Edward John Trelawny

Born in 1792, Edward John Trelawny became known as a British writer, biographer, and adventurer whose life was closely tied to the Romantic poets Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron. He also took part in the Greek War of Independence, and that mix of travel, danger, and literary friendship helped shape both his reputation and his books.

He is best remembered for works such as Adventures of a Younger Son and Records of Shelley, Byron, and the Author, which draw on his own experiences and on his memories of the famous writers he knew. Readers have long been fascinated by him not only for what he wrote, but for the way he seemed to live inside the same wild, dramatic world that his stories describe.

Trelawny died in 1881, leaving behind a life story that has remained almost as compelling as his subjects'. For listeners interested in the Romantic period, he offers a rare combination of eyewitness, storyteller, and mythmaker.