Leslie Alexis Marchand (February 13, 1900 – July 11, 1999) was an American scholar of English literature, who is chiefly notable for his contribution to the study of the Romantic poet

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

, in particular his twelve-volume edition of '' Byron's Letters and Journals'', published between 1973 and 1982, with a supplementary volume in 1994, and ''Byron: a Biography'' (Alfred A. Knopf, 1957). He was also a prolific contributor to literary periodicals.

Biography

Early life

Born in Washington in 1900, Leslie A. Marchand's "parents were French-speaking immigrants to the United States, and Leslie always liked to hear the French echo by stressing the second syllable of his name."

Academic career

Marchand studied journalism at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, graduating with a B.A. in 1922 and an M.A. in 1923. After graduation, he took up a teaching position at Farthest North College in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

(Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines), where he lectured on English and French literature. In 1929, Marchand began studies towards a PhD at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. His dissertation, ''The Athenaeum: a mirror of Victorian culture'', a study of the British nineteenth century periodical, The Athenaeum, was published in 1941. He joined the faculty at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

in 1937 and taught there until his retirement in the mid-1960s.

Contribution to Byron studies

Recognizing that manuscripts related to

were likely to be scattered across Europe, Marchand set out to gather whatever he could find and to make previously unpublished materials available to the scholarly community. Serendipity played a role in his success in this endeavor:

Perhaps the most dramatic find of all was at a bookshop, where the owner mentioned that he had some things from Ockham Park, home of Byron's grandson, the Earl of Lovelace. These turned out to be routine books, but then the fellow mentioned he had a few notebooks. "They have writing in them," said the bookseller. "I don't know what they are, but if you want them, you can have them." They were by Byron's wife.

References/notes and references

Biography

Early life

Academic career

Contribution to Byron studies

References/notes and references

Further reading