logo
Rare letter offers glimpse into Bram Stoker's early thoughts on Dracula

Rare letter offers glimpse into Bram Stoker's early thoughts on Dracula

The Guardian16-04-2025

He had just unleashed one of the most famed gothic horror books on the world, a blood-curdling classic that chilled readers and has inspired countless authors, film-makers and video game developers ever since.
But a rare note that Bram Stoker wrote just weeks after Dracula was published in 1897 gives a glimpse into the playful fun he must have had with the novel.
In the letter – addressed to an unidentified 'Williams' – Stoker writes: 'I send you Dracula & have honoured myself by writing your name in it … Lord forgive me. I am quite shameless. Yours ever, Bram Stoker.'
Oliver Bayliss, of Bayliss Rare Books in London, who is selling the letter, said the note was personal, informal and revealing. Stoker was better known for his reserved and professional tone in the few letters that have survived but this one suggested an awareness of his book's gothic extravagance and, perhaps, a playful pride in its dark theatricality. Bayliss said letters by Stoker were rare and ones in which he mentioned Dracula by name virtually unheard of.
'Less than a handful are known to exist, and those are typically formal acknowledgments. By contrast, this letter is informal, insightful, and dated just weeks after the book's publication, making it one of the earliest and most candid authorial commentaries on the now-legendary novel.
'This letter gives us something we've never really had before: Stoker's own voice, responding to Dracula around the moment it entered the world – not as an icon of horror, but as a new, uncertain work.
'Stoker's humorous aside, 'Lord forgive me. I am quite shameless' has the ring of an artist knowingly pushing the boundaries of the gothic and enjoying it. It's theatrical, cheeky, and utterly authentic. That tone simply doesn't appear in his other known correspondence on the subject.'
Bayliss, who sells to institutions and private collectors, said: 'Given the extraordinary rarity of this letter, it will have strong appeal to both. There's also crossover with film and pop culture collectors, especially those with an eye on iconic 20th-century monsters.
'I could also see investor interest. Dracula is one of the most sought-after first editions in rare book collecting, and a letter signed by Stoker, directly referencing the vampire and revealing his early thoughts on the novel, is essentially one in a billion. Rarer than seeing a vampire in daylight.'
Sign up to Bookmarks
Discover new books and learn more about your favourite authors with our expert reviews, interviews and news stories. Literary delights delivered direct to you
after newsletter promotion
The letter came from a seller on the west coast of the US, who had acquired it from a private collection where it had been since the 1970s.
Bayliss said: 'It's rather special to bring the letter back to the city where Dracula was first published – and where the letter was, in all likelihood, written while Stoker was managing the Lyceum Theatre.'

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Caroline Quentin: Jonathan Creek star to perform in Chekov play in Edinburgh seen 'through Scottish lens'
Caroline Quentin: Jonathan Creek star to perform in Chekov play in Edinburgh seen 'through Scottish lens'

Scotsman

time19 hours ago

  • Scotsman

Caroline Quentin: Jonathan Creek star to perform in Chekov play in Edinburgh seen 'through Scottish lens'

Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Caroline Quentin is to star alongside a cast of Scottish actors in a production of an iconic Russian play told 'through a Scottish lens'. The Men Behaving Badly and Jonathan Creek star is to perform in Anton Chekov's The Seagull at the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh next season in the first show for new artistic director James Brining. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The facade of the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh. | Eamonn McGoldrick She said she was looking forward to playing in a 'proper' theatre in Edinburgh, decades after her 'first real successes as an actor' on the Fringe. Ms Quentin said: 'This production of The Seagull is the realisation of so many dreams. I have wanted to play Arkadina since I was in a production playing Masha nearly 40 years ago. 'The city of Edinburgh gave me my first real successes as an actor, on the Fringe with An Evening with Gary Lineker, Trench Kiss and Live Bed Show, all by Arthur Smith, and this year I finally get to play in a 'proper' theatre and they don't come any more beautiful and prestigious than the Lyceum.' Mr Brining, who recently moved back to Scotland after a stint at the Leeds Playhouse, said the play, which will be performed from October 9 to November 1, had been carefully selected as his first performance. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ms Quentin will take takes on the pivotal role of Arkadina, a once-celebrated actress who dominates every room she enters. Her son, the tormented young playwright Konstantin, yearns to escape her shadow, revolutionise theatre and win the heart of Nina - a luminous young woman with dreams of the stage. But when Nina's gaze turns to Arkadina's lover, the celebrated writer Trigorin, egos and passions collide with truly devastating consequences. Mr Brining said The Seagull would 'still be Russian' and have 'Russian references', but 'through a Scottish lens'. He said: 'The play is an examination of theatre itself, which is why it felt like such a perfect introduction for myself as a director in this new role. It felt like a playful choice, in some respects, for my first show, to do something that actually centres, to an extent, on what we're actually doing here, making theatre.' Mr Brining added: 'One of the reasons I was really keen to come back to Scotland to work in the Lyceum was the opportunity to make that kind of work.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Caroline Quentin in The Seagull. Pic: Steph Pyne and Mihaela Bodlovic | Lyceum During his time in Leeds, Mr Brining said he had commissioned a range of 'substantial musicals and opera'. 'I've loved doing that and I want to continue to do that kind of work,' he said. 'But what keen to do over time when I'm here is to make a diverse range of work in order to appeal to a diverse audience. At the Lyceum, I've got the opportunity to do the great plays as well, and The Seagull is exactly that. It is the kind of play we should be doing. It's an option for the Edinburgh audience to reengage in that play or maybe see it for the first time.'

Matthew Goode: Everything you need to know about the actor
Matthew Goode: Everything you need to know about the actor

Scotsman

time27-05-2025

  • Scotsman

Matthew Goode: Everything you need to know about the actor

Known for roles in shows such as Downton Abbey and The Crown, Matthew Goode will led the cast of Dept. Q. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Now the star of Netflix's Edinburgh-set detective drama Dept. Q, Matthew Goode has been appearing on our screens for the last twenty years. Whether you know him from films such as Leap Year, Stoker and The Imitation Game, or are more familiar with his appearances in shows including Downton Abbey, The Crown or A Discovery of Witches, the English actor has made himself known in a variety of supporting roles. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Matthew Goode and Jamie Sives in Dept. Q. | Netflix But with the arrival of Dept. Q on Netflix this week, Goode will be leading the cast as the brilliant but frustrating detective Carl Morck. Ahead of the show's release on May 29, here is everything you need to know about Matthew Goode. Who is Matthew Goode? Matthew Goode was born in Exeter on April 3, 1978. His father was a geologist while his mother was a nurse, who also directed amateur theatre. The youngest of five children, Goode's half sister is TV presenter Sally Meen. He grew up in the village of Clyst St. Mary, and studied at the University of Birmingham as well as the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In a recent interview with the Telegraph, Goode said: 'I'm a guy from a little village called Clyst St Mary near Exeter, and I didn't even know I wanted to be an actor before I went to university.' What TV shows and movies has Matthew Goode been in? Goode's debut screen role came in 2002, when he appeared in the made for television film Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, directed by the late Scottish director Gavin Millar. Mandy Moore and Matthew Goode arrive at the premiere of "Chasing Liberty" in 2004. | Getty Images Since then Goode has enjoyed a steady career, with roles in romcoms such as Chasing Liberty (2004), Match Point (2005) and Leap Year (2010), as well as appearances in films such as Watchmen (2009), A Single Man (2009), Stoker (2013) and The Imitation Game (2014). More recently, Goode has starred in movies such as The King's Man (2021), Freud's Last Session and Abigail (2024). As for his television roles, he is likely most familiar to Downton Abbey fans for his role as Henry Talbot. He has also appeared in series such as the 2013 adaptation of Death Comes to Pemberley, American legal drama The Good Wife, season 2 of The Crown – in which he starred as Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon – and British fantasy series A Discovery of Witches, in which he played a vampire. Matthew Goode | Getty Images for Paramount Pictu Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Matthew Goode Dept. Q As for his role in Dept. Q, Matthew Goode stars as Detective Chief Inspector Carl Morck. Based on the books by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen, the Netflix series is set in Edinburgh instead of Copenhagen. Matthew Goode stars in Netflix's new Edinburgh-set drama Dept. Q. | Jamie Simpson/Netflix Living in the Scottish capital following his divorce from his wife, Goode's character is described as a brilliant detective but a difficult colleague having recently been appointed as the head of a new cold case unit following an on-duty tragedy.

David Greig on his final production at Edinburgh's Lyceum Theatre: 'it felt vital that this play be seen in Scotland'
David Greig on his final production at Edinburgh's Lyceum Theatre: 'it felt vital that this play be seen in Scotland'

Scotsman

time26-05-2025

  • Scotsman

David Greig on his final production at Edinburgh's Lyceum Theatre: 'it felt vital that this play be seen in Scotland'

Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The American playwright Katori Hall was born in Memphis, Tennessee, 44 years ago; so it's perhaps not surprising that early in her career, when she was still only in her twenties, she was moved to write a play that revolves around one of the most momentous events ever to take place in her home city. On 4 April 1968, the great civil rights leader Martin Luther King was shot dead on the balcony of his room at the Lorraine Motel, Memphis. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The previous night, he had delivered his 'I Have Been To The Mountaintop' speech at a rally in the city, as part of an intense campaign tour. Hall's award-winning play – first seen in London in 2009 – is set in the hours following that speech, when King, alone in his room, encounters a hotel maid, Camae; a young woman with the face of an angel, who, it turns out, is something quite other than she seems. Now, the play is receiving its Scottish professional premiere at the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh. The production also marks the final production of David Greig's ten-year stint as artistic director of the theatre, as James Brining takes over the reins. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'With the world in polarised chaos,' says David Greig, 'it just felt urgent and vital to me that this play be seen in Scotland. Caleb Roberts and Shannon Hayes in rehearsals for The Mountaintop PIC: Daniel Holden 'Dr King's 'I Have A Dream' speech was such a high point in postwar history, and his assassination a corresponding low. 'Both are the seeds of so much of the world we live in now; and Katori Hall's play is a modern classic, that tackles that moment head on.' In Edinburgh, the play will be directed by Rikki Henry, a young British director who has worked extensively in France and Germany in recent years, with Shannon Hayes playing Camae, and Caleb Roberts in the role of Martin Luther King. 'I first saw the play almost ten years ago, when it was revived at the Old Vic,' say Henry, 'and it really made me concentrate, and begin to see things differently. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'It shows Martin Luther King in a new light, as a human being rather than an iconic hero, and I think there's a real urgency about reviving it now, when all these ideas are being challenged again. Caleb Roberts in rehearsals for The Mountaintop PIC: 'Towards the end of the play, King talks about legacy, and about passing on the baton of the huge campaigns he led. 'And I think that today, when there's so much political chaos, the question we have to ask is where is the baton? Who has it now, and how can we support them? "One thing the play makes clear, though, is that you don't have to be a celebrity to play your part, and to make an impact.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I've been reading a lot about Dr King's life,' says Caleb Roberts, 'and watching film of him, of course, and certainly his presence is huge, and it's a challenge to capture that. "Without giving anything away, there are aspects of this production that make it easier to show how strong he was, physically as well as emotionally and intellectually. "But he was human, too; and I hope this play encourages people at least to see him a little differently. I know theatre can't often change people's minds; but it can maybe change their perspective a little, and I hope this play does that.' And Shannon Hayes agrees. 'I think one of the most important messages of this play is that no matter how low or small you are, or feel yourself to be, your actions still matter. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "Everybody has a shared responsibility in shaping what the future looks like, and no one can avoid that responsibility by putting the whole weight on the shoulders of a leader who is supposed to fix it all. "And if we can make people feel that shared responsibility for taking Dr King's legacy forward – well, then we'll be doing a good job, with this amazing play.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store