BYRON GEORGE GORDON: (1788-1824) Byron makes final preparations to travel to Greece to assist in the War of ...

BYRON GEORGE GORDON: (1788-1824) Byron makes final preparations to travel to Greece to assist in the War of Independence - ´ I understand that the moment of the strong conflict has arrived´

BYRON GEORGE GORDON: (1788-1824) Lord Byron. British poet, one of the major figures of the Romantic movement. A very fine pair of Ls.S., Noel Byron, Pair d´Angleterre, each one page, 4to, Genoa, 7th & 9th July 1823, to Giorgio Vitali, in Italian. The text of both letters is in the hand of Count Pietro Gamba, the brother of Byron´s lover, Teresa, Contessa Guiccioli, and in the first Byron informs Vitali of his travel plans, ´Al 12 del corrente io partiro da genova, e si il vento non mi fara contrario giungere in due o tre di a Livorno, dove mi raggiungerete, e proseguiremo subito il nostro viaggio. Ho ricevuto lettere da Blaquerie (sic) e da Guriotti (sic), ne ve quali sono invitato ad affretarmi, e percio non voglio per colpa mia perdere un momento´ (Translation: ´On the 12th of this month, I will leave Genoa, and if the wind does not blow me away, I will reach Livorno in two or three days, where you will join me, and we will continue our journey straight away. I have received letters from Blaquerie (sic) and Guriotti (sic), in which I am requested to hurry, and therefore I do not want to lose a moment through my own fault´) and continues to explain that the urgency of his voyage will prevent an introduction to Metropolitan (Bishop) Ignatios of Hungary and Wallachia, the spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox exiles living in Italy, ´Per questa sola ragione non posso godere la fortuna di presentare e miei ossequi al venerabile vostro arcivescovo se non si trovasse in Livorno. Sono obligatissimo per le lettere che mi ha spedito, e volontieri acetteró qualunque altra comissione gli piacesse di incaricarmi. Capisco che il momento del forte conflitto e giunto, e percio non potrei mai perdonare a me… la mínima tardanza´ (Translation: ´For this reason alone, I cannot enjoy the good fortune of presenting my greetings to your Venerable Archbishop if he is not in Livorno. I am most obliged for the letters that he has sent me, and I will gladly accept any other mission that he may like to entrust to me. I understand that the moment of the strong conflict has arrived, and therefore I could never forgive myself... the slightest tardiness´). In Byron´s second letter he updates Vitali on his schedule, ´Per non perder alcun momento del mio tempo, ho risoluto di non arrevarmi punto in Livorno, ma solamente approdare per prendere a bordo voi insieme con un altro signore Inglese [James Hamilton Browne] a cui ho dato passaggio, e che mi attende… faqte dunque di trovavvi pronto. Se il vento non ce l´impedice noi partiremo assolutamente Sabbato 12 corrente´ (Translation: ´So as not to waste any moment of my time, I have decided not to set sail for Livorno, but only to land to take you aboard together with another Englishman [James Hamilton Browne] to whom I have given passage, and who is waiting for me... so be ready. If the wind does not prevent us from doing so, we shall set sail on Saturday, the 12th of this month´), further instructing Vitali to ´Significate ai vostri compatriotti, e principalmente al venerabile Ignasio che tenghino preparati tutte le comissioni, e lettere che vorranno consegnarmi´ (Translation: ´Tell your compatriots, and principally the Venerable Ignasio, to keep all the letters and commissions that they wish to deliver to me in readiness´). Both letters with integral address leaves and each with their good red wax seals intact (small areas of paper loss caused by the original opening of the letters). A truly wonderful and evocative pair of letters in which Byron makes his final preparations for his voyage to Greece, where he would die nine months later whilst actively engaged in the Greek War of Independence. Some very light, extremely minor age wear, and a few insignificant traces of former mounting to the edges of the address leaves, VG, 2

Giorgio Vitali (1776-1854) Greel patriot from an ancient Venetian family and the commander of the brig Hercules, which Byron chartered to take him to Greece. Giorgio Vitali and his brother, Scipio, were to play a significant part in the struggle for Greek independence, siding with the Francophile party who wished to establish a French Prince on the Greek throne. After the accession of Otto of Bavaria as King of Greece in 1832, they retired to France, Giorgio dying in Paris.

Count Pietro Gamba (1801-1827) Italian nobleman, brother of Countess Teresa Guiccioli, and the (exasperating) right-hand man and friend of Lord Byron. He travelled to Greece with Byron to fight in the war for Greek independence, and his Narrative of Lord Byron's Last Journey to Greece (1825) was published shortly after Byron's death.

Teresa, Contessa Guiccioli (1800-1873) Italian noblewoman and the married lover of Lord Byron. When Teresa bid farewell to Byron on the 13th July, just a few days after the present letters were written, it caused ´passionate grief´ and his mistress broke down in tears as Byron sailed away. In fact, Byron´s initial departure aboard the Hercules from Genoa to Greece was hampered by weather conditions and the brig was forced to return to shore, by which time Teresa had already left Genoa. Byron finally successfully set sail again on the 16th July.

Edward Blaquiere (1779-1832) British officer with the Royal Navy, a pioneer Philhellene and one of the founding members (along with Byron and others) of the Philhellenic Committee of London in February 1823.

Andreas Louriotis (1789-1854) British citizen of the Ionian Islands who served as deputy of the Greek Legislative Body.

In March 1823, Blaquiere travelled to Greece for the first time as a representative of the Philhellenic Committee of London. On this trip he accompanied Andreas Louriotis, a representative of the first Greek Government, which needed foreign borrowing to continue the Independence Struggle. Their first stop was Genoa, Italy. Louriotis had received a letter of recommendation from John Cam Hobhouse, a Philhellene, member of the Philhellenic Committee of London and personal friend of Lord Byron. Using this letter and the help of Blaquiere, Louriotis met Lord Byron, his aim to encourage Byron to take active action in Greece.

James Hamilton Browne (fl. 1834) Scottish Philhellene who joined Lord Byron as he sailed for Greece from Italy in the summer of 1823. Browne claimed to have been discharged from the British service for his sympathy to the Greeks in their war for independence from the Ottoman empire. In September 1823, it was decided that Browne would go ahead of Byron to assess the situation on the mainland of Greece.

This pair of letters are not published in Leslie A. Marchand´s Byron's Letters and Journals (1973-1994)