An exploration of the possibility that P.B. Shelley contracted syphilis and the use he made of medical knowledge in the creative process. Strong emphasis on biography and medical context.

Of the many "unconsidered trifles" found amidst Shelleyiana and within Shelley's notebook jottings, this article selects eight examples, spanning his authorial career (1810-1822). Each involves a problem involving attribution, or decipherment, or source identification, which the author believes herself to…