Consult the M.S. always’: Byron and Lamb at Variance

Matthew Ward will think both about textual variants, and about the potentially differing views of archival material offered by Byron & Lamb ‘I have a thorough aversion to his character and a very moderate admiration of his genius; he is great in so little a way’ (Charles Lamb to Joseph Cottle, May 26th 1820). Lamb’s takedown of Byron seems uncompromising, but what can we gain from putting the two authors in conversation? In this lecture, co-hosted with the Charles Lamb Society, Matthew Ward will tackle the prickly question of variance. His lecture will think both about textual variants, and about the potentially differing views of archival material offered by Byron and Lamb. What does each writer make of or feel about manuscripts, and what are we to make of theirs? In what ways are Byron and Lamb at variance with each other? And how might those apparent differences lead to or reveal a strange sort of resemblance or likeness in their writing?