Prospectuses, Specimens and National Works: Byron and John Hookham Frere

Abstract

This article analyses Byron’s stylistic conversion of 1817 by examining the transformative impact of John Hookham Frere’s Prospectus and Specimen of an Intended National Work, by William and Robert Whistlecraft, which Byron acknowledged as his ‘immediate model’ for Beppo. Previous studies of this textual relationship have centred on ottava rima and emphasised the underlying influence of Italian burlesque poetry. I highlight other aspects of Frere’s poem, showing how its title page parodies publishers’ marketing devices and how it mixes mock-epic romance with wide-ranging satire of the British book trade. Frere’s narratorial persona ‘Whistlecraft’, a chatty, self-mocking author who reflects playfully on the act of writing and the practicalities of publishing and printing, is part of the satire. Using similar techniques and motifs, Byron takes Frere’s satiric method to a new level of imaginative accomplishment, creating a comic poetry that is both national and international in scope, first in his ‘Venetian story’ Beppo and later in Don Juan.