ROMANO CASTLE; OR, THE HORRORS OF THE FOREST. A ROMANCE. London: Printed and Sold by Dean and Munday, 35, Threadneedle Street, n.d. [1814?]. 12mo, pp. [5-7] 8-32 [note: Text complete, but perhaps lacks a half title], inserted engraved frontispiece, modern pebbled cloth with quarter red leather spine panel, spine panel stamped in gold. First edition? Short Gothic tale with rationalized supernaturalism set in Italy. "... a ruthless plagiarism of several longer Gothic sources, but very cleverly cross-stitched so as to yield a perfectly acceptable shilling shocker. Standard elements of the robber romance are combined with a story of identity found after the young hero has experienced several astonishing and supernatural encounters." The villainous leader of the bandits, Baptiste, the protagonist's father, is behind "the various Gothic reports that circulate about Romano Castle as well as the ghostly appearances of the red-eyed skeleton ... all mechanical tricks meant to keep a superstitious peasantry in awe and away from the castle." - Frank, The First Gothics, p. 469 (citing an undated Dean and Munday edition with 35 pages). This copy is dated 1814 by an early owner on the recto of the frontispiece. Title noted on page 83 of Summers' The Gothic Quest, but seemingly not listed in his A Gothic Bibliography. Not in Block, The English Novel 1740-1950. A handsome bind-up without the original (plain?) wrappers. (#105450).
Price: $500.00
No statement of printing.