LORD GEORGE G. BYRON - COLLECTION - HFSID 354518

LORD BYRON
His handwritten quotation from an epic Celtic poem by Ossian and his signature.
Autograph quotation unsigned: "Motto to Neustein, Adieu. Why dost thou build the hall, Son of the winged days? Thou lookest from thy towers today; yet a few years, and the blast of the Desert comes, it howls in thy empty Court. - Ossian". 6¾ x3½ page. Accompanied by his signature: "Byron", on a 2x1 slip of paper affixed to a 4½x2¾ card. GEORGE GORDON BYRON (1788-1824), the sixth Baron Byron, commonly known as Lord Byron was among the foremost English poets of the Romantic movement. Among his best-known works are the poems "She Walks in Beauty" (1814) and "So, We'll Go No More a Roving" (published 1830). Even more renowned are his narrative poems, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1818) and Don Juan, his 17-canto masterpiece (1819-1824). Byron was a political and social reformer, a defender even of the Luddites, but was also noted for his aristocratic excesses, which included huge debts, many love affairs and self-imposed exile from Britain (1816 to his death). He may even be considered the first celebrity; his wife Annabella even coined the term "Byromania." Preparing to fight in the war for Greek independence from the Ottoman Empire, he contracted a fever and died at age 36, much mourned in both Britain and Greece. In the 1760's, Scottish poet James MacPherson had published a series of what he claimed were translations of ancient Celtic poems by Ossian. The authenticity of these poems is still hotly debated today, but they greatly influenced the Romantic Poets, writers like Goethe and Walter Scott, world leaders like Jefferson and Napoleon, and they fostered Scottish national pride. Autograph quotation unsigned: vertical fold at center. Slightly soiled. Remnants from previous mounting affixed to top right and left on verso (no show through). Otherwise, fine condition. Signature: Slightly creased. Lightly worn. Lightly toned. Otherwise, fine condition. Two items. Bubbling of frame backing fabric. Framed to an overall size of 21x38.