The collections of the Byron Society of AmericaCollection, originally founded in 1995 by Marsha M. Manns and Leslie A. Marchand under the aegis of the Society, are housed in Drew University’s Special Collections. The nearly 5000 items include, was conceived of as a living collection to which Byron Society members and friends could contribute their own collections.
Housed in Drew University’s special collections, the nearly 5,000 items present a material history of Byron’s literary and cultural impact from the 19th century to the present day.
Among the collection’s holdings are:
- 1,900 volumes, including many early and rare editions
- Personal letters from Mrs. Byron, Thomas Moore, and Lady Byron
- 600 booklets books and 60 material objects belonging to collector Michael Rees, former secretary Secretary of the International Council of Byron Societies
- Visual representations and portraits, such as Rembrandt Peale’s 1825 lithograph of Byron, as well as statuary, mezzotints and engravings, Staffordshire figures, and decorative and other material objects that demonstrate the impact of Byron’s life and works on his readers, both past and present.
- Papers, correspondence, books, and photographs once owned by the late Leslie A. Marchand, author of Byron: A Biography, and editor of Byron’s Letters and Journals.
- Byron-related papers of Jerome McGann, an important critic of Romanticism Romanticim and Byron studies, and the editor of Byron: The Complete Poetical Works, as well as a large set of facsimiles of Byron MSS and associated Byroniana, scholarly, and critical materials.
- The archives of the Byron Society of Americaaudiotapes, play scripts, photographs, and associated production materials associated with 1967 performance of Byron’s Cain at the University of Chicago
By nature , the collection is interdisciplinary and is situated at the institutional intersection of the library and the museum. It is being developed for scholars, students, and individuals interested in the Romantic period in literature, in the Greek Revolution, in publishing history, in the decorative arts, and in cultural studies. Since its foundationfounding in 1995, the collection's collection’s holdings have grown significantly.
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