The Transformations of the Byron Legend: Methodological Reassessment

Abstract

Fiona MacCarthy’s Byron: Life and Legend was followed by an impressive exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London, entitled Mad Bad and Dangerous to Know. Both the book and the exhibition occasioned numerous reviews and articles that provide a useful starting place for an investigation of the influence of consumerist and ideological rhetoric on academic research. An advertisement for MacCarthy’s Byron was included in the exhibition brochure: it presented the book cover, with the famous portrait of Byron in Albanian dress, and a short description of the contents. In addition, the brochure included the story of European and American Byromania, a brief biography of Byron, a program of the lectures by renowned Byronists that accompanied the exhibition, and an account of MacCarthy’s book:

Byron: Life and Legend by Fiona MacCarthy, is a new biography of Byron originating from John Murray—Byron’s own publisher. Drawing on Murray’s world-famous archive, this book presents ground-breaking research of Byron’s life and poetry for a whole new generation. Fiona MacCarthy, curator of the exhibition, is one of the leading biographers in Britain today. Her new book is available to purchase from the Gallery shops, priced £25 hardback.