13 Jul 2011 03:19:46
Inscribed "to the immortal and illustrious fame of Lord Byron, the first poet of the age in which he lived", the memorial book contains accolades to the writer by famous figures of the day, from the American author Washington Irving to the Irish poet Tom Moore and future president of the US Martin Van Buren. It was placed at Byron's family vault in Nottinghamshire where the poet's body was buried after its return from Greece in 1824, and was filled with eulogies from more than 800 people by 1834.
After that date, the book's whereabouts are unclear, according to the National Library of Scotland, with an 1849 report claiming that the parish clerk from St Mary's Magdalene Church in Hucknall Torkard gave it to a friend, and an 1890 report suggesting it had travelled to the US with a family who moved there.
It finally reappeared at St John's Episcopal Church bazaar in Savannah in 2008, where, shabby and coverless, donated by an unknown individual, it was overlooked by locals until retired speech pathologist Marilyn Solana snapped it up at the end of the day for $35. Realising it might be important, she researched it on the internet, contacting the National Library of Scotland where curator David McClay realised what it might be. Solana has now donated the book to the National Library of Scotland, which holds the world's most extensive Byron collection through the John Murray archive, and which plans to make images from the book available online.
"This is a remarkable find which offers a fascinating insight into Byron's posthumous reputation," said McClay. The library's chief executive Martyn Wade said he was "extremely grateful" to Solana for donating the book, which he described as "well handled over the years but generally in a sound condition". "We will need to do conservation work on it but, once that is done, people will be able to see it for another couple of hundred years," said Wade.
