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Byron and His Portraits
‘Don’t look at him. He is dangerous to look at,’ said Lady Liddell to her daughter in 1817. Handsome, charismatic, aristocratic and allegedly ‘mad, bad and dangerous to know’, Lord Byron (1788-1824) is one of the most captivating and recognisable figures of the Romantic Age. His face, figure and appearance added greatly to the appeal of his poetry and the close association of the man with his poetic creations encouraged a wide range of artists to create portraits during his lifetime and to memorialise him after his heroic death in Greece. This book explores Byron’s life through the intriguing stories behind these images and for the first time reproduces in colour all the key paintings, miniatures, sculptures, drawings and sketches, with a selection of prints, cartoons, engravings and other representations. It uses Byron’s own wit with words to recount his attempts to manage his own image through the way he was presented in his portraits, as well as through fashion, weight control and the disguise of his lameness.

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From Bulldogs to Boatswain and Beyond
Byron. The very name conjures up an image of reckless romance, scandal, adventure, wild emotions, foreign lands, poetry and glamour. But dogs? It is not widely known that man’s best friend held a precious place in Byron’s affections. This book by renowned Byron enthusiast, Geoffrey Bond, sheds new light on the poet’s canine love affairs: from bulldogs to Boatswain and beyond. There are Newfoundlands, Mastiffs, Terriers, Greyhounds, and even a Poodle! Fabulously illustrated throughout, this book also features a colourful condensed biography of the poet.

Original and revealing.
Loyd Grossman, Writer & Broadcaster

A splendid book, a great addition to works dedicated to dogs.
Brian Sewell, Art Critic, The Evening Standard

I am delighted to have a copy of this handsome book.
Sir Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate 1999 – 2009

A gorgeously produced book – a resounding triumph.
Jack Wasserman, Antiquarian Book Collector, New York

Beautifully produced – I have not seen the illustrated Elizabeth Pigot book before.
Robin Byron, 13th Lord (the poet was the 6th)

A sensationally well-produced book – it must be the handsomest book on Byron ever published.
Dr Peter Cochran, Academic, Cambridge

A splendid book, extremely knowledgeable and handsome; something for me and other Byronists to treasure.
Dr Christine Kenyon Jones, Kings College, University of London

A substantial and beautiful book of enviable and exquisite standards that all other authors and publishers must look on in dumb admiration. I have seen so much in it that I haven’t seen before.
David McClay, Director, John Murray Archives, National Library of Scotland

Beautifully illustrated, impeccably and thoroughly researched, eminently readable, this book fills a notable gap in Byron studies as much as shedding new light on the poet himself.
Richard A. Cardwell, Professor of Modern Spanish Literatures & History, University of Nottingham

No man who loves dogs can be entirely mad, bad and dangerous to know, and Byron and his friends have been memorialised splendidly – as faithfully as a Newfoundland, perhaps!
Huon Mallalieu, Journalist