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{{Short description|Irish author (1847–1912)}} | |||
'''Abraham "Bram" Stoker''' (], ]–], ]) was an Irish writer, best remembered as the author of the influential horror novel '']''. | |||
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=October 2024}} | |||
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}} | |||
{{Infobox writer | |||
| name = Bram Stoker | |||
| image = Bram Stoker 1906.jpg | |||
| caption = Stoker {{circa|1906}} | |||
| birth_name = Abraham Stoker | |||
| birth_date = {{birth date|1847|11|8|df=y}} | |||
| birth_place = ], Ireland | |||
| death_date = {{death date and age|1912|4|20|1847|11|8|df=y}} | |||
| death_place = ], London, England | |||
| occupation = Novelist | |||
| alma_mater = ] (], ]) | |||
| period = ], ] | |||
| genre = ], ] | |||
| movement = ] | |||
| notableworks = '']'' | |||
| spouse = {{marriage|]|1878}} | |||
| children = 1 | |||
| signature = Bram Stoker signature.svg | |||
| website = | |||
}} | |||
'''Abraham "Bram" Stoker''' (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is best known for writing the 1897 ] novel '']''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor ] and business manager of the ]'s ], which Irving owned. | |||
In his early years, Stoker worked as a theatre critic for an Irish newspaper and wrote stories as well as commentaries. He also enjoyed travelling, particularly to ] in Scotland where he set two of his novels. During another visit to the English coastal town of ], Stoker drew inspiration for writing ''Dracula''. He died on 20 April 1912 due to ] and was cremated in north London. Since his death, his magnum opus ''Dracula'' has become one of the best-known works in English literature and the novel has been adapted for numerous films, short stories, and plays.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/21/100-best-novels-dracula-bram-stoker | title=The 100 best novels: No 31 – Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897) | website=] | date=21 April 2014 }}</ref> | |||
] | |||
==Early life== | ==Early life== | ||
Stoker was born on 8 November 1847 at 15 ], ], in Dublin, Ireland.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Bram Stoker and the Man Who Was Dracula |last=Belford |first=Barbara |publisher=Da Capo Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-306-81098-5 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |page=17}}</ref><!-- Note, as location has led to multiple edits: The location was, and is, in the Civil Parish of Clontarf. Clontarf extends to the east side of Malahide Road and borders Marino. Fairview is further west commencing just after Marino Mart.--> The park adjacent to the house is now known as Bram Stoker Park.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/new-to-market/the-dark-attraction-of-a-literary-landmark-1.451829|title=The dark attraction of a literary landmark|newspaper=] }}</ref> His parents were Abraham Stoker (1799–1876), an ] from Dublin and ] (1818–1901), of ] and ] descent, who was raised in ].<ref>{{Cite book |title=From the Shadow of Dracula: A Life of Bram Stoker |last=Murray, Paul |publisher=Random House |year=2004 |isbn=978-0224044622 |page=11}}</ref> Stoker was the third of seven children, the eldest of whom was ], 1st ].<ref>His siblings were: Sir (William) Thornley Stoker, born in 1845; Mathilda, born 1846; Thomas, born 1850; Richard, born 1852; Margaret, born 1854; and George, born 1855</ref> Abraham and Charlotte were members of the ] and attended the parish church with their children, who were baptised there.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.eneclann.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Stoker-family-tree.pdf |title=Stoker Family Tree |date=2012 |access-date=18 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924000532/http://www.eneclann.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Stoker-family-tree.pdf |archive-date=24 September 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Abraham was a senior civil servant. | |||
He was born on ], ] in ] in ], a coastal village near ]. Until he was 8 years old, he was ill and could neither stand up nor walk on his own. This illness and helplessness was a traumatic experience which is noticeable in his literary work. Everlasting sleep and the ] from the dead, which are the central themes of his ''Dracula'', were of great importance for him, because he was forced to spend much of his life in bed. | |||
Stoker was bedridden with an unknown illness until he started school at the age of seven, when he made a complete recovery. Of this time, Stoker wrote, "I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later years." He was privately educated at Bective House school run by the Reverend William Woods.<ref name="obit">Obituary, Irish Times, 23 April 1912</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bloomsbury Collections – Bram Stoker's Dracula – A Reader's Guide |url=https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/bram-stokers-dracula-a-readers-guide/ch1-contexts |website=www.bloomsburycollections.com |access-date=19 January 2023 |language=en}}</ref> | |||
Not only his illness but also his total convalescence were miracles for his doctors. After that he became a normal young man, who even became an ] and soccer-star at the University of Dublin, where he studied history, literature, mathematics and physics at ]. He was also auditor of the ]. He became a civil servant, a work that couldn't satisfy him. So he started to work as a ] and as a drama critic (''The Evening Mail''). His interest in theatre lead to a lifelong friendship with the actor ]. | |||
After his recovery, he grew up without further serious illnesses, even excelling as an athlete at ], which he attended from 1864 to 1870. He graduated with a ] in 1870, and paid to receive his ] in 1875. Though he later in life recalled graduating "with honours in mathematics", this appears to have been a mistake.<ref> Trinity College Dublin Writers by Jarlath Killeen</ref> He was named University Athlete, participating in multiple sports, including playing rugby for ]. He was auditor of the ] (''the Hist'') and president of the ] (he remains the only student in Trinity's history to hold both positions), where his first paper was on ''] in Fiction and Society''. | |||
Stoker married ]'s former girlfriend Florence Balcombe in ] and moved with her to ] where he became business manager of Irving's ], a post he held for 27 years. The collaboration with Irving was very important for Stoker. Through him he became involved in London's high society, where he met ] and ]. In the course of Irving's tours he got the chance to travel around the world. | |||
== |
==Early career== | ||
] | |||
He supplemented his income by writing a large number of sensational novels, his most famous being the vampire tale '']'' which he published in ]. Parts of it are set around the town of ], where he was living at the time. | |||
''Dracula'' is the basis of countless ]s and plays. | |||
], Dublin]] | |||
His other novels include '']'' (]), '']'' (]), and '']'' (1911). | |||
Stoker became interested in the theatre while a student through his friend Dr. Maunsell. While working for the ], he became the theatre critic for the '']'',<ref>{{Cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307215646/https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/dracula-creator-bram-stoker-born |title=Dracula creator Bram Stoker born |date=2010 |website=www.history.com |publisher=A&E Television Networks |language=en |access-date=21 October 2022 |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/dracula-creator-bram-stoker-born |archive-date=7 March 2010 |quote=He then worked for the Irish Civil Service while writing theatre reviews for a Dublin newspaper on the side.}}</ref> which was co-owned by ], an author of Gothic tales. Theatre critics were held in low esteem at the time, but Stoker attracted notice by the quality of his reviews. In December 1876, he gave a favourable review of Henry Irving's '']'' at the ] in Dublin. Irving invited Stoker for dinner at the ] where he was staying, and they became friends. Stoker also wrote stories, and "Crystal Cup" was published by the ] in 1872, followed by "The Chain of Destiny" in four parts in ''The Shamrock''. In 1876, while a civil servant in Dublin, Stoker wrote the non-fiction book ''The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland'' (published 1879), which remained a standard work.<ref name="obit" /> Furthermore, he possessed an interest in art and was a founder of the Dublin Sketching Club in 1879. | |||
==Lyceum Theatre== | |||
{{Multiple image | |||
Bram Stoker died on ], ] in ] and was interred at ], London. | |||
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| width = 175 | |||
| image1 = Bram Stoker - 18 St Leonard's Terrace, Chelsea, London SW3 4QG.JPG | |||
| image2 = BRAM STOKER 1847-1912 Author of DRACULA lived here.JPG | |||
| caption1 = Stoker's residence at 18 St Leonard's Terrace, ], London | |||
| caption2 = ] at the address | |||
| align = | |||
| total_width = | |||
}} | |||
In 1878, Stoker married ], daughter of ] James Balcombe of 1 Marino Crescent. She was a celebrated beauty whose former suitor had been ].<ref>Irish Times, 8 March 1882, p. 5</ref> Stoker had known Wilde from his student days, having proposed him for membership of the university's Philosophical Society while he was president. Wilde was upset at Florence's decision, but Stoker later resumed the acquaintanceship, and, after Wilde's fall, visited him on the Continent.<ref name="irtimes">{{Cite web |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2009/0328/1224243595688.html |title=Why Dracula never loses his bite |date=28 March 2009 |website=Irish Times |access-date=1 April 2009 |archive-date=13 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013082249/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2009/0328/1224243595688.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
The Stokers moved to London, where Stoker became acting manager and then business manager of Irving's ] in the ], a post he held for 27 years.<ref>{{cite news |title=Resurrected: Dracula author Bram Stoker's first attempts at Gothic horror |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/dec/16/bram-stoker-dracula-lost-stories |access-date=4 May 2023 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> On 31 December 1879, Bram and Florence's only child was born, a son whom they christened Irving Noel Thornley Stoker. The collaboration with Henry Irving was important for Stoker and through him, he became involved in London's high society, where he met ] and ] (to whom he was distantly related). Working for Irving, the most famous actor of his time, and managing one of the most successful theatres in London made Stoker a notable if busy man. He was dedicated to Irving and his memoirs show he idolised him. In London, Stoker also met ], who became one of his closest friends – he dedicated ''Dracula'' to him. | |||
== Works == | |||
===Novels=== | |||
* ''The Primrose Path'' (1875) | |||
* '']'' (]) | |||
* ''The Watter's Mou' '' (1895) | |||
* ''The Shoulder of Shasta'' (1895) | |||
* '']'' (]) | |||
* ''Miss Betty'' (1898) | |||
* ''The Mystery of the Sea'' (1902) | |||
* '']'' (]) | |||
* ''The Man'' (AKA: ''The Gates of Life'') (1905) | |||
* ''Lady Athlyne'' (1908) | |||
* ''The Lady of the Shroud'' (1909) | |||
* '']'' (]) | |||
In the course of Irving's tours, Stoker travelled the world, although he never visited ], a setting for his most famous novel. Stoker enjoyed the United States, where Irving was popular. With Irving he was invited twice to the ], and knew ] and ]. Stoker set two of his novels in America, and used Americans as characters, the most notable being ]. He also met one of his literary idols, ], having written to him in 1872 an extraordinary letter<ref>], ''Something In The Blood: The True Story Of Bram Stoker'', Liveright, 2016, pp. 92–97.</ref> that some have interpreted as the expression of a deeply-suppressed homosexuality.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/queertheory/the-sexuality-of-bram-stoker-8aacd96cc74d|title=The queer life of Bram Stoker|first=Jonathan|last=Poletti|date=4 September 2022|website=medium.com|accessdate=19 October 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/2873274|title="A Wilde Desire Took Me": The Homoerotic History of Dracula|author=Schaffer, Talia|year=1994|journal=ELH|volume=61|issue=2|pages=381–425|doi=10.1353/elh.1994.0019 |jstor=2873274 |s2cid=161888586 |accessdate=19 October 2022}}</ref> | |||
===Short Story Collections=== | |||
== Bram Stoker in Cruden Bay == | |||
* ''Under the Sunset'' (1881) | |||
], ]. The early chapters of ''Dracula'' were written in Cruden Bay, and Slains Castle possibly provided visual inspiration for Bram Stoker during the writing phase.]] | |||
* ''Snowbound'' (1908) | |||
* ''Dracula's Guest'' (1914) | |||
Stoker was a regular visitor to ] in Scotland between 1892 and 1910. His month-long holidays to the Aberdeenshire coastal village provided a large portion of available time for writing his books. Two novels were set in Cruden Bay: ''] ''(1895) and '']'' (1902). He started writing ''Dracula'' there in 1895 while in residence at the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel. The guest book with his signatures from 1894 and 1895 still survives. The nearby Slains Castle (also known as ]) is linked with Bram Stoker and plausibly provided the visual palette for the descriptions of Castle Dracula during the writing phase. A distinctive room in Slains Castle, the octagonal hall, matches the description of the octagonal room in Castle Dracula.<ref>{{Cite book |title=When Brave Men Shudder; the Scottish origins of Dracula. |last=Shepherd |first=Mike |publisher=Wild Wolf Publishing |year=2018}}</ref> | |||
===Uncollected Stories=== | |||
==Writings== | |||
* ''Bridal of Dead'' | |||
], North Yorkshire, the English coastal town frequented by Stoker, and where ] comes ashore in ''Dracula'']] | |||
* ''Buried Treasures'' | |||
Stoker visited the English coastal town of ] in 1890, and that visit was said to be part of the inspiration for ''Dracula'', staying at a guesthouse in West Cliff at 6 Royal Crescent, doing his research at the public library at 7 Pier Road (now '']'').<ref>{{cite web|url=https://vamped.org/2016/07/24/travels-to-whitby-my-search-for-count-draculas-birth-certificate/|title=Travels to Whitby: My Search for Count Dracula's Birth Certificate|work=vamped.org|last=Lee|first=Leonard|date=24 July 2016|access-date=26 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thecravetraveler.com/dracula-tour-whitby/|title=The Ultimate Dracula Tour Of Whitby In England|date=2 July 2021 |access-date=26 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.visitwhitby.com/quayside|title=Quayside – Whitby|access-date=26 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=How Dracula Came to Whitby |url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/whitby-abbey/history-and-stories/dracula/ |access-date=4 May 2023 |publisher=English Heritage}}</ref> Count Dracula comes ashore at Whitby, and in the shape of a black dog runs up the ] to the graveyard of ] in the shadow of the ] ruins.<ref>{{cite news |title=Whitby Abbey to be illuminated with bats to mark 125 years of Dracula|url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/whitby-abbey-to-be-illuminated-with-bats-to-mark-125-years-of-dracula-3891994 |access-date=4 May 2023 |work=Yorkshire Post}}</ref> Stoker began writing novels while working as manager for Irving and secretary and director of London's Lyceum Theatre, beginning with '']'' in 1890 and ''Dracula'' in 1897. During this period, he was part of the literary staff of '']'' in London, and he wrote other fiction, including the horror novels '']'' (1909) and '']'' (1911).<ref name=WorldBio/> He published his '']'' in 1906, after Irving's death, which proved successful,<ref name=obit /> and managed productions at the ]. | |||
* ''The Chain of Destiny'' | |||
* ''The Crystal Cup'' | |||
* ''The Dualitists; or, The Death Doom of the Double Born'' | |||
* ''The Fate of Fenella'' | |||
* ''The Gombeen Man'' | |||
* ''In the Valley of the Shadow'' | |||
* ''The Man from Shorrox''' | |||
* ''Midnight Tales'' | |||
* ''The Red Stockade'' | |||
* ''The Seer'' | |||
Before writing ''Dracula'', Stoker met ], a Hungarian-Jewish writer and traveller (born in Szent-György, ] now ], ]). Dracula likely emerged from Vámbéry's dark stories of the ].<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1916160_1916151_1916132,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090817122122/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1916160_1916151_1916132,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 August 2009 |title=Vampires – Top 10 Famous Mysterious Monsters |date=14 August 2009 |website=Tone.com}}</ref> However this claim has been challenged by many including ], a professor who, since 1990, has had as her major field of research and writing ''Dracula'', and its author, sources, and influences. She has stated, "The only comment about the subject matter of the talk was that Vambery 'spoke loudly against Russian aggression.'" There had been nothing in their conversations about the "tales of the terrible Dracula" that are supposed to have "inspired Stoker to equate his vampire-protagonist with the long-dead tyrant." At any rate, by this time, Stoker's novel was well underway, and he was already using the name Dracula for his vampire.<ref>{{Cite web|title="MY FRIEND ARMINIUS"|url=http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/AVambery.htm|access-date=9 October 2021|website=www.ucs.mun.ca}}</ref> Stoker then spent several years researching Central and East European folklore and mythological stories of ]s. | |||
===Biography=== | |||
The 1972 book ''In Search of Dracula'' by ] and ] claimed that the Count in Stoker's novel was based on ].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/radu-florescu-dead-legacy-of-the-romanian-dracula-professor-remembered-9401744.html |title=Radu Florescu dead: Legacy of the Romanian 'Dracula professor' remembered |last=Lizzie Dearden |date=20 May 2014 |work=The Independent |access-date=9 November 2018}}</ref> However, according to ], Stoker borrowed only the name and "scraps of miscellaneous information" about Romanian history; further, there are no comments about Vlad III in the author's working notes.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VomtVOkkPDwC&q=Dracula+bram+stoker+vlad+the+impaler&pg=PA182 |title=Bram Stoker and Russophobia: Evidence of the British Fear of Russia in Dracula and the Lady of the Shroud |last=Jimmie e. Cain |first=Jr |year=2006 |isbn=978-0786424078 |page=182|publisher=McFarland }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CMRfXDFrBuUC&q=Bram+Stoker+Vlad+III |title=A Dracula Handbook |last=Miller |first=Elizabeth |date=2005 |isbn=978-1465334008 |pages=112–113|publisher=Xlibris Corporation }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v-3OCwAAQBAJ&q=Elizabeth+Miller+stoker%27s+working+notes+No+mention+of+Vlad&pg=PT73 |title=The Dracula Dilemma: Tourism, Identity and the State in Romania |last=Light |first=Duncan |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1317035312}}</ref> | |||
* ''Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving'' (Two Volumes) (1906) | |||
] | |||
===Non-Fiction=== | |||
''Dracula'' is an ], written as a collection of realistic but completely fictional diary entries, telegrams, letters, ship's logs, and newspaper clippings, all of which added a level of detailed realism to the story, a skill which Stoker had developed as a newspaper writer. At the time of its publication, ''Dracula'' was considered a "straightforward horror novel" based on imaginary creations of ] life.<ref name=WorldBio/> "It gave form to a universal fantasy ... and became a part of popular culture."<ref name=WorldBio/> | |||
According to the ''Encyclopedia of World Biography'', Stoker's stories are today included in the categories of horror fiction, romanticized Gothic stories, and melodrama.<ref name="WorldBio">''Encyclopedia of World Biography'', Gale Research (1998) vol 8. pp. 461–464</ref> They are classified alongside other works of popular fiction, such as ]'s '']'', which also used the myth-making and story-telling method of having ] telling the same tale from different perspectives. According to historian Jules Zanger, this leads the reader to the assumption that "they can't all be lying".<ref name="Zanger">Zanger, Jules (1997). ''Blood Read: The Vampire as Metaphor in Contemporary Culture'' ed. Joan Gordon. Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 17–24</ref> | |||
The original 541-page typescript of ''Dracula'' was believed to have been lost until it was found in a barn in northwestern Pennsylvania in the early 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122514491757273633 |title=What a Tax Lawyer Dug Up on 'Dracula' |last=John J. Miller |date=28 October 2008 |website=WSJ}}</ref> It consisted of typed sheets with many emendations, and handwritten on the title page was "THE UN-DEAD." The author's name was shown at the bottom as Bram Stoker. Author Robert Latham remarked: "the most famous horror novel ever published, its title changed at the last minute."<ref name="Latham">Latham, Robert. ''Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Review Annual'', Greenwood Publishing (1988) p. 67</ref> The typescript was purchased by ] co-founder ]. | |||
Stoker's inspirations for the story, in addition to Whitby, may have included a visit to ] in ], a visit to the crypts of ] in Dublin, and the novella '']'' by ].<ref name="boy">{{Cite book |title=A Dictionary of Irish Biography, 3rd Edition |last=Boylan |first=Henry |publisher=Gill and Macmillan |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-7171-2945-4 |location=Dublin |page=412}}</ref> | |||
Stoker's original research notes for the novel are kept by the ] in ]. A facsimile edition of the notes was created by ] and ] in 1998. | |||
== Stoker at the London Library == | |||
Stoker was a member of the ] and conducted much of the research for ''Dracula'' there. In 2018, the Library discovered some of the books that Stoker used for his research, complete with notes and marginalia.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.londonlibrary.co.uk/dracula |title=The Books That Made Dracula |publisher=The London Library |access-date=14 February 2019}}</ref> | |||
==Death== | |||
]]] | |||
After suffering a number of strokes, Stoker died at No. 26 ], London on 20 April 1912.<ref name="mc">{{Cite web |url=http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/stoker/bio.html |title=Bram Stoker |date=30 April 2008 |publisher=Victorian Web |access-date=12 December 2008}}</ref> Some biographers attribute the cause of death to overwork,<ref name="The Discussion">{{Cite book |title=The Discussion |publisher=Oberon Books (for The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-84002-431-9 |edition=3rd |location=Grade Eight – Bram Stoker |page=97}}</ref> others to ].<ref name="Gibson">{{Cite book |title=The Capital Companion |last=Gibson |first=Peter |publisher=Webb & Bower |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-86350-042-8 |pages=365–366}}</ref> His ] listed the cause of death as "] 6 months", presumed to be a reference to syphilis.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IIAsN6I0xUQC&q=Bram+Stoker%5D%5D's+%5B%5Bdeath+certificate+syphilis&pg=PA415|title=Bram Stoker's Dracula: Sucking Through the Century, 1897–1997|first=Carol Margaret|last=Davison|date=1 November 1997|publisher=Dundurn|via=Google Books|isbn=9781554881055}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.oup.com/2012/04/bram-stoker-death-centenary-dracula/|title=100 years ago today: the death of Bram Stoker|date=20 April 2012|website=OUPblog}}</ref> He was cremated, and his ashes were placed in a display urn at ] in north London. The ashes of Irving Noel Stoker, the author's son, were added to his father's urn following his death in 1961. The original plan had been to keep his parents' ashes together, but after Florence Stoker's death, her ashes were scattered at the Gardens of Rest. His ashes are still stored in ] today. | |||
==Beliefs and philosophy== | |||
Stoker was raised a Protestant in the ]. He was a strong supporter of the ] and took a keen interest in Irish affairs.<ref name=obit /> As a "philosophical home ruler", he supported ] for Ireland brought about by peaceful means. He remained an ardent monarchist who believed that Ireland should remain within the British Empire. He was an admirer of Prime Minister ], whom he knew personally, and supported his plans for Ireland.<ref>Murray, Paul. ''From the Shadow of Dracula: A Life of Bram Stoker''. 2004.</ref> | |||
Stoker believed in progress and took a keen interest in science and science-based medicine. Some of Stoker's novels represent early examples of science fiction, such as '']'' (1909). He had a writer's interest in the occult, notably ], but despised fraud and believed in the superiority of the ] over superstition. Stoker counted among his friends ], a member of the ], and hired member ] as an artist for the Lyceum Theatre, but no evidence suggests that Stoker ever joined the Order himself.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.shadowplayzine.com/Articles/hermetic_horrors.htm |title=Shadowplay Pagan and Magick webzine – Hermetic Horrors |date=16 September 1904 |publisher=Shadowplayzine.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091109074626/http://shadowplayzine.com/Articles/hermetic_horrors.htm |archive-date=9 November 2009 |access-date=18 June 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/spearofdestinyoc0000rave/page/165 |title=The occult power behind the spear which pierced the side of Christ |last=Ravenscroft |first=Trevor |publisher=Red Wheel |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-87728-547-2 |page= |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Templar Revelation: Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ |last=Picknett |first=Lynn |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7432-7325-1 |page=201}}</ref> | |||
Like Irving, who was an active ], Stoker also became a member of the order, "initiated into Freemasonry in Buckingham and Chandos Lodge No. 1150 in February 1883, passed in April of that same year, and raised to the degree of Master Mason on 20 June 1883."<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Story of Freemason Bram Stoker |url=https://scottishritenmj.org/blog/stoker-dracula-freemasonry |access-date=2024-10-31 |website=Scottish Rite, NMJ |language=en-US}}</ref> Stoker however was not a particular active Freemason, spent only six years as an active member,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Story of Freemason Bram Stoker |url=https://scottishritenmj.org/blog/stoker-dracula-freemasonry |access-date=2024-10-31 |website=Scottish Rite, NMJ |language=en-US}}</ref> and did not take part in any Masonic activities during his time in London.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theirvingsociety.org.uk/the-ripper-and-the-lyceum-the-significance-of-irvings-freemasonry/ |title=The Ripper and The Lyceum: The Significance of Irving's Freemasonry |date=24 November 2002 |access-date=4 June 2019}} John Pickamp; Robert Protheroug 'The Ripper and The Lyceum: The Significance of Irving's Freemasonry ' The Irving Society website</ref> | |||
==Posthumous== | |||
The short story collection '']'' was published in 1914 by Stoker's widow, ], who was also his ]. The first film adaptation of ''Dracula'' was ]'s '']'', released in 1922, with ] starring as Count Orlok. Florence Stoker eventually sued the filmmakers, and was represented by the attorneys of the British Incorporated Society of Authors. Her chief legal complaint was that she had neither been asked for permission for the adaptation nor paid any royalty. The case dragged on for some years, with Mrs. Stoker demanding the destruction of the negative and all prints of the film. The suit was finally resolved in the widow's favour in July 1925. A single print of the film survived, however, and it has become well known. The first authorised film version of ''Dracula'' did not come about until almost a decade later when ] released ]'s '']'' starring ]. | |||
===Dacre Stoker=== | |||
Canadian writer ], a great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker, decided to write "a sequel that bore the Stoker name" to "reestablish creative control over" the original novel, with encouragement from screenwriter Ian Holt, because of the Stokers' frustrating history with ''Dracula's'' copyright. In 2009, '']'' was released, written by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt. Both writers "based on Bram Stoker's own handwritten notes for characters and plot threads excised from the original edition" along with their own research for the sequel. This also marked Dacre Stoker's writing debut.<ref>''Dracula: The Un-Dead'' by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://draculatheundead.com/stoker-book-overview.htm |title=Overview |website=www.DraculaTheUnDead.com |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103131805/http://www.draculatheundead.com/stoker-book-overview.htm |archive-date=3 January 2010}}</ref> | |||
In spring 2012, Dacre Stoker in collaboration with Elizabeth Miller presented the "lost" Dublin Journal written by Bram Stoker, which had been kept by his great-grandson Noel Dobbs. Stoker's diary entries shed a light on the issues that concerned him before his London years. A remark about a boy who caught flies in a bottle might be a clue for the later development of the ] character in ''Dracula''.<ref>Stoker, Bram. ''Bram Stoker's Lost Dublin Journal'', ed. by Stoker, Dacre and Miller, Elizabeth. London: Biteback Press, 2012</ref> | |||
==Commemorations== | |||
On 8 November 2012, Stoker was honoured with a ] on Google's homepage commemorating the 165th anniversary of his birth.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://doodles.google/doodle/bram-stokers-165th-birthday/|title=Bram Stoker's 165th Birthday|website=www.google.com|access-date=19 October 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.siliconrepublic.com/digital-life/item/30113-bram-stoker-books-gothic/ |title=Bram Stoker books: gothic Google Doodle honours Dracula author |last=Doyle |first=Carmel |date=8 November 2012 |work=Silicon Republic |access-date=8 November 2012}}</ref> | |||
An annual festival takes place in Dublin, the birthplace of Bram Stoker, in honour of his literary achievements. The Dublin City Council Bram Stoker Festival encompasses spectacles, literary events, film, family-friendly activities and outdoor events, and takes place every October Bank Holiday Weekend in Dublin.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bramstokerfestival.com/ |title=Bram Stoker Festival |website=Bram Stoker Festival}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.visitdublin.com/event/bram_stoker_festival |title=What's on in Dublin – Dublin Events, Festivals, Concerts, Theatre, family events |publisher=Visit Dublin |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019034645/http://www.visitdublin.com/event/bram_stoker_festival |archive-date=19 October 2014 |access-date=21 July 2014}}</ref> The festival is supported by the Bram Stoker Estate<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bramstokerestate.com/The_Bram_Stoker_Festival_in_Dublin-_2013_Events.html |title=The Bram Stoker Festival in Dublin – 2013 Events |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808090430/http://www.bramstokerestate.com/The_Bram_Stoker_Festival_in_Dublin-_2013_Events.html |archive-date=8 August 2014 |access-date=21 July 2014}}</ref> and is funded by ]. | |||
==Bibliography== | |||
===Novels=== | |||
* '']'' (1875) | |||
* ''The Chain of Destiny'' (novella) (1875) | |||
* '']'' (1890) | |||
* '']'' (consecutive novel, chapter 10) (1891–1892) | |||
* '']'' (1895) | |||
* '']'' (1895) | |||
* '']'' (1897) | |||
* '']'' (1898) | |||
* '']'' (1902) | |||
* '']'' (1903, revised 1912) | |||
* '']'' (1905); issued also as ''The Gates of Life'' | |||
* '']'' (1908) | |||
* '']'' (1909) | |||
* '']'' (1911, posthumously abridged 1925); issued also as ''The Garden of Evil'' | |||
* ''Seven Golden Buttons'' (written in 1891, much material reused in ''Miss Betty''; posthumously published in 2015)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bramstoker.org/novels/06betty.html |title=Bram Stoker – Miss Betty |website=www.bramstoker.org}}</ref> | |||
===Short story collections=== | |||
* '']'' (1881) – eight fairy tales for children | |||
* '']'' (1908) | |||
* '']'' (1914) | |||
===Uncollected stories=== | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|- | |||
! scope="col" | Title | |||
! scope="col" | Date of earliest appearance | |||
! scope="col" | Earliest appearance | |||
! scope="col" | Novelisation | |||
|- | |||
|"The Crystal Cup" | |||
|September 1872 | |||
|'']'' (London) | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|"Buried Treasures" | |||
|13 March 1875 and 20 March 1875 | |||
|'']'' (Dublin) | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|"The Chain of Destiny" | |||
|1 May 1875 and 22 May 1875 | |||
|''The Shamrock'' (Dublin) | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|"The Dualitists; or, The Death Doom of the Double Born" | |||
|1887 | |||
|''The Theatre Annual'' (London) | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|"The Gombeen Man" | |||
|1889–1890 | |||
|'']'' (London) | |||
|Chapter 3 of '']'' | |||
|- | |||
|"]"<ref name="GibbetHill">{{cite web |title=Long Lost Bram Stoker Story Resurfaces |url=https://bramstokerfestival.com/en/news/long-lost-bram-stoker-story-resurfaces/ |website=Bram Stoker Festival |publisher=] |access-date=19 October 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241019121606/https://bramstokerfestival.com/en/news/long-lost-bram-stoker-story-resurfaces/ |archive-date=19 October 2024 |date=19 October 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
|1890 | |||
|'']'' (Dublin) | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|"Lucky Escapes of Sir Henry Irving" | |||
|1890 | |||
| | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|"The Night of the Shifting Bog" | |||
|January 1891 | |||
|''Current Literature: A Magazine of Record and Review'', Vol. VI, No. 1. (New York) | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|"Lord Castleton Explains" | |||
|30 January 1892 | |||
|'']'' (London) | |||
|Chapter 10 of '']'' (], 1892) | |||
|- | |||
|"Old Hoggen: A Mystery" | |||
|1893 | |||
| | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|"The Man from Shorrox" | |||
|February 1894 | |||
|'']'' (London) | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|"The Red Stockade" | |||
|September 1894 | |||
|''The Cosmopolitan: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine'' (London) | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|"When the Sky Rains Gold" | |||
|26 August and 2 September 1894 | |||
|'']'' (London) | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|"At the Watter's Mou': Between Duty and Love" | |||
|November 1895 | |||
|''Current Literature: A Magazine of Record and Review'', Vol. XVIII, No. 5. (New York) | |||
|Part of Chapter 2 of '']'' | |||
|- | |||
|"Our New House" | |||
|20 December 1895 | |||
|''The Theatre Annual'' (London) | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|"Bengal Roses" | |||
|17 and 24 July 1898 | |||
|''Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper'' | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|"A Yellow Duster" | |||
|7 May 1899 | |||
|''Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper'' | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|"A Young Widow" | |||
|1899 | |||
| | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|"A Baby Passenger" | |||
|9 February 1899 | |||
|''Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper'' | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|"The Seer" | |||
|1902 | |||
|'']'' (New York: ], Page & Co.) | |||
|Chapters 1 and 2 of '']'' | |||
|- | |||
|"The Bridal of Death" | |||
|1903 | |||
|''The Jewel of the Seven Stars'' (London: ]) | |||
|Alternate ending to '']'' | |||
|- | |||
|"What They Confessed: A Low Comedian's Story" | |||
|1908 | |||
| | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|"The Way of Peace" | |||
|1909 | |||
|''Everybody's Story Magazine'' (London) | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|"The 'Eroes of the Thames" | |||
|October 1908 | |||
|'']'' (London) | |||
| | |||
|- | |||
|"Greater Love" | |||
|October 1914 | |||
|'']'' (London) | |||
| | |||
|} | |||
===Non-fiction=== | |||
* ''The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland'' (1879) | * ''The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland'' (1879) | ||
* ''A Glimpse of America'' (1886) | * ''A Glimpse of America'' (1886) | ||
* '']'' (1906) | |||
* ''Famous Impostors'' (1910) | |||
* '']'' (1910) | |||
* ''Great Ghost Stories'' (1998) (Compiled by Peter Glassman, Illustrated by ]) | |||
* ''Bram Stoker's Notes for Dracula: A Facsimile Edition'' (2008) Bram Stoker Annotated and Transcribed by ] and ], Foreword by Michael Barsanti. Jefferson, NC & London: ]. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-3410-7}} | |||
== |
===Articles=== | ||
* "Recollections of the Late W. G. Wills", ''The Graphic'', 19 December 1891 | |||
* "The Art of Ellen Terry", ''The Playgoer'', October 1901 | |||
* , ''The Nineteenth Century and After,'' Vol. LXIII, January/June 1908 | |||
* , ''The World's Work'', Vol. XVI, May/October 1908 | |||
* , ''The Nineteenth Century and After'', Vol. LXIV, July/December 1908 | |||
* , ''The Nineteenth Century and After'', Vol. LXVI, July/December 1909 | |||
* , ''The Nineteenth Century and After'', Vol. LXIX, January/June 1911 | |||
===Critical works on Stoker=== | |||
* | |||
* ], ''Beyond Dracula: Bram Stoker's Fiction and Its Cultural Context'' (Palgrave, 2000) {{ISBN|0-312-23136-9}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=%2Fjournals%2Fvictorian_studies%2Fv044%2F44.2glover.html |title=Project MUSE |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304130814/http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=%2Fjournals%2Fvictorian_studies%2Fv044%2F44.2glover.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=24 November 2018 }}</ref> | |||
* Belford, Barbara. ''Bram Stoker: A Biography of the Author of Dracula''. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1996. | |||
* Hopkins, Lisa. ''Bram Stoker: A Literary Life''. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. | |||
* Murray, Paul. ''From the Shadow of Dracula: A Life of Bram Stoker'' (London: Jonathan Cape, 2004) | |||
* Senf, Carol. ''Science and Social Science in Bram Stoker's Fiction'' (Greenwood, 2002). | |||
* Senf, Carol. ''Dracula: Between Tradition and Modernism'' (Twayne, 1998). | |||
* Senf, Carol A. ''Bram Stoker'' (University of Wales Press, 2010). | |||
* Shepherd, Mike. ''When Brave Men Shudder: the Scottish origins of Dracula'' (Wild Wolf Publishing, 2018). | |||
* Skal, David J. ''Something in the Blood: The Untold Story of Bram Stoker'' (Liveright, 2016) | |||
===Bibliographies=== | |||
==See also== | |||
* William Hughes | |||
* '']'' (film adaptation of ''The Jewel of Seven Stars'') | |||
==References== | |||
{{reflist}} | |||
== |
==External links== | ||
{{Library resources box}} | |||
{{wikisource}} | |||
{{Sister project links |wikt=no |commons=Bram Stoker |b=no |n=no |q=Bram Stoker |author=Abraham Stoker |v=no |voy=no |d=no |species=no |display=Bram Stoker}} | |||
*] e-texts of | |||
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/bram-stoker}} | |||
* in HTML format. | |||
* {{Gutenberg author|id=190}} | |||
* {{Librivox author |id=138}} | |||
* {{OL author}} | |||
* | |||
* {{ISFDB name|650}} | |||
* Archival material at {{wikidata|qualifier|property|P485|Q24568958|P856|format=\}} | |||
* {{IMDb name|0831290}} | |||
* {{LCAuth|n79061014|Bram Stoker|219|ue}} | |||
{{Bram Stoker|state=expanded}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 12:48, 25 December 2024
Irish author (1847–1912)
Bram Stoker | |
---|---|
Stoker c. 1906 | |
Born | Abraham Stoker (1847-11-08)8 November 1847 Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland |
Died | 20 April 1912(1912-04-20) (aged 64) Pimlico, London, England |
Occupation | Novelist |
Alma mater | Trinity College Dublin (BA, MA) |
Period | Victorian era, Edwardian era |
Genre | Gothic fiction, romantic fiction |
Literary movement | Dark romanticism |
Notable works | Dracula |
Spouse |
Florence Balcombe (m. 1878) |
Children | 1 |
Signature | |
Abraham "Bram" Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is best known for writing the 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and business manager of the West End's Lyceum Theatre, which Irving owned.
In his early years, Stoker worked as a theatre critic for an Irish newspaper and wrote stories as well as commentaries. He also enjoyed travelling, particularly to Cruden Bay in Scotland where he set two of his novels. During another visit to the English coastal town of Whitby, Stoker drew inspiration for writing Dracula. He died on 20 April 1912 due to locomotor ataxia and was cremated in north London. Since his death, his magnum opus Dracula has become one of the best-known works in English literature and the novel has been adapted for numerous films, short stories, and plays.
Early life
Stoker was born on 8 November 1847 at 15 Marino Crescent, Clontarf, in Dublin, Ireland. The park adjacent to the house is now known as Bram Stoker Park. His parents were Abraham Stoker (1799–1876), an Anglo-Irishman from Dublin and Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornley (1818–1901), of English and Irish descent, who was raised in County Sligo. Stoker was the third of seven children, the eldest of whom was Sir Thornley Stoker, 1st Baronet. Abraham and Charlotte were members of the Church of Ireland Parish of Clontarf and attended the parish church with their children, who were baptised there. Abraham was a senior civil servant.
Stoker was bedridden with an unknown illness until he started school at the age of seven, when he made a complete recovery. Of this time, Stoker wrote, "I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later years." He was privately educated at Bective House school run by the Reverend William Woods.
After his recovery, he grew up without further serious illnesses, even excelling as an athlete at Trinity College, Dublin, which he attended from 1864 to 1870. He graduated with a BA in 1870, and paid to receive his MA in 1875. Though he later in life recalled graduating "with honours in mathematics", this appears to have been a mistake. He was named University Athlete, participating in multiple sports, including playing rugby for Dublin University. He was auditor of the College Historical Society (the Hist) and president of the University Philosophical Society (he remains the only student in Trinity's history to hold both positions), where his first paper was on Sensationalism in Fiction and Society.
Early career
Stoker became interested in the theatre while a student through his friend Dr. Maunsell. While working for the Irish Civil Service, he became the theatre critic for the Dublin Evening Mail, which was co-owned by Sheridan Le Fanu, an author of Gothic tales. Theatre critics were held in low esteem at the time, but Stoker attracted notice by the quality of his reviews. In December 1876, he gave a favourable review of Henry Irving's Hamlet at the Theatre Royal in Dublin. Irving invited Stoker for dinner at the Shelbourne Hotel where he was staying, and they became friends. Stoker also wrote stories, and "Crystal Cup" was published by the London Society in 1872, followed by "The Chain of Destiny" in four parts in The Shamrock. In 1876, while a civil servant in Dublin, Stoker wrote the non-fiction book The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland (published 1879), which remained a standard work. Furthermore, he possessed an interest in art and was a founder of the Dublin Sketching Club in 1879.
Lyceum Theatre
Stoker's residence at 18 St Leonard's Terrace, Chelsea, LondonBlue plaque at the addressIn 1878, Stoker married Florence Balcombe, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel James Balcombe of 1 Marino Crescent. She was a celebrated beauty whose former suitor had been Oscar Wilde. Stoker had known Wilde from his student days, having proposed him for membership of the university's Philosophical Society while he was president. Wilde was upset at Florence's decision, but Stoker later resumed the acquaintanceship, and, after Wilde's fall, visited him on the Continent.
The Stokers moved to London, where Stoker became acting manager and then business manager of Irving's Lyceum Theatre in the West End, a post he held for 27 years. On 31 December 1879, Bram and Florence's only child was born, a son whom they christened Irving Noel Thornley Stoker. The collaboration with Henry Irving was important for Stoker and through him, he became involved in London's high society, where he met James Abbott McNeill Whistler and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (to whom he was distantly related). Working for Irving, the most famous actor of his time, and managing one of the most successful theatres in London made Stoker a notable if busy man. He was dedicated to Irving and his memoirs show he idolised him. In London, Stoker also met Hall Caine, who became one of his closest friends – he dedicated Dracula to him.
In the course of Irving's tours, Stoker travelled the world, although he never visited Eastern Europe, a setting for his most famous novel. Stoker enjoyed the United States, where Irving was popular. With Irving he was invited twice to the White House, and knew William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. Stoker set two of his novels in America, and used Americans as characters, the most notable being Quincey Morris. He also met one of his literary idols, Walt Whitman, having written to him in 1872 an extraordinary letter that some have interpreted as the expression of a deeply-suppressed homosexuality.
Bram Stoker in Cruden Bay
Stoker was a regular visitor to Cruden Bay in Scotland between 1892 and 1910. His month-long holidays to the Aberdeenshire coastal village provided a large portion of available time for writing his books. Two novels were set in Cruden Bay: The Watter's Mou' (1895) and The Mystery of the Sea (1902). He started writing Dracula there in 1895 while in residence at the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel. The guest book with his signatures from 1894 and 1895 still survives. The nearby Slains Castle (also known as New Slains Castle) is linked with Bram Stoker and plausibly provided the visual palette for the descriptions of Castle Dracula during the writing phase. A distinctive room in Slains Castle, the octagonal hall, matches the description of the octagonal room in Castle Dracula.
Writings
Stoker visited the English coastal town of Whitby in 1890, and that visit was said to be part of the inspiration for Dracula, staying at a guesthouse in West Cliff at 6 Royal Crescent, doing his research at the public library at 7 Pier Road (now Quayside Fish and Chips). Count Dracula comes ashore at Whitby, and in the shape of a black dog runs up the 199 steps to the graveyard of St Mary's Church in the shadow of the Whitby Abbey ruins. Stoker began writing novels while working as manager for Irving and secretary and director of London's Lyceum Theatre, beginning with The Snake's Pass in 1890 and Dracula in 1897. During this period, he was part of the literary staff of The Daily Telegraph in London, and he wrote other fiction, including the horror novels The Lady of the Shroud (1909) and The Lair of the White Worm (1911). He published his Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving in 1906, after Irving's death, which proved successful, and managed productions at the Prince of Wales Theatre.
Before writing Dracula, Stoker met Ármin Vámbéry, a Hungarian-Jewish writer and traveller (born in Szent-György, Kingdom of Hungary now Svätý Jur, Slovakia). Dracula likely emerged from Vámbéry's dark stories of the Carpathian Mountains. However this claim has been challenged by many including Elizabeth Miller, a professor who, since 1990, has had as her major field of research and writing Dracula, and its author, sources, and influences. She has stated, "The only comment about the subject matter of the talk was that Vambery 'spoke loudly against Russian aggression.'" There had been nothing in their conversations about the "tales of the terrible Dracula" that are supposed to have "inspired Stoker to equate his vampire-protagonist with the long-dead tyrant." At any rate, by this time, Stoker's novel was well underway, and he was already using the name Dracula for his vampire. Stoker then spent several years researching Central and East European folklore and mythological stories of vampires.
The 1972 book In Search of Dracula by Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally claimed that the Count in Stoker's novel was based on Vlad III Dracula. However, according to Elizabeth Miller, Stoker borrowed only the name and "scraps of miscellaneous information" about Romanian history; further, there are no comments about Vlad III in the author's working notes.
Dracula is an epistolary novel, written as a collection of realistic but completely fictional diary entries, telegrams, letters, ship's logs, and newspaper clippings, all of which added a level of detailed realism to the story, a skill which Stoker had developed as a newspaper writer. At the time of its publication, Dracula was considered a "straightforward horror novel" based on imaginary creations of supernatural life. "It gave form to a universal fantasy ... and became a part of popular culture."
According to the Encyclopedia of World Biography, Stoker's stories are today included in the categories of horror fiction, romanticized Gothic stories, and melodrama. They are classified alongside other works of popular fiction, such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which also used the myth-making and story-telling method of having multiple narrators telling the same tale from different perspectives. According to historian Jules Zanger, this leads the reader to the assumption that "they can't all be lying".
The original 541-page typescript of Dracula was believed to have been lost until it was found in a barn in northwestern Pennsylvania in the early 1980s. It consisted of typed sheets with many emendations, and handwritten on the title page was "THE UN-DEAD." The author's name was shown at the bottom as Bram Stoker. Author Robert Latham remarked: "the most famous horror novel ever published, its title changed at the last minute." The typescript was purchased by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
Stoker's inspirations for the story, in addition to Whitby, may have included a visit to Slains Castle in Aberdeenshire, a visit to the crypts of St. Michan's Church in Dublin, and the novella Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu.
Stoker's original research notes for the novel are kept by the Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia. A facsimile edition of the notes was created by Elizabeth Miller and Robert Eighteen-Bisang in 1998.
Stoker at the London Library
Stoker was a member of the London Library and conducted much of the research for Dracula there. In 2018, the Library discovered some of the books that Stoker used for his research, complete with notes and marginalia.
Death
After suffering a number of strokes, Stoker died at No. 26 St George's Square, London on 20 April 1912. Some biographers attribute the cause of death to overwork, others to tertiary syphilis. His death certificate listed the cause of death as "Locomotor ataxia 6 months", presumed to be a reference to syphilis. He was cremated, and his ashes were placed in a display urn at Golders Green Crematorium in north London. The ashes of Irving Noel Stoker, the author's son, were added to his father's urn following his death in 1961. The original plan had been to keep his parents' ashes together, but after Florence Stoker's death, her ashes were scattered at the Gardens of Rest. His ashes are still stored in Golders Green Crematorium today.
Beliefs and philosophy
Stoker was raised a Protestant in the Church of Ireland. He was a strong supporter of the Liberal Party and took a keen interest in Irish affairs. As a "philosophical home ruler", he supported Home Rule for Ireland brought about by peaceful means. He remained an ardent monarchist who believed that Ireland should remain within the British Empire. He was an admirer of Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, whom he knew personally, and supported his plans for Ireland.
Stoker believed in progress and took a keen interest in science and science-based medicine. Some of Stoker's novels represent early examples of science fiction, such as The Lady of the Shroud (1909). He had a writer's interest in the occult, notably mesmerism, but despised fraud and believed in the superiority of the scientific method over superstition. Stoker counted among his friends J. W. Brodie-Innis, a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and hired member Pamela Colman Smith as an artist for the Lyceum Theatre, but no evidence suggests that Stoker ever joined the Order himself.
Like Irving, who was an active Freemason, Stoker also became a member of the order, "initiated into Freemasonry in Buckingham and Chandos Lodge No. 1150 in February 1883, passed in April of that same year, and raised to the degree of Master Mason on 20 June 1883." Stoker however was not a particular active Freemason, spent only six years as an active member, and did not take part in any Masonic activities during his time in London.
Posthumous
The short story collection Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories was published in 1914 by Stoker's widow, Florence Stoker, who was also his literary executrix. The first film adaptation of Dracula was F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu, released in 1922, with Max Schreck starring as Count Orlok. Florence Stoker eventually sued the filmmakers, and was represented by the attorneys of the British Incorporated Society of Authors. Her chief legal complaint was that she had neither been asked for permission for the adaptation nor paid any royalty. The case dragged on for some years, with Mrs. Stoker demanding the destruction of the negative and all prints of the film. The suit was finally resolved in the widow's favour in July 1925. A single print of the film survived, however, and it has become well known. The first authorised film version of Dracula did not come about until almost a decade later when Universal Studios released Tod Browning's Dracula starring Bela Lugosi.
Dacre Stoker
Canadian writer Dacre Stoker, a great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker, decided to write "a sequel that bore the Stoker name" to "reestablish creative control over" the original novel, with encouragement from screenwriter Ian Holt, because of the Stokers' frustrating history with Dracula's copyright. In 2009, Dracula: The Un-Dead was released, written by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt. Both writers "based on Bram Stoker's own handwritten notes for characters and plot threads excised from the original edition" along with their own research for the sequel. This also marked Dacre Stoker's writing debut.
In spring 2012, Dacre Stoker in collaboration with Elizabeth Miller presented the "lost" Dublin Journal written by Bram Stoker, which had been kept by his great-grandson Noel Dobbs. Stoker's diary entries shed a light on the issues that concerned him before his London years. A remark about a boy who caught flies in a bottle might be a clue for the later development of the Renfield character in Dracula.
Commemorations
On 8 November 2012, Stoker was honoured with a Google Doodle on Google's homepage commemorating the 165th anniversary of his birth.
An annual festival takes place in Dublin, the birthplace of Bram Stoker, in honour of his literary achievements. The Dublin City Council Bram Stoker Festival encompasses spectacles, literary events, film, family-friendly activities and outdoor events, and takes place every October Bank Holiday Weekend in Dublin. The festival is supported by the Bram Stoker Estate and is funded by Dublin City Council.
Bibliography
Novels
- The Primrose Path (1875)
- The Chain of Destiny (novella) (1875)
- The Snake's Pass (1890)
- The Fate of Fenella (consecutive novel, chapter 10) (1891–1892)
- The Watter's Mou' (1895)
- The Shoulder of Shasta (1895)
- Dracula (1897)
- Miss Betty (1898)
- The Mystery of the Sea (1902)
- The Jewel of Seven Stars (1903, revised 1912)
- The Man (1905); issued also as The Gates of Life
- Lady Athlyne (1908)
- The Lady of the Shroud (1909)
- The Lair of the White Worm (1911, posthumously abridged 1925); issued also as The Garden of Evil
- Seven Golden Buttons (written in 1891, much material reused in Miss Betty; posthumously published in 2015)
Short story collections
- Under the Sunset (1881) – eight fairy tales for children
- Snowbound: The Record of a Theatrical Touring Party (1908)
- Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories (1914)
Uncollected stories
Title | Date of earliest appearance | Earliest appearance | Novelisation |
---|---|---|---|
"The Crystal Cup" | September 1872 | London Society (London) | |
"Buried Treasures" | 13 March 1875 and 20 March 1875 | The Shamrock (Dublin) | |
"The Chain of Destiny" | 1 May 1875 and 22 May 1875 | The Shamrock (Dublin) | |
"The Dualitists; or, The Death Doom of the Double Born" | 1887 | The Theatre Annual (London) | |
"The Gombeen Man" | 1889–1890 | The People (London) | Chapter 3 of The Snake's Pass |
"Gibbet Hill" | 1890 | Daily Express (Dublin) | |
"Lucky Escapes of Sir Henry Irving" | 1890 | ||
"The Night of the Shifting Bog" | January 1891 | Current Literature: A Magazine of Record and Review, Vol. VI, No. 1. (New York) | |
"Lord Castleton Explains" | 30 January 1892 | The Gentlewoman: The Illustrated Weekly Journal for Gentlewomen (London) | Chapter 10 of The Fate of Fenella (Hutchinson, 1892) |
"Old Hoggen: A Mystery" | 1893 | ||
"The Man from Shorrox" | February 1894 | The Pall Mall Magazine (London) | |
"The Red Stockade" | September 1894 | The Cosmopolitan: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine (London) | |
"When the Sky Rains Gold" | 26 August and 2 September 1894 | Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper (London) | |
"At the Watter's Mou': Between Duty and Love" | November 1895 | Current Literature: A Magazine of Record and Review, Vol. XVIII, No. 5. (New York) | Part of Chapter 2 of The Watter's Mou' |
"Our New House" | 20 December 1895 | The Theatre Annual (London) | |
"Bengal Roses" | 17 and 24 July 1898 | Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper | |
"A Yellow Duster" | 7 May 1899 | Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper | |
"A Young Widow" | 1899 | ||
"A Baby Passenger" | 9 February 1899 | Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper | |
"The Seer" | 1902 | The Mystery of the Sea (New York: Doubleday, Page & Co.) | Chapters 1 and 2 of The Mystery of the Sea |
"The Bridal of Death" | 1903 | The Jewel of the Seven Stars (London: William Heinemann) | Alternate ending to The Jewel of Seven Stars |
"What They Confessed: A Low Comedian's Story" | 1908 | ||
"The Way of Peace" | 1909 | Everybody's Story Magazine (London) | |
"The 'Eroes of the Thames" | October 1908 | The Royal Magazine (London) | |
"Greater Love" | October 1914 | The London Magazine (London) |
Non-fiction
- The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland (1879)
- A Glimpse of America (1886)
- Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving (1906)
- Famous Impostors (1910)
- Great Ghost Stories (1998) (Compiled by Peter Glassman, Illustrated by Barry Moser)
- Bram Stoker's Notes for Dracula: A Facsimile Edition (2008) Bram Stoker Annotated and Transcribed by Robert Eighteen-Bisang and Elizabeth Miller, Foreword by Michael Barsanti. Jefferson, NC & London: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-3410-7
Articles
- "Recollections of the Late W. G. Wills", The Graphic, 19 December 1891
- "The Art of Ellen Terry", The Playgoer, October 1901
- "The Question of a National Theatre", The Nineteenth Century and After, Vol. LXIII, January/June 1908
- "Mr. De Morgan's Habits of Work", The World's Work, Vol. XVI, May/October 1908
- "The Censorship of Fiction", The Nineteenth Century and After, Vol. LXIV, July/December 1908
- "The Censorship of Stage Plays", The Nineteenth Century and After, Vol. LXVI, July/December 1909
- "Irving and Stage Lightning", The Nineteenth Century and After, Vol. LXIX, January/June 1911
Critical works on Stoker
- William Hughes, Beyond Dracula: Bram Stoker's Fiction and Its Cultural Context (Palgrave, 2000) ISBN 0-312-23136-9
- Belford, Barbara. Bram Stoker: A Biography of the Author of Dracula. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1996.
- Hopkins, Lisa. Bram Stoker: A Literary Life. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
- Murray, Paul. From the Shadow of Dracula: A Life of Bram Stoker (London: Jonathan Cape, 2004)
- Senf, Carol. Science and Social Science in Bram Stoker's Fiction (Greenwood, 2002).
- Senf, Carol. Dracula: Between Tradition and Modernism (Twayne, 1998).
- Senf, Carol A. Bram Stoker (University of Wales Press, 2010).
- Shepherd, Mike. When Brave Men Shudder: the Scottish origins of Dracula (Wild Wolf Publishing, 2018).
- Skal, David J. Something in the Blood: The Untold Story of Bram Stoker (Liveright, 2016)
Bibliographies
- William Hughes Bram Stoker – Victorian Fiction Research Guide
References
- "The 100 best novels: No 31 – Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897)". TheGuardian.com. 21 April 2014.
- Belford, Barbara (2002). Bram Stoker and the Man Who Was Dracula. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-306-81098-5.
- "The dark attraction of a literary landmark". The Irish Times.
- Murray, Paul (2004). From the Shadow of Dracula: A Life of Bram Stoker. Random House. p. 11. ISBN 978-0224044622.
- His siblings were: Sir (William) Thornley Stoker, born in 1845; Mathilda, born 1846; Thomas, born 1850; Richard, born 1852; Margaret, born 1854; and George, born 1855
- "Stoker Family Tree" (PDF). 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
- ^ Obituary, Irish Times, 23 April 1912
- "Bloomsbury Collections – Bram Stoker's Dracula – A Reader's Guide". www.bloomsburycollections.com. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
- Bram Stoker (1847–1912) Trinity College Dublin Writers by Jarlath Killeen
- "Dracula creator Bram Stoker born". www.history.com. A&E Television Networks. 2010. Archived from the original on 7 March 2010. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
He then worked for the Irish Civil Service while writing theatre reviews for a Dublin newspaper on the side.
- Irish Times, 8 March 1882, p. 5
- "Why Dracula never loses his bite". Irish Times. 28 March 2009. Archived from the original on 13 October 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2009.
- "Resurrected: Dracula author Bram Stoker's first attempts at Gothic horror". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- David J. Skal, Something In The Blood: The True Story Of Bram Stoker, Liveright, 2016, pp. 92–97.
- Poletti, Jonathan (4 September 2022). "The queer life of Bram Stoker". medium.com. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- Schaffer, Talia (1994). ""A Wilde Desire Took Me": The Homoerotic History of Dracula". ELH. 61 (2): 381–425. doi:10.1353/elh.1994.0019. JSTOR 2873274. S2CID 161888586. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- Shepherd, Mike (2018). When Brave Men Shudder; the Scottish origins of Dracula. Wild Wolf Publishing.
- Lee, Leonard (24 July 2016). "Travels to Whitby: My Search for Count Dracula's Birth Certificate". vamped.org. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- "The Ultimate Dracula Tour Of Whitby In England". 2 July 2021. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- "Quayside – Whitby". Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- "How Dracula Came to Whitby". English Heritage. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- "Whitby Abbey to be illuminated with bats to mark 125 years of Dracula". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
- ^ Encyclopedia of World Biography, Gale Research (1998) vol 8. pp. 461–464
- "Vampires – Top 10 Famous Mysterious Monsters". Tone.com. 14 August 2009. Archived from the original on 17 August 2009.
- ""MY FRIEND ARMINIUS"". www.ucs.mun.ca. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
- Lizzie Dearden (20 May 2014). "Radu Florescu dead: Legacy of the Romanian 'Dracula professor' remembered". The Independent. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
- Jimmie e. Cain, Jr (2006). Bram Stoker and Russophobia: Evidence of the British Fear of Russia in Dracula and the Lady of the Shroud. McFarland. p. 182. ISBN 978-0786424078.
- Miller, Elizabeth (2005). A Dracula Handbook. Xlibris Corporation. pp. 112–113. ISBN 978-1465334008.
- Light, Duncan (2016). The Dracula Dilemma: Tourism, Identity and the State in Romania. Routledge. ISBN 978-1317035312.
- Zanger, Jules (1997). Blood Read: The Vampire as Metaphor in Contemporary Culture ed. Joan Gordon. Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 17–24
- John J. Miller (28 October 2008). "What a Tax Lawyer Dug Up on 'Dracula'". WSJ.
- Latham, Robert. Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Review Annual, Greenwood Publishing (1988) p. 67
- Boylan, Henry (1998). A Dictionary of Irish Biography, 3rd Edition. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. p. 412. ISBN 978-0-7171-2945-4.
- "The Books That Made Dracula". The London Library. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
- "Bram Stoker". Victorian Web. 30 April 2008. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
- The Discussion (3rd ed.). Grade Eight – Bram Stoker: Oberon Books (for The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art). 2004. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-84002-431-9.
- Gibson, Peter (1985). The Capital Companion. Webb & Bower. pp. 365–366. ISBN 978-0-86350-042-8.
- Davison, Carol Margaret (1 November 1997). Bram Stoker's Dracula: Sucking Through the Century, 1897–1997. Dundurn. ISBN 9781554881055 – via Google Books.
- "100 years ago today: the death of Bram Stoker". OUPblog. 20 April 2012.
- Murray, Paul. From the Shadow of Dracula: A Life of Bram Stoker. 2004.
- "Shadowplay Pagan and Magick webzine – Hermetic Horrors". Shadowplayzine.com. 16 September 1904. Archived from the original on 9 November 2009. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
- Ravenscroft, Trevor (1982). The occult power behind the spear which pierced the side of Christ. Red Wheel. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-87728-547-2.
- Picknett, Lynn (2004). The Templar Revelation: Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ. Simon and Schuster. p. 201. ISBN 978-0-7432-7325-1.
- "The Story of Freemason Bram Stoker". Scottish Rite, NMJ. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
- "The Story of Freemason Bram Stoker". Scottish Rite, NMJ. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
- "The Ripper and The Lyceum: The Significance of Irving's Freemasonry". 24 November 2002. Retrieved 4 June 2019. John Pickamp; Robert Protheroug 'The Ripper and The Lyceum: The Significance of Irving's Freemasonry ' The Irving Society website
- Dracula: The Un-Dead by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt
- "Overview". www.DraculaTheUnDead.com. Archived from the original on 3 January 2010.
- Stoker, Bram. Bram Stoker's Lost Dublin Journal, ed. by Stoker, Dacre and Miller, Elizabeth. London: Biteback Press, 2012
- "Bram Stoker's 165th Birthday". www.google.com. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- Doyle, Carmel (8 November 2012). "Bram Stoker books: gothic Google Doodle honours Dracula author". Silicon Republic. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
- "Bram Stoker Festival". Bram Stoker Festival.
- "What's on in Dublin – Dublin Events, Festivals, Concerts, Theatre, family events". Visit Dublin. Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- "The Bram Stoker Festival in Dublin – 2013 Events". Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- "Bram Stoker – Miss Betty". www.bramstoker.org.
- "Long Lost Bram Stoker Story Resurfaces". Bram Stoker Festival. Dublin City Council. 19 October 2024. Archived from the original on 19 October 2024. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
- "Project MUSE". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
External links
Library resources aboutBram Stoker
- Works by Bram Stoker in eBook form at Standard Ebooks
- Works by Bram Stoker at Project Gutenberg
- Works by Bram Stoker at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Works by Bram Stoker at Open Library
- h2g2 article on Bram Stoker
- Bram Stoker at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Archival material at Leeds University Library
- Bram Stoker at IMDb
- Bram Stoker at Library of Congress, with 219 library catalogue records
Bram Stoker | |
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Novels |
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Short story collections | |
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Film adaptations of Bram Stoker's The Jewel of Seven Stars | |
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