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POLIDORI, John William (1795-1821). The Vampyre; A Tale related by Lord Byron to Dr. Polidori . London: Colburn and Co., [c. 1819].
POLIDORI, John William (1795-1821). The Vampyre; A Tale related by Lord Byron to Dr. Polidori . London: Colburn and Co., [c. 1819]. 8° (220 x 135mm). Collation: A-E8 F2; the title a cancel. (Light spotting and light marginal soiling.) Original drab wrappers (spine worn with ends chipped off, spotting to sides, extremities rubbed). FIRST EDITION. A variant issue of the first vampire story in English -- the forerunner of Stoker's Dracula and Rice's Interview with the Vampire . ABPC and AE record no copy with the Colburn imprint at auction. Colburn attributed the story to Lord Byron when he published it in the April issue of his New Monthly Magazine . At the same time Colburn also prepared the book-form publication, also attributed to Byron, but turned over the sheets to London publishers Sherwood, Neely and Jones. The false attribution was quickly exposed and Sherwood et al. removed Byron's name from the titles. This rare variant, not in Viets, has the first gathering reset as in the third Sherwood issue, but with the Colburn cancel title from the very rare first available edition. Ashley 3:208; Viets, 'The London Editions of Polidori's The Vampyre' in Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 1969.