Shelley's Ghost

Edward Trelawny, sailor and adventurer, was a popular companion of the Shelleys and Byron in Italy. Mary never forgot his support in the weeks of Shelley’s death, and they remained friends. In 1823 he sailed with Byron to Greece to assist in the fight for independence from the Turks. He eventually became an associate of the Greek warlord Odysseus Androutses, marrying his half-sister Tersitza (aged probably thirteen), and taking command of his hideout, a mountain cave known as the Black Hole. Here a would-be assassin fired two bullets into him at close range. Severely injured, Trelawny refused medical assistance and cured himself in just over a month. He sailed to Cephalonia, and there wrote a number of letters, including this one to Mary, with a shaky left hand.

Mary Shelley; (bequest, 1851) Sir Percy and Lady Shelley; (bequest, 1889) Lady Shelley; (bequest, 1899) Shelley Scarlett (later 5th Baron Abinger) and/or Robert Scarlett (later 6th Baron Abinger); (bequest, 1917) Robert Scarlett, 6th Baron Abinger; (bequest, 1927) Hugh Scarlett, 7th Baron Abinger; (bequest, 1943) James Scarlett, 8th Baron Abinger; (bequest, 2002) James Scarlett, 9th Baron Abinger; (purchase, 2004) Bodleian.