Autobiography of Leigh Hunt

Annotation

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. In the summer of 1825 Leigh Hunt had been for three years a sojourner in Italy, whither he had gone at the invitation of Lord Byron and Shelley to edit that ill-fated magazine the Liberal. During these three years a series of disastrous events had occurred, all more or less bearing directly on Hunts life, and all described at considerable length and with much circumstantial detail in the following pages. The death of Shelley, the failure after four numbers of the Liberal, the unfriendly attitude taken up by Lord Byron, and his subsequent death, were sufficient in themselves to make it highly desirable for Hunt to return to England. Italy however had a great attraction for him, and he lingered on at Florence for fully three months, until September, 1825, when his return home became imperative, owing to the action of his brother John, who contended that Leigh Hunt, by his protracted absence, had forfeited his proprietary rights in the Examiner.<br><br>One of the immediate obstacles to his return was that he was, nominally at any rate, without resources. The expenses of a journey to England were at that time considerable, and this prodigal son of letters had no means whatever wherewith to defray them. It was in these circumstances that Hunts old friend and admirer, Vincent Novello, made an arrangement with Henry Colburn, the publisher, for the advance of a sum of money on account of a book. The book thus arranged for was originally to have consisted of a collection of the authors scattered writings, with an autobiographical introduction. Hunt arrived in England in October, 1825, but no new book appeared bearing his name until 1828, when a large quarto volume was published with the title of Lord Byron and some of his Contemporaries; with Recollections of the Authors Life and of his Visit to Italy.