Wu - 30 Great Myths about the Romantics

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An early nineteenth-century cut-and-paste job. In 1825, after Byron's death, Pierre Louis Bouvier hijacked Thomas Phillips's 1813 portrait of Byron and superimposed on it an image of the plumed cavalry helmet the poet had designed himself, perpetuating the image of the archetypal Romantic who died on the battlefield in the cause of freedom (see Myth 19).

Source: Paul F. Betz Collection.

This edition first published 2015

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wu, Duncan.

30 great myths about the Romantics / Duncan Wu.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-118-84326-0 (cloth) ISBN 978-1-118-84319-2 (pbk.) 1. English literature19th centuryHistory and criticism. 2. English literature18th centuryHistory and criticism. 3. RomanticismGreat Britain. 4. Literature and societyGreat BritainHistory. I. Title. II. Title: Thirty great myths about the Romantics.

PR457.W84 2015

820.9145dc23

2014046950

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Cover image: Illustration of Lord Byron, Private Collection / Look and Learn / The Bridgeman Art Library.

This book is dedicated to Catherine Payling and her companion,
Poppy, the smooth fox terrier (19992013)

I pay tribute to those whose writings I consulted during work on this book, from those who played their part in the editing of scholarly texts to the many who have written short notes correcting errors of fact in such indispensable publications as Notes and Queries. I pay tribute also to those whose arguments and debates played their part in shaping my thoughts. I have not agreed with everyone that would be impossible but have striven to summarize them accurately and with respect for their views.

The reports of the seven anonymous readers who analyzed my initial proposal have been constantly to hand; I thank them for their comments. I have not hesitated to turn to friends and colleagues for points of information or opinions on parts of this book, usually in return for nothing other than a sincere thank you, or the cut and thrust of continuing debate: G. E. Bentley, Jr., John Gardner, Sarah Wootton, Glenn Skaggs, Richard Gravil, Peter Cochran, Mary O'Connell, Jane Stabler, Paul Miner, Robert Morrison, Cian Duffy, Seamus Perry, John B. Pierce, Shelley King, Michael O'Neill, Susan J. Wolfson, and Nicholas Roe. Harry Mattison deserves particular thanks for surveying this book from a reader's perspective, and providing a list of adjustments. Charles E. Robinson has been a friend to this volume from its inception; he read several drafts and offered numerous corrigenda. I am grateful to the three anonymous readers who examined the final typescript and proposed emendations of tone and emphasis. Ben Thatcher, Project Editor at Wiley, has been helpful on production matters, Janet Moth has been a scrupulous and eagle-eyed copy-editor, while Deirdre Ilkson and Emma Bennett have been wise and responsive editors; I am grateful for their guidance, and that of my agent, Charlie Viney.

Giuseppe Albano, Curator of the Keats-Shelley Memorial House in Rome, and his colleague Luca Caddia, gave me access to Trelawny's earliest manuscript account of Shelley's seaside cremation, and provided the coveted photograph of his jawbone, published here for the first time (by kind permission of David Leigh Hunt on behalf of the Leigh Hunt family). As a member of the English Department at Georgetown I have been fortunate in having among my colleagues Paul F. Betz and Carolyn Forch, both of whom have advised me at various points along the way. Professor Betz provided some illustrations for these myths from his personal collection. The Master and Fellows of Campion Hall gave this book a home in Oxford in the summer of 2013, while Chester L. Gillis and Robert M. Groves, the Dean and Provost of Georgetown University, granted me time in which to finish it in the spring and summer of 2014.