The Land Beyond the Forest: Facts, Figures, and Fancies from Transylvania

by Emily Gerard

The Land Beyond the Forest - Facts, Figures, and Fancies from Transylvania is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1888. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.

Genres: History, Travel, Nonfiction, Halloween, Vampires, Mythology

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1888

About the author

Jane Emily Gerard was a nineteenth-century author best known for the influence her collections of Transylvanian folklore had on Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Reviews

[Liviu · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great read if you're into or researching Transylvanian superstitions and folklore, but gods is it tough to get past some of the most condescending or straight up xenophobic colonial attitudes this lady espouses. Yeah, I know, XIXth century etc - still extremely annoying to read if you're a Romanian. This constant vexation really kept me from wanting to go back and read some more, which is probably why it took me more than half a year to get through it. It's hard to ignore the social injustices she mentions just in passing, but again, this is something you read for its documentary value and not for the author's attitude.

I've pored over the parts that interested me most very carefully, but I'll admit to skipping past entire paragraphs of mind-numbingly boring descriptions, especially of the woodland kind. A masterpiece this is not, but it's an interesting if occasionally infuriating look into a bygone time. It's free on Project Gutenberg.

[H.L. Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly not for the faint of heart, this book contains histories of Transylvania's distant past....histories that go beyond the well-worn tales of Vlad the impaler. This book inspired Bram Stoker and most likely scared the britches off of generations since the time of its printing. If you have the stomach for some of the darker chapters, it is a vibrant history meticulously collect by an English woman who loved the country and lived during a time when it was still a deadly place to live.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's very interesting to read a book that was written in 1888 about a place that hasn't changed all that much with the time.

After I finished reading it, all I could think about is going back to visit the Carpathian Mountains and Transylvannia in the Spring.

Winter was Magical and I can't imagine everything in Bloom.

[Dielleina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read! Truly insightful.