Welcome to
Lord Byron's Libraries:
A Digital Reconstitution
As the preeminent poet and celebrity of his day, the public consumed Lord Byron, his literature, his fame, and his infamy. In his lifetime Byron was an avid reader and his works exhibit the breadth and depth of his reading. Despite his books being sold at auction - in 1816 and after his death in 1827 - the sale catalogues remain to guide us to the works that he owned. Today, with digital surrogates of copies online and authority records to cross-reference, Byron's books can be recollected and resurrected as a database, a resource, and a library.
If you are browsing items, sort descending by "Date Added" to bring up those items that have been updated with more detail (the contents are being updated and detailed in order of their upload, while they are listed by most recent). "Untitled" denote works that have only basic metadata and are yet to be updated and enhanced with the full range of metadata, digital facsimiles, embeds, links and commentary.
For a more in-depth introduction to the history and rationale for this project, along with data visualizations, please see:
If you just want to start browsing through the shelves of Byron's books, your Byronic library perusal starts here.
This is an ongoing project. Call it a soft launch of a total library (if I haven't accounted for it, I'm sure that if you looked long enough you'd find it here anyways). So, please pardon the dust on these tomes.
~ Stephen Webb
Byron portrait in Albanian Dress: Thomas Phillips, George Gordon Byron (1788–1824), 6th Baron Byron, Poet, 1813, Government Art Collection