Théophile Gautier

This volume gathers the weird and fantastic tales of Th ophile Gautier (1811-1872), a pioneering French author whose weird work includes such distinctive tales as the Egyptian fantasies "One of Cleopatra's Nights" and "The Mummy's Foot," the classic vampire story "Clarimonde," and an entrancing novella of psychic transference, "Avatar." Gautier's tales feature a haunting fusion of eroticism and weirdness, in consonance with his view that the human female constituted the most exalted form of beauty in all creation. The evocative translations of Lafcadio Hearn and Edgar Saltus have been used in this volume. The Classics of Gothic Horror series seeks to reprint novels and stories from the leading writers of weird fiction over the past two centuries or more. Ever since the Gothic novels of the late 18th century, weird fiction has been a slender but provocative contribution to weird fiction. Edgar Allan Poe, Ambrose Bierce, the Victorian ghost story writers, the "titans" of the early twentieth century (Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, Lord Dunsany, M. R. James, H. P. Lovecraft), the Weird Tales writers, and many others contributed to the development and enrichment of weird fiction as a literary genre, and their work deserves to be enshrined in comprehensive, textually accurate editions. S. T. Joshi, a leading authority on weird fiction, has done exactly that in establishing this series. Using scholarly resources honed over decades of wide-ranging research, he has assembled volumes featuring not only the complete weird writings of the authors in question, but exhaustive bio-critical introductions and bibliographical data.

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e trouve pas trange, homme du monde, artiste, Qui que tu sois, de voir par un portail si triste S'ouvrir fatalement ce volume nouveau. H las tout monument qui dresse au ciel son fa te, Enfonce autant les pieds qu'il l ve la t te. Avant de s' lancer tout clocher est caveau, En bas, l'oiseau de nuit, l'ombre humide des tombes; En haut, l'or du soleil, la neige des colombes, Des cloches et des chants sur chaque soliveau; En haut, les minarets et les rosaces fr les, O les petits oiseaux s'enchev trent les ailes, Les anges accoud s portant des cussons.

"... la p te verte dont le docteur venait de nous faire une distribution tait pr cis ment la m me que le Vieux de la Montagne ing rait jadis ses fanatiques sans qu'ils s'en aper ussent, en leur faisant croire qu'il tenait sa disposition le ciel de Mahomet et les houris de trois nuances, - c'est- -dire du hachich, d'o vient hachichin, mangeur de hachih, racine du mot assassin, dont l'acception f roce s'explique parfaitement par les habitudes sanguinaires des affid s du Vieux de la Montagne. Assur ment, les gens qui m'avaient vu partir de chez moi l'heure o les simples mortels prennent leur nourriture ne se doutaient pas que j'allasse l' le Saint-Louis, endroit vertueux et patriarcal s'il en fut, consommer un mets trange qui servait, il y a plusieurs si cles, de moyen d'excitation un cheik imposteur pour pousser des illumin s l'assassinat. Rien dans ma tenue parfaitement bourgeoise n'e t pu me faire soup onner de cet exc s d'orientalisme; j'avais plut t l'air d'un neveu qui va d ner chez sa vieille tante que d'un croyant sur le point de go ter les joies du ciel de Mohammed en compagnie de douze Arabes on ne peut plus Fran ais..."

It is fascinating story about mad, no-right-no-wrong passion between Romuald, a young priest and the story s narrator, and Clarimonde, a supernaturally beautiful courtesan and vampire. Gautier s imagery and writing are gorgeous and never seedy, despite Clarimonde s prostitution and references to her "impure", orgy-filled life, and in her sumptuous Romantic elegance, Clarimonde is more interesting than most modern vampires.