In the period following the Napoleonic Wars, the most popular routes from France to Italy were across the Alps. Owing to new roads built over the mountains, the passages became more accessible and were no longer as perilous as in the past. Moreover, the routes appealed to the travellers of the time, who were searching for breathtaking views. For those who kept journals on their way, the Alpine passages were an ideal occasion to vent their emotions, so they awaited the moment impatiently and then showered their readers with effusive descriptions. After her passage from Switzerland to Italy through the Simplon Valley, Anna Jameson hyperbolically records being enclosed by ‘gigantic mountains in all their endless variety of fantastic forms’ (Jameson 1826, 42). Similarly, Mary Shelley, who took the same route, writes about ‘the naked bones of a gigantic world’ whose majestic simplicity ‘inspired awe’ (Shelley 1844, 1: 135).

These are the emotions that Blessington resigned from when deciding not to follow any of the Alpine routes, which is somewhat surprising, given her penchant for sublime views, and which, in consequence, may have appeared impoverishing to The Idler in Italy. What she did instead was go along the Grande Corniche and head for ‘Genoa the Superb.’ Much as the city lures her for its own assets, she confesses that ‘being the residence of Lord Byron gives it a still greater attraction’ (IiI 1: 389). Thus, as I demonstrate here, what she has to offer her readers, instead of stunning mountain views, is the personal life of the poet. In the passages preceding the account of their actual meeting, the writer already whets her readers’ appetites for details concerning the poet. In Geneva on 8 October 1822, she tracks Byron's route and relates being rowed on Lake Leman by the same boatman that the poet employed while there. Maurice tells her a number of anecdotes about the poet and shows her the Villa Diodati where Byron used to stay (IiI 1: 88– 91). In Nice, on 15 March 1823, Blessington observes that in France, ‘Byron is much in vogue’; the French regard him as ‘a most mysterious character, in which is mingled much of evil and good’ (IiI 1: 350– 51). A range of feelings accompany Blessington on her way to Genoa.