POLIDORI, John William (Lord Byron).
The Vampyre; A Tale.
London: Sherwood, Neely and Jones , 1819.
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"The first Vampire Story in English Literature": First edition of John William Polidori's The Vampyre; A Tale
First edition of "the first vampire story in English literature", the first issue to remove Lord Byron's name from the title page, the earliest obtainable issue and the first issue widely available to the public (all previous issues were suppressed to remove the incorrect authorship attribution to Byron). The second Sherwood, Neely and Jones issue with the offending title and half title pages reset and the rest of the book consisting of sheets from the first Colburn issue (Viets, 101-102). With the earlier misprint of "lmost" on the last line of page 36 which is often corrected, the preface in its uncorrected state, and the half title page which is often not present. In near fine condition with Polidori's name in faint ink inscribed on the title page. Housed in a custom half morocco box. Rare and desirable.
Lord Byron's physician Dr. Polidori conceived this important gothic tale at Lake Geneva when he accompanied Byron on a visit with Percy and Mary Shelley in 1816. In the course of a long evening, the group's conversation turned to topics relating to the monstrous, supernatural and undead. "We shall each write a ghost story," Byron historically proclaimed. In addition to the present volume, his demand prompted Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Polidori's The Vampyre first appeared in the April 1, 1819 issue of New Monthly Magazine as 'The Vampyre: A Tale by Lord Byron.' This conscious fraud was perpetuated in the first two book issues by Colbun which are now virtually impossible to obtain; the first directly naming Byron as the author, of which no copy is known to exist, and the second, "related by Lord Byron to Dr. Polidori" of which only a handful of copies exist. Byron wrote to his publisher John Murray, "I have got your extract, and The Vampire. I need not say it is note mine...what is not published by you is not written by me" (Quennell, 449). "Generally recognized as the first vampire story in English Literature, Polidori's novella is the forerunner of the sophisticated vampirism of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla, Bram Stoker's Dracula, and, in the 20th century, Anne Rices Interview with the Vampire" (Tymn, I:304).
The Vampyre; A Tale.
$7,800.00
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