Excerpt from Don Juan, Vol. 1 of 2 The following extracts from Byron's letters to Mr. Murray, will sufficiently illustrate the circumstances under which the first two cantos of Don Juan were published. September 19,1818. - "I have finished the First Canto (a long one, of about 180 octaves) of a poem in the style and manner of Beppo, encouraged by the good success of the same. It is called Don Juan, and is meant to be a little quietly facetious upon every thing. But I doubt whether it is not - at least, as far as it has yet gone - too free for these very modest days. However, I shall try the experiment anonymously; and if it don't take, it will be discontinued. It is dedicated to Southey, in good, simple, savage verse, upon the Laureate's politics, and the way he got them." January 25, 1819. - "Print it entire, omitting, of course, the lines on Castlereagh, as I am not on the spot to meet him, I have acquiesced in the request and representation: and having done so, it is idle to detail arguments in favor of my own self-love and 'poeshie;' but I protest. If the poem has poetry, it would stand; if not, fall; the rest is ' leather and prunello, ' and has never yet affected any human production 'pro or con.' Dulness is the only annihilator in such cases. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.