An essential collection of writings penned by the most celebrated figures of the Romantic era, presented in an authoritative two-volume set.Volumes III and IV of Shelley and His Circle bring together over 100 manuscripts and essays penned between 1811 and 1816, a formative period for the defining relationships of Shelley’s life. As the poet’s first marriage to Harriet Westbrook grew strained amid his burgeoning romance with Mary Godwin, so too did his long-standing association with Thomas Jefferson Hogg. In the spring of 1816, Shelley and Godwin struck up a new friendship with Lord Byron while visiting Geneva—where Godwin also famously began to draft her iconic novel Frankenstein.Among the manuscripts are twelve letters and literary pieces by Byron, including the first draft of his parting poem to Lady Byron, “Fare Thee Well.” These volumes also showcase the expanded journal of Claire Clairemont, Shelley’s revealing correspondence with both Godwin and Hogg, Shelley’s annotated copy of Queen Mab, and the letter composed by Harriet a few hours before she drowned herself in the Serpentine.Faithfully reproduced and featuring the original annotations of their authors, these manuscripts appear as they were composed over 200 years ago. They are complimented by fascinating miscellany, including previously unpublished letters by Mary Wollstonecraft, Shelley’s earliest known childhood poem, “A Cat in Distress,” and his Esdaile Notebook, a collection of verse written during his school days at Eton.
