THE SEMINAL GOTHIC NOVEL
The Mysteries of Udolpho
G.G. & J Robinson, 1794.
First edition. Four volumes, bound in recent quarter cloth with gilt titles to spine. All half titles present. A fine set, uncut and unpressed, whose only internal flaws are a marginal repair to B1 in vol. I, and a marginal chip to E1 and tear with no loss to T1 in vol IV. Text generally fresh and clean with a light stain to the early pages of vol II.
The author's fourth book and generally regarded as the seminal Gothic novel. Although preceded and influenced by Walpole's The Castle of Otranto and Leyland's Longsword, The Mysteries of Udolpho contributed most significantly in establishing the Gothic genre.
"Mrs. Radcliffe's novels will always retain in English literature the important position due to the founder of a school who was also its most eminent representative." (DNB)
'Radcliffean fiction' became a sub-genre of its own and it was reading Udolpho that inspired Mathew Lewis to write The Monk which in turn influenced a host of other gothics. Indeed, direct influence of this book can be seen in Austen's Northanger Abbey (a parody of Udolpho in which the book is mentioned); Bronte's Jane Eyre; Scott's Waverley; Dickens' Little Dorrit; Collins' Woman in White and Du Maurier's Rebecca.
Stock ID: 22520
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