We can know Byron better than anyone has ever known him. Leslie Marchand's edition of the Letters and Journals, which is far more extensive than any previous collection, has now covered Byron's whole life. J.J. McGann's complete edition of the poems is proceeding expeditiously: the three volumes to date include all the poems written before Byron left England in 1816, and Volume II has the whole of the masterpiece Childe Harold, including Cantos III and IV, which were written in exile in 1816 and 1818.

LRB 17 September 1981 | PDF Download