[BYRON LORD]: (1788-1824) British Poet, a leading figure in the Romantic Movement. MILBANKE ANNE ISABELLA ...

[BYRON LORD]: (1788-1824) British Poet, a leading figure in the Romantic Movement. MILBANKE ANNE ISABELLA (1792-1860) Lady Byron. Wife of George Gordon Byron, Lord Byron, from 1815-16.
Two A.Ls.S., A I Noel Byron, both two pages, 8vo, Brighton and Regents Park, 1st April and 12th July 1856, each to [Revd. George] Armstrong. In the first letter Lady Byron replies to her correspondent and states 'I can only say that the evidence is in my opinion against the genuineness of those lines - It is difficult to prove a negative however' and adding that she will make enquiries 'to elicit the truth'. She continues 'I do not believe that any Lady was authorised to write that life'. In the second letter Lady Byron declares 'I have satisfied myself as to the quarter from which the lines in question proceeded. Certainly not from any Lady of the respectability of the one named in your letter' and continues 'Mr. Grant has been imposed upon, but whether consciously or unconsciously by the Gentleman (for of him I have no knowledge) I cannot say. Mr. Grant's statement in his letter does not agree in all points with that made to me in writing at the time by the Gentleman who had the interview with him - on my behalf. To take any further notice of the matter would probably fall in with the views of the originators of this forgery'. Both letters with blank integral leaves. An intriguing pair of letters concerning a Byron forgery. Some light age wear and very minor, light staining, otherwise VG, 2Revd. George Armstrong (1791-1857) Unitarian Minister, a vociferous opponent of slavery, as was Lady Byron.Byron forgeries are not uncommon. The self-styled 'Major Byron' who claimed to be the son of the poet as a result of a liaison between Byron and a Countess de Luna in Spain in 1809, contributed both poems and letters to the field. Lady Caroline Lamb forged a letter from Byron to herself with the purpose of acquiring a portrait of the poet. The identity of the lady referred to in the present letters is not known.A highly educated and strictly religious woman, Anne Isabella Milbanke's marriage to the amoral and agnostic poet George Gordon Byron seemed an unlikely match and, indeed, soon ended in acrimony. However the marriage did produce a daughter, Ada, who later worked as a mathematician with Charles Babbage. Lady Byron had felt that an education in mathematics and logic would counteract any possible inherited tendency towards Lord Byron's insanity and romantic excess.