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The Complete Poetical Works: Volume 6

Exploring Byron's Late Plays and Literary Legacy

George Gordon, Lord Byron author Jerome J McGann editor Barry Weller editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Oxford University Press

Published:19th Sep '91

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The Complete Poetical Works: Volume 6 cover

This collection features Lord Byron's works from 1821 and 1822, including notable plays and extensive annotations for deeper understanding.

This volume, titled The Complete Poetical Works: Volume 6, encompasses the complete works of Lord Byron from the years 1821 and 1822. It includes his later plays, such as 'The Two Foscari', 'Sardanapalus', 'Cain', and the unfinished 'The Deformed Transformed'. This collection is significant as it represents a critical period in Byron's literary career, showcasing his evolving style and thematic concerns. The plays included in this volume reveal the depth of Byron's engagement with complex characters and moral dilemmas, reflecting the tumultuous social and political landscape of his time.

In addition to the plays, The Complete Poetical Works: Volume 6 offers detailed textual annotations that enhance the reader's understanding of Byron's work. Each page features footnotes that provide context and elucidate references, making the text accessible to both scholars and casual readers. The volume also includes a comprehensive introduction that sets the stage for the works contained within, offering insights into Byron's life and the influences that shaped his writing during these years.

As part of the Oxford English Texts series, this volume is highly regarded, with Ian Jack describing it as 'one of the finest editions we have of any of the Romantic poets'. The extensive annotations at the end of the volume further enrich the reading experience, making it an invaluable resource for anyone interested in Byron's literary legacy.

Critics have been unanimous in their praise: 'landmark edition ... long awaited by all who treasure Byron's poetry. Our work and our lasting pleasure are alike cut out for us.' Stuart Curran, Keats-Shelley Journal
'McGann's work, the first in seventy-five years to attempt a systematic critical editing of the entire corpus, fulfils a genuine need for an authoritative edition in our day ... McGann, by means of this edition, has placed Byron scholarship on a new footing.' Frederick L. Beaty, Studies in Romanticism
' this will be one of the finest editions we have of any of the Romantic poets ... an edition ... which anyone seeking the fullest possible information about Byron's poetry must now regard as canonical.' Ian Jack, Review
'The editorial thoroughness that marked volume one ... is fully sustained in the subsequent volumes ... This edition is going to be compulsory for serious students of Byron.' Allan Rodway, Times Higher Education Supplement
'The edition is a notable achievement and will be indispensable for Byron scholars.' Andrew Rutherford, Notes and Queries
'it is a mass of new information ... This is a monumental edition, and criticism should be the outcome only of long and inevitably rewarding study.' Drummond Bone, The Byron Journal, 1992
`priceless ... The reader of this volume is left gasping at the sheer power of Byron's creative activity in this period.' Michael Foot, Observer
If ever we needed a forceful reminder of Byron's complexity, of his serious ambitions as a writer ... then the evidence is here, presented with all the fullness and detail that we have come to expect ... from this edition ... what is going to be of really major importance is the availability of that extraordinary body of texts that Byron produced in the last three years of his life ... when I look back at the whole project I can only reiterate my admiration for the ambition and scope of the enterprise; the sheer amount of both wide-ranging and extremely detailed knowledge. It is a triumph for Byron and his editors. * Mark Storey, University of Birmingham, Review of English Studies, Vol. 47, No. 186, May '96 *

ISBN: 9780198127581

Dimensions: 223mm x 143mm x 47mm

Weight: 997g

766 pages