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The
Tale of Terror, A Study of the Gothic Romance by Edith Birkhead
London, Constable & Company Ltd., 1921
Preface
The aim of this book is to give some account of the growth of
supernatural fiction in English literature, beginning with
the vogue
of the Gothic Romance and Tale of Terror towards the close of the
eighteenth century. The origin and development of the Gothic Romance
are set forth in detail from the appearance of Walpole's Castle of Otranto in 1764 to the publication of
Maturin's Melmoth the Wanderer
in 1820; and the survey of this phase of the novel is continued, in
the later Chapters, to modern times. One of these is devoted to the
Tale of Terror in America, where in the hands of Hawthorne and
Poe
its treatment became a fine art. In the Chapters dealing with the
more recent forms of the Tale of Terror and wonder, the scope of the
subject becomes so wide that it is impossible to attempt an
exhaustive survey.
The present work is the outcome of studies begun during my tenure of
the William Noble Fellowship in the University of Liverpool, 1916-
18. It is a pleasure to express here my thanks to Professor R.H.
Case and to Dr. John Sampson for valuable help and criticism at
various stages of the work. Parts of the MS. have also been read by
Professor C.H. Herford of the University of Manchester and by
Professor Oliver Elton of the University of Liverpool. To Messrs.
Constable's reader I am also indebted for several helpful
suggestions.
The University of Bristol - December, 1920.
Edith Birkhead
Chapters:
Preface
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
XI
XII
Analytical Index
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