CLARIMONDE. Translated by Lafcadio Hearn from the French. New York: Published by Brentano's at 31 Union Square, [1899]. Octavo, pp. [1-6] 1-81 [82: printer's imprint] [83: ad] [84: blank] [note: first leaf is a blank], title page printed in red and black, publisher's pictorial tan cloth, front and rear panels stamped in yellow-green, orange and black, spine panel stamped in black, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. The first separate printing of this translation. A celebrated vampire story (also known as "The Beautiful Vampire") by one of the major figures of French Romanticism. "Gautier's true interests lay not in diabolism or pathology, but in exotic aestheticism, and in the conflict between flesh and spirit. His mature tales, commencing with "Omphale" (1834) and vampiric "Clarimonde" (1836) are erotic ghost stories of remarkable artistry, rich in irony and nostalgia, in which the subtle play of passion with terror is expressed in a precise, elegant prose style." - Sullivan, ed., The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, p. 167. Barron, ed., Fantasy Literature 2-64. Bleiler, Guide to Supernatural Fiction, 678a. Bleiler (1978), p. 80. Reginald 05846. BAL 7933. Owner's name and date on the front free endpaper. A fine copy. A lovely copy of an attractive book. (#172353).
Price: $250.00
No statement of printing.