Because of his modesty, Hope originally chose not to declare his authorship of "Anastasius" in the first edition. Ironically, given Hope's mild reputation, the authorship of the dashing "Anastasius" was at first mistakenly attributed to Lord Byron, who, according to legend, confided to Marguerite, Countess of Blessington, that he wept bitterly on reading it. "To have been the author of "Anastasius," I would have given the two poems which brought me the most glory." These events prompted Hope to reveal his identity as author in later editions, adding a map of Anastasius's travels and fine-tuning the text, although his authorship was initially greeted with incredulity by some journals.