A passionate and previously unpublished autographed and handwritten letter sent by Lord Byron during a rift with a close friend is selling well in RR Auction's latest online sale.
 Recovering from the loss of his mother, Lord Byron attempts to resolve the argument with his friend |
The letter displays the eloquent and dramatic language for which Byron is known, with the romantic poet writing to his old Cambridge friend James Webster. It is currently selling for $14,150 ahead of the December 11 closing date.
Dated August 7, 1811, Byron wrote the letter in response to Webster's torrent of angry remarks aimed at the poet, who had sold him a carriage with which he was less than satisfied. Byron retorts:
"Why attack me? when I have not provoked the assault? I shall never feel myself degraded by the rashness of your expressions."
The writer had recently return to London following his grand tour of the Mediterranean in mid-July. His mother had died just six days prior to the letter, with Byron adding: "You are not aware that my Mother lies dead in the very Chamber where you slept when I had the honour of your company at the Abbey. Think of my feelings, & Pause!"
The letter is sure to see strong results, and could far exceed expectations; an autographed stanza of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, one of Byron's most famous poems, sold for �64,900 ($103,035) in November.
