Description:
[ANONYMOUS]. GEMMALIE. Paris, Ladvocat, Ponthieu, Delaunay, au Palais-Royal. 1825. Half-morocco (first half of the 19th century, maybe contemporary).First edition, extremely scarce, recorded to a handful of copies only. We have never seen described any other one bound alone in an early binding.
Lesser-known than "Lord Ruthwen", published in 1820 (also by Ladvocat), "Gemmalie" (name of a character of femme fatale who turns out to be a ghoul) is much better from a literary viewpoint and, like "Lord Ruthwen", it is an important testimony to the influence of English literature, especially Byron and his circle, on French literature. The final note of "Gemmalie" makes it clear that the decision to write it was taken "in a gathering where lord Byron's 'Vampyre' had just been read", in order to depict a beautiful feminine character "as monstrous as lord Ruthwen"—Polidori's short story was still believed to be Byron's.
Foxings throughout the volume, most of the time light, but not always.
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