Throughout his professional life, the poet Thomas Moore (1779–1852) was variously celebrated and vilified for both his verse and his politics. Born in Dublin, he remained an ardent Irish patriot until his death. This eight-volume collection of Moore's memoirs, diaries and letters, edited by his friend Lord John Russell (1792–1878) and first published between 1853 and 1856, provides rare insights into a man whose genius was applauded by the Morning Chronicle as 'embracing almost all sides of imaginative literature, of criticism and philosophy'. Volume 1 contains Moore's incomplete memoir, described by the Manchester Times as 'a readable and gossiping article', along with his personal correspondence from the period 1793–1813. The other volumes cover the period 1814–47, containing extensive diary entries. Volume 8 includes a selection of correspondence from 1799 to 1847, along with Russell's postscript and an index to the eight volumes.