The Beauties of Byron and Shelley

In 1820s, Beauties had become a well-established if malleable genre in which the authorial subject could serve different purposes, particularly with the divisive figures of Byron and Shelley. Several selections of Byron appeared in the first half of the nineteenth century: the principal ones were compiled by Alfred Howard, Thomas Parry in 1823, B. F. French in 1828, and J. W. Lake in 1829 for a popular Paris-based series, 'The British Classics'. The Beauties of Shelley and Byron register the clash between the largely uncritical approach of earlier anthologies and the rise of personal criticism. The London Magazine in 1828, to give the reception in the periodical press, moves emphasis away from readers to the author's ownership of his own works, which in part signals the increasing importance of the anthology across literary culture. The Beauties of Don Juan similarly inflamed the debate long-circulating in the periodical press as to whether Byron could ever be suitable reading material for Christians.