Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 5: With His Letters and JournalsMoore, Thomas
General
Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 5: With His Letters and Journals
Moore, Thomas
Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron, 1788-1824; Poets, English -- 19th century -- Biography
"The enclosed letter is written in bad humour, but not without
provocation. However, let it (that is, the bad humour) go for
little; but I must request your serious attention to the abuses of
the printer, which ought never to have been permitted. You forget
that all the fools in London (the chief purchasers of your
publications) will condemn in me the stupidity of your printer. For
instance, in the notes to Canto fifth, 'the _Adriatic_ shore of the
Bosphorus' instead of the _Asiatic!!_ All this may seem little to
you, so fine a gentleman with your ministerial connections, but it
is serious to me, who am thousands of miles off, and have no
opportunity of not proving myself the fool your printer makes me,
except your pleasure and leisure, forsooth.
"The gods prosper you, and forgive you, for I can't."
[Footnote 48: Written in the envelope of the preceding Letter.]
* * * * *
LETTER 449. TO MR. MOORE.
"Ravenna, September 3. 1821.
"By Mr. Mawman (a paymaster in the corps, in which you and I are
privates) I yesterday expedited to your address, under cover one,
two paper books, containing the _Giaour_-nal, and a thing or two.
It won't _all_ do--even for the posthumous public--but extracts
from it may. It is a brief and faithful chronicle of a month or
so--parts of it not very discreet, but sufficiently sincere. Mr.
Mawman saith that he will, in person or per friend, have it
delivered to you in your Elysian fields.
"If you have got the new Juans, recollect that there are some very
gross printer's blunders, particularly in the fifth Canto,--such as
'praise' for 'pair'--'precarious' for 'precocious'--'Adriatic' for
'Asiatic'--'case' for 'chase'--besides gifts of additional words
and syllables, which make but a cacophonous rhythmus. Put the pen
through the said, as I would mine through * *'s ears, if I were
alongside him. As it is, I have sent him a rattling letter, as
abusive as possible. Though he is publisher to the 'Board of
_Longitude_,' he is in no danger of discovering it.
"I am packing for Pisa--but direct your letters _here_, till
further notice. Yours ever," &c.
* * * * *
One of the "paper-books" mentioned in this letter as intrusted to Mr.
Mawman for me, contained a portion, to the amount of nearly a hundred
pages, of a prose story, relating the adventures of a young Andalusian
nobleman, which had been begun by him, at Venice, in 1817. The following
passage is all I shall extract from this amusing Fragment:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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