'Ode on Venice' by Lord Byron. Neat copy made by Mary Shelley, 1818.
While Mary Shelley (1797 to 1851) was writing her most famous work, 'Frankenstein' (1818) she was also doing copy work. In the 19th century, printers had to handset type, so having a more legible copy helped avoid error and saved time and money.
Shelley met Lord Byron (1788 to 1824) in Switzerland in 1816 and they became friends. In 1818, Shelley copied Byron's poem 'Ode on Venice', which was then published by John Murray in 1819. Her letters comment on the challenges of creating an accurate copy, giving insights into their working process.
In one letter she writes: "Your Lordships manuscript was very difficult to decypher, so pardon blunders & omissions".
Lord Byron had grown up in England and Scotland, but spent much of his adult life in mainland Europe. He first visited Venice in 1816 and wrote many of his most famous works there including parts of the poems 'Childe Harold's Pilgrimage' and 'Don Juan'.
[Library reference: MS.43348]
