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The diary of Dr. John William Polidori, 1816, relating to Bryron, Shelley, etc
This volume contains a collection of diary entries written by Dr. John William Polidori. They were penned while he accompanied Lord Byron as his personal physician. It contains interesting and insightful anecdotes of the experiences that they had while travelling through Europe, and it will be of considerable utility to anyone with an interest in the seminal romantic poet. The chapters of this volume Ghent, The Diary of Polidora, Antwerp, Brussels, Waterloo, Chateau du Lac, Battice, St. Juliers, Cologne, The Rhine, Coblentz, Mayence, Carlsruhe, Jura Mountains, etcetera. John William Polidori (1795 - 1824) was an English writer and physician. He is famous for his association with the Romantic Movement, and is credited as the originator of the 'vampire genre' in fiction. Many vintage texts such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive, and it is with this in mind that we are republishing this book now, in an affordable, high-quality, modern edition. It comes complete with a specially commissioned biography of the author."
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1975
About the author
John William Polidori
344 books178 followersJohn William Polidori was an Italian English physician and writer, known for his associations with the Romantic movement and credited by some as the creator of the vampire genre of fantasy fiction.
Polidori was the oldest son of Gaetano Polidori, an Italian political émigré scholar, and Anna Maria Pierce, a governess. He had three brothers and four sisters.
He was one of the earliest pupils at recently established Ampleforth College from 1804, and in 1810 went up to the University of Edinburgh, where he wrote a thesis on sleepwalking and received his degree as a doctor of medicine on 1 August 1815 at the age of 19.
In 1816 Dr. Polidori entered Lord Byron's service as his personal physician, and accompanied Byron on a trip through Europe. At the Villa Diodati, a house Byron rented by Lake Geneva in Switzerland, the pair met with Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, and her husband-to-be, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and their companion (Mary's stepsister) Claire Clairmont.
One night in June, after the company had read aloud from the Tales of the Dead, a collection of horror tales, Byron suggested that they each write a ghost story. Mary Shelley worked on a tale that would later evolve into Frankenstein. Byron wrote (and quickly abandoned) a fragment of a story, which Polidori used later as the basis for his own tale, The Vampyre, the first vampire story published in English.
Rather than use the crude, bestial vampire of folklore as a basis for his story, Polidori based his character on Byron. Polidori named the character "Lord Ruthven" as a joke. The name was originally used in Lady Caroline Lamb's novel Glenarvon, in which a thinly-disguised Byron figure was also named Lord Ruthven.
Polidori's Lord Ruthven was not only the first vampire in English fiction, but was also the first fictional vampire in the form we recognize today—an aristocratic fiend who preys among high society.
Dismissed by Byron, Polidori travelled in Italy and then returned to England. His story, "The Vampyre", was published in the April 1819 issue of New Monthly Magazine without his permission. Whilst in London he lived and died in Great Pulteney Street (Soho). Much to both his and Byron's chagrin, "The Vampyre" was released as a new work by Byron. Byron even released his own Fragment of a Novel in an attempt to clear up the mess, but, for better or worse, "The Vampyre" continued to be attributed to him.
His long, Byron-influenced theological poem The Fall of the Angels, was published anonymously in 1821.
He died in August 1821, weighed down by depression and gambling debts. Despite strong evidence that he committed suicide by means of prussic acid, the coroner gave a verdict of death by natural causes.
His sister Frances Polidori married exiled Italian scholar Gabriele Rossetti, and so John is the uncle of Maria Francesca Rossetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti and Christina Rossetti, though they were born after his death.
His sister Charlotte made a transcription of his Diaries, but censored "peccant passages" and destroyed the original. Based only on the transcripton, The Diary of John Polidori was edited by William Michael Rossetti and first published in 1911 by Elkin Mathews (London). A reprint of this book, The diary of Dr. John William Polidori, 1816, relating to Byron, Shelley, etc was published by Folcroft Library Editions (Folcroft, Pa.) in 1975. Another reprint by the same title was printed by Norwood Editions (Norwood, Pa.) in 1978.
A number of films have depicted John Polidori and the genesis of the Frankenstein and "Vampyre" stories in 1816: Gothic directed by Ken Russell (1986), Haunted Summer directed by Ivan Passer (1988) and Remando al viento (English title: Rowing with the Wind) directed by Gonzalo Suárez (1988). He also appears as a minor and unsympathetic character in the Tim Powers horror novel The Stress o
Polidori was the oldest son of Gaetano Polidori, an Italian political émigré scholar, and Anna Maria Pierce, a governess. He had three brothers and four sisters.
He was one of the earliest pupils at recently established Ampleforth College from 1804, and in 1810 went up to the University of Edinburgh, where he wrote a thesis on sleepwalking and received his degree as a doctor of medicine on 1 August 1815 at the age of 19.
In 1816 Dr. Polidori entered Lord Byron's service as his personal physician, and accompanied Byron on a trip through Europe. At the Villa Diodati, a house Byron rented by Lake Geneva in Switzerland, the pair met with Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, and her husband-to-be, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and their companion (Mary's stepsister) Claire Clairmont.
One night in June, after the company had read aloud from the Tales of the Dead, a collection of horror tales, Byron suggested that they each write a ghost story. Mary Shelley worked on a tale that would later evolve into Frankenstein. Byron wrote (and quickly abandoned) a fragment of a story, which Polidori used later as the basis for his own tale, The Vampyre, the first vampire story published in English.
Rather than use the crude, bestial vampire of folklore as a basis for his story, Polidori based his character on Byron. Polidori named the character "Lord Ruthven" as a joke. The name was originally used in Lady Caroline Lamb's novel Glenarvon, in which a thinly-disguised Byron figure was also named Lord Ruthven.
Polidori's Lord Ruthven was not only the first vampire in English fiction, but was also the first fictional vampire in the form we recognize today—an aristocratic fiend who preys among high society.
Dismissed by Byron, Polidori travelled in Italy and then returned to England. His story, "The Vampyre", was published in the April 1819 issue of New Monthly Magazine without his permission. Whilst in London he lived and died in Great Pulteney Street (Soho). Much to both his and Byron's chagrin, "The Vampyre" was released as a new work by Byron. Byron even released his own Fragment of a Novel in an attempt to clear up the mess, but, for better or worse, "The Vampyre" continued to be attributed to him.
His long, Byron-influenced theological poem The Fall of the Angels, was published anonymously in 1821.
He died in August 1821, weighed down by depression and gambling debts. Despite strong evidence that he committed suicide by means of prussic acid, the coroner gave a verdict of death by natural causes.
His sister Frances Polidori married exiled Italian scholar Gabriele Rossetti, and so John is the uncle of Maria Francesca Rossetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti and Christina Rossetti, though they were born after his death.
His sister Charlotte made a transcription of his Diaries, but censored "peccant passages" and destroyed the original. Based only on the transcripton, The Diary of John Polidori was edited by William Michael Rossetti and first published in 1911 by Elkin Mathews (London). A reprint of this book, The diary of Dr. John William Polidori, 1816, relating to Byron, Shelley, etc was published by Folcroft Library Editions (Folcroft, Pa.) in 1975. Another reprint by the same title was printed by Norwood Editions (Norwood, Pa.) in 1978.
A number of films have depicted John Polidori and the genesis of the Frankenstein and "Vampyre" stories in 1816: Gothic directed by Ken Russell (1986), Haunted Summer directed by Ivan Passer (1988) and Remando al viento (English title: Rowing with the Wind) directed by Gonzalo Suárez (1988). He also appears as a minor and unsympathetic character in the Tim Powers horror novel The Stress o
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 27, 2013
I thought I'd check this book out for some screenplay research on early nineteenth century dialogue as well as my interest in that June 1816 night in Switzerland when Frankenstein's Monster and "Dracula" (or at least a very early literary incarnation) were born. It was an interesting, quick read and illustrated the short, strained relationship Polidori had with Lord Byron - whom he had been hired by to be a travelling companion and physician. I had read elsewhere that he and Byron had been lovers but there's absolutely no indication of that here; rather, there are numerous reference by Polidori to the visual quality (or lack thereof...) of the women in their extensive travels. There's also some interesting foreshadowing of Polidori's impending suicide (e.g., he cried a great deal when alone) only a few years after his diary entries ended. Ultimately, the book is a good snapshop of a man who was one of the earliest in English literature to write about vampires (preceding Stoker by almost 80 years) and also who, for a brief time, flew with some literary giants and got his wings clipped in the process.
February 7, 2017
An interesting, if possibly unreliable, diary of Dr. John Polidori, who was for a short time Lord Byron's doctor and traveling companion. Polidori's sister transcribed the diary and admitted editing out some unsavory pieces. She then destroyed the original manuscript. His nephew then edited and published his aunt's transcript.
Having said that, it was fun to read his entries that coincided with Byron working on Childe Harold and Mary Wollstonecraft working on Frankenstein.
Having said that, it was fun to read his entries that coincided with Byron working on Childe Harold and Mary Wollstonecraft working on Frankenstein.
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April 18, 2025Polidori can't catch a break even in the publication of his own diary. It's littered with his irritating nephew's asides, suppositions and defences of Byron's thoughts and actions, casting the poor man once again into Byron's shadow.
May 10, 2018
3.5. Interesting, fun to read!
July 15, 2013
Wonderful turns of phrase and word usage (though some of them seem made up, which I enjoy). Very amusing; I laughed out loud several times. An interesting historical travel guide, very neat to read about somewhere I have been (Cologne) 200 years before I was there. Also interesting to read about Napoleon as recent history/current events.
(Note: This did not help my Gothic inspired shipping of Polidori/Byron)
(Note: This did not help my Gothic inspired shipping of Polidori/Byron)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews