London: Archibald Constable and Company, 1897. First edition. First printing, without the Shoulder of Shasta advertisement, second state with 8 pages of publisher's advertisements in the rear (starting with George Meredith's The Amazing Marriage). Octavo: x, 390, [2, blank], plus 8 pg. publisher's catalog. Printed on thicker paper and retaining the final blank leaf, before the rear endpaper. A Very Good+ copy overall. Front inner hinge is just starting, but still holding well (and unrepaired). Cloth generally clean, red titling a bit faded, particularly at the spine, which is also toned. Small marginal dampstain (about the size of a thumbnail) affects the first 30 pages. Offsetting from laid-in paper affects pgs 46-47 and the endpapers, front and rear. Housed in a custom quarter black leather clamshell case.

Laid in is a letter on Lyceum Theater stationary from the author, Bram Stoker, to a Mr. Knowles: "5 Nov 1892 | Dear Mr. Knowles, | Mr. Irving asks me to send you seats for 1st night of King Lear. They are close to end of row near the exit. He hopes to see you both on the stage after the play. yours sincerely, Bram Stoker." Prior to publishing Dracula, Stoker worked as the secretary for Sir Henry Irving, a well-known Shakespearian stage actor. Irving served as the primary inspiration for the appearance and personality of Count Dracula.

In the century and a quarter since its publication, Bram Stoker's Dracula has, of course, been recognized as a landmark work of Gothic literature, the most influential piece of vampire fiction, and one of the most popular English-language novels in history. "Originally titled The Un-Dead, the novel became Dracula shortly before publication in 1897. Favourably compared with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, and Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Fall of the House of Usher,' it was considered weird and powerful, one of the best in the supernatural line" (ODNB). By Stoker's death in 1912, the novel had gone through eleven editions, and has since inspired a plethora of adaptations from the landmark silent film Nosferatu (1922) to Robert Egger's 2024 film of the same name.

No collection of Gothic fiction would be complete without Dracula, nor any collection of English-language popular literature.

Dalby 10(a). Very Good + (Item #8210)