticism and his ''Byronic'' hero the charming dashing rebellious outsider remains a literary archetype. But to what extent is this character a portrayal of the author himself? Byron was known for his extremely unconventional eccentric character and his extravagant and flamboyant lifestyle: he had numerous scandalous love affairs including a suspiciously close relationship with his half-sister Augusta Leigh. Lady Caroline Lamb one of his lovers famously described him as ''mad bad and dangerous to know''. This two-volume work compiled by his friend Thomas Moore to whom Byron had given his manuscript memoirs (which he later burnt) was published in 1830. Volume 1 gives an account of Byron''s early life including his time as a star of the literary scene in London and ends with his departure from the country in 1816.