BYRON, George Noel Gordon, Baron. Mazeppa (First edition)

London: John Murray, 1819. First edition, later issue. pp. [4], [4], 6-69, [1], with terminal leaf of adverts. Later full calf, spine divided into six compartments by five gilt raised bands, title and author in gilt on burgundy morocco labels in the second and third, the remainder lavishly tooled in gilt; fore-edges rules in gilt; wide turn-ins lavishly tooled in gilt; burgundy endpapers. All edges gilt. A fine copy.

Published in 1819 as part of Mazeppa and Other Poems, Lord Byron’s Mazeppa is one of the most celebrated narrative poems of the Romantic period. The poem recounts the legendary story of Ivan Mazeppa, a young page at the court of King John II Casimir of Poland, who is punished for a love affair with a nobleman’s wife by being bound naked to a wild horse and driven across the steppes. Enduring extraordinary physical suffering, Mazeppa survives the ordeal and eventually rises to become a powerful Cossack leader.

Drawing upon historical traditions surrounding the seventeenth-century Ukrainian statesman Ivan Mazepa, Byron transformed the tale into a dramatic exploration of passion, endurance, destiny, and personal transformation. The poem’s vivid descriptions of the horse’s frantic journey, combined with its themes of suffering and triumph, captured the imagination of nineteenth-century readers and artists. It inspired numerous paintings by Théodore Géricault, Eugène Delacroix, and Horace Vernet, as well as theatrical adaptations and musical works throughout Europe.

Mazzepa exemplifies Byron’s mastery of narrative verse, blending adventure, psychological intensity, and Romantic heroism. The poem’s enduring appeal lies in its portrayal of an individual who, through courage and resilience, emerges from catastrophe to achieve greatness. Today it remains one of Byron’s most influential and widely admired poetic works.

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