In A Glass Darkly

by Sheridan Le Fanu, David Stuart Davies (Introduction), David Stuart Davies (Editor)

Overview

With an Introduction by David Stuart Davies.

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-1873) was one of the great masters of Victorian of mystery and horror fiction, and can be regarded as the father of the modern ghost story. In a Glass Darkly (1872), one of his most celebrated volumes, purports to be the casebook of Dr Hesselius, a pioneer psychologist.

These five tales represent some of Le Fanu's most accomplished work, which rises above the staid conventions of the age. Although drawing on Gothic conventions - the book features both ghosts and vampires - Le Fanu redefined the parameters of supernatural fiction. He had little interest in the crude depiction of other worldly phenomena in order to provide the reader with a pleasurable frisson of fear. Le Fanu concern rather lay in the examination of the results of supernatural experience on the psyche of his protagonist, in this he paved the way for the work of Henry James and M. R. James.

This volume is an indispensable cornerstone of modern horror and remains one of the finest collections of unsettling fiction in the language.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781848705104
Publisher:	Wordsworth Editions, Limited
Publication date:	11/01/2011
Series:	Tales of Mystery & The Supernatural
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	705 KB

About the Author

Elizabeth Tilley is a Senior Lecturer in Victorian literature and book history at the National University of Ireland, Galway.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu: A Brief Chronology
A Note on the Texts

In a Glass Darkly

• Green Tea
• The Familiar
• Mr. Justice Harbottle
• The Room in the Dragon Volant
• Carmilla

Appendix A: Reviews and Early Observations

1. Contemporary Reviews
   1. Athenaeum (6 July 1872)
   2. Saturday Review (17 August 1872)
   3. Examiner (6 July 1872)
2. Twentieth-Century Commentary
   1. From M.R. James, “Some Remarks on Ghost Stories,” Bookman (December 1929)
   2. From Elizabeth Bowen, “Preface to Uncle Silas,” Collected Impressions (1946)

Appendix B: Obituaries

1. Irish Times (8 February 1873)
2. Freeman’s Journal (10 February 1873)
3. Irish Builder (15 February 1873)
4. Illustrated London News (15 February 1873)
5. Dublin University Magazine (March 1873)

Appendix C: Emanuel Swedenborg

1. From Saturday Review (11 May 1867)
2. Swedenborg on Demons
3. Swedenborg and William Blake

Appendix D: Correspondence between Le Fanu and Others

1. Charles Dickens to Le Fanu
   1. 24 September 1869
   2. 24 November 1869
2. Le Fanu to George Bentley (3 January 1870)
3. Le Fanu to J. Munnings
   1. 15 June 1872
   2. 24 June 1872

Works Cited and Select Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

“Le Fanu’s In a Glass Darkly is one of the landmark works of Victorian Gothic. It contains some of the greatest ghost stories ever written, and in ‘Carmilla’ one of the most important vampire tales. Elizabeth Tilley’s brilliant new edition is the best one we’ve ever had, and it takes us closer to Le Fanu’s collection than we’ve ever been before. With its wonderful introduction and its superb selection of critical and contextual material, this book has everything a serious reader needs.” — Darryl Jones, Trinity College Dublin

From the Publisher