New Perspectives on Byron and Godwin: The View from the Archives

A manuscript copy in Charles Clairmont’s hand of an unpublished letter of Byron to Catherine, Lady Mackintosh dated 17 May 1814 has recently been uncovered at Keats-Shelley House, Rome. The letter is part of an exchange that also involved William Godwin, for whom Byron expresses his esteem, and it provides evidence of a hitherto unrecorded attempt of the latter to ease Godwin’s financial situation by interceding with John Murray on his behalf, nearly two years before he resolved to cede part of the copyrights of The Siege of Corinth and Parisina to the philosopher. The new episode is reconstructed in the article, which includes a transcription of the copy of Byron’s letter and all extant related correspondence held at Keats-Shelley House and the John Murray Archive at the National Library of Scotland.