Book contents
- Byron in Context
- Byron in Context
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Contributors
- Chronology
- Abbreviations and Note on the Text
- Introduction
- Part I Life and Works
- Chapter 1 Early Years
- Chapter 2 The Years of Fame
- Chapter 3 Exile
- Chapter 4 Texts and Editions
- Chapter 5 Byron and His Publishers
- Chapter 6 Piracies, Fakes and Forgeries
- Part II Political, Social and Intellectual Transformations
- Part III Literary Cultures
- Part IV Reception and Afterlives
- Further Reading
- Index
Chapter 1 - Early Years
from Part I - Life and Works
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 October 2019
- Byron in Context
- Byron in Context
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Contributors
- Chronology
- Abbreviations and Note on the Text
- Introduction
- Part I Life and Works
- Chapter 1 Early Years
- Chapter 2 The Years of Fame
- Chapter 3 Exile
- Chapter 4 Texts and Editions
- Chapter 5 Byron and His Publishers
- Chapter 6 Piracies, Fakes and Forgeries
- Part II Political, Social and Intellectual Transformations
- Part III Literary Cultures
- Part IV Reception and Afterlives
- Further Reading
- Index
Summary
George Gordon, the sixth Lord Byron (1788–1824), was the son of Captain John Byron (1756–91), known as “Mad Jack,” and his second wife, Catherine, née Gordon (1765–1811). Lord Byron, the poet, inherited his title from his great-uncle, known as “Wicked Lord Byron,” who killed one of his relatives in a duel in a poorly lit tavern, the Star and Garter in Pall Mall, on January 26, 1765. The victim was William Chaworth, father of Mary Chaworth, Byron’s distant cousin and early beloved. Notorious for his poor treatment of his wife and for allowing crickets to crawl over his body unmolested, the uncle denuded Newstead of trees and escaped a sentence of capital punishment for his crimes.
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- Information
- Byron in Context , pp. 15 - 22Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019