HIS VERY SELF AND VOICE

An extensive collection of writings about Byron and the personal contacts through his life is another monument to his name and has been pieced together to form a perceptive study of his personality and his life. As a man who had caught the popular imagination by the time he was 28, Byron was writing and conversation fodder for any who knew him- in a conversation conscious age. Many took advantage of the fact and, from wealth of written material that has been passed on, Mr. Lovell has picked and chosen with a lively care and seems to hand us the choicest parts. Scandal, complaint, wit, literary and social comment abound and where he has arranged his material chronologically, Mr. Lovell's choices are from the writings, letters and diaries of those who knew Byron best- Lady Blessington, John Galt, Thomas Moore, Byron's distraught wife, Trelawny and many others. A large, leisurely volume, this rambles in a way that is close to life itself and will provide its rich rewards to all with literary bent, to any whose odd hours are refreshed by new winds from literary storm gone by.