The Man with Letter from Bram Stoker

6b Bram Stoker. London: William Heinemann, 1905. First UK. With letter pastedown to preliminary flyleaf from Bram Stoker.

Notes

First published in 1905 by William Heinemann in London (and concurrently by William Rickey in New York under the alternative title The Gates of Life), The Man stands as one of the most unique and heavily debated novels in Bram Stoker's non-Gothic bibliography. Stepping far away from the dark, supernatural horror of Dracula, Stoker crafts a complex Edwardian romance and social drama centered on Maza Bawn, a fiercely independent, wealthy young woman raised by her father to possess the education, freedom, and athletic capabilities typically reserved for men. The narrative reaches its dramatic peak when Maza, defying the rigid Victorian courtship customs of her era, decides to boldly propose marriage to the man she loves—only to be devastatingly rejected. Stoker utilizes this emotional fallout to examine the heavy psychological weight of societal expectations, the changing roles of the "New Woman" at the turn of the century, and the nature of emotional resilience.

Abraham "Bram" Stoker (1847–1912) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, short story writer, and prominent theatrical manager whose enduring literary legacy is permanently defined by his 1897 masterpiece, Dracula. Born in Clontarf, Ireland, Stoker spent his early years bedridden by a mysterious childhood illness, during which his mother fed his vivid imagination with dark Irish folklore and harrowing tales of the 1832 cholera epidemic. Though he spent nearly thirty years as the tireless business manager for legendary actor Sir Henry Irving and the prestigious Lyceum Theatre in London—moving in the elite social circles of the late Victorian era—he wrote voraciously in his spare time. Over his career, Stoker published eighteen books spanning gothic horror, swashbuckling adventures, and progressive Edwardian romances, permanently carving his name into the global literary canon by synthesizing centuries of vampire folklore into a modern, immortal archetype of terror.

Description

Red canvas binding with gilt lettering to upper cover and spine. General fading to spine and fogging to boards. Deckled bottom edge. Pastedown letter to preliminary flyleaf written in September of 1905 and signed by Bram Stoker himself.