VARNEY, THE VAMPYRE: OR, THE FEAST OF BLOOD. A ROMANCE. London: Printed and Published by E. Lloyd, 12, Salisbury-Square, fleet-Street, n.d. [1847]. Octavo, pp. [1-4] [1] 2-584 577-584 593-868 [note: issue 74 is misnumbered issue 73 and the pagination of number 73 is duplicated], printed in double columns, woodcut illustrations, nineteenth-century three-quarter brown polished calf and marbled boards. First book edition. A lurid penny dreadful published initially as a serial in 109 weekly issues, 1845-1847, and here as a book in 1847. This long novel (864 double-column pages; 220 chapters) was a major influence on later vampire fiction. It includes many of the now standard vampire tropes and it is also the first example of the "sympathetic vampire," a vampire who despises his condition but is nonetheless a slave to it. "The first appearance of the vampire Sir Francis Varney marks a lurid achievement of the horrific; his tinlike eyes, taloned hands, and terrifying teeth are calculated to elicit shudders and revulsion. His victimization of young lovelies places him in line with Stoker's DRACULA and a host of other vampires whose intentions are undeniably sexual ... A pulp classic no aficionado of horror fiction can ignore" (Benjamin Franklin Fisher IV). "... unquestionably the most famous of the Lloyd bloods ... A striking example of low-level popular fiction for the working classes (and adolescents) ...." (Bleiler). Baron, ed., Fantasy and Horror (1999) 1-132. Baron, ed., Horror Literature 2-87. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 1629. Summers, A Gothic Bibliography, p. 543. Tymn, ed., Horror Literature 2-81. Bleiler (1978), p. 172. Reginald 14580. Calf worn at edges, joints rubbed, hairline crack along lower outer front joint repaired, calf refurbished. Mild spotting and foxing to text block, but much less than usually encountered. The illustrations are clean and sharp. Overall, an excellent copy of a rare book. Enclosed in quarter leather clamshell box with leather spine label. (#168021).
Price: $42,500.00
No statement of printing.