Some have accused me of a strange design

Against the creed and morals of the land,

And trace it in this poem every line:

I don’t pretend that I quite understand

My own meaning when I would be very fine;

But the fact is that I have nothing plann’d,

Unless it was to be a moment merry,

A novel word in my vocabulary.

Don Juan IV, 5

In 1818 the poet George Gordon, Lord Byron was arguably the most famous man in Europe (give or take Napoleon). He was living in exile in Italy, having fled England in the wake of various scandals, when he began writing an epic poem, Don Juan. His new project borrowed from the Spanish folk legend, recasting the title character as a young aristocrat whose misadventures provided the backdrop for a wide-ranging social satire on early 19^th century sexual and moral hypocrisies.

Byron wrote to a friend that Don Juan was “meant to be a little quietly facetious upon everything.” But his long-suffering publisher, John Murray, found it alarming enough that he published the first two cantos in 1819 with neither his nor Byron’s name on the title pages.

Murray was right to be concerned, as the work met with a chilly reception among English reviewers and readers. It also fanned the flames of public outrage over the marital scandal that had led to the poet’s exile from England. Byron was undeterred, however, and published three more cantos anonymously. But by the time Byron had completed canto VI, Murray had had enough. He refused to publish any more of Don Juan, calling it “outrageously shocking.”

Byron took his manuscript to the radical publisher John Hunt, who was far more amenable to the project. In 1823-24 Hunt published cantos VI-XVI, as well as other works by Byron. A 17^th canto was planned but never written. Byron died at age 36 in 1824 after contracting an illness during a mission to provide aid for the Greek war for independence.

Later critics would hail Don Juan as one of Byron’s greatest works, the epitome of his poetic and satirical genius. Its publication in the early 1800s helped to cement his reputation as one of the most important literary influences of the 19^th century.

Until recently, ZSR Special Collections lacked a copy of Don Juan, despite having an extensive Byron collection. Thanks to a generous donation from Dr. Richard and Jerome Newsome, given in honor of Provost and Professor Emeritus Edwin G. Wilson, we were able to acquire a complete copy of the poem, with many of the volumes in the rare original publisher’s bindings.

Our copy consists of Murray’s second edition (published the same year as the first) of Cantos I-II, and first editions of Cantos III-XVI. Don Juan joins other works by Byron, Charlotte Bronte, and George Eliot that have been acquired over the past several years with donations from the Newsomes. As a fitting tribute to Dr. Wilson’s love of 19^th century English literature, and his passion for sharing this appreciation with his students, these books will provide future students with a tangible connection to their literary history.