Dracula | 1897, first edition of one of the most sought after books in collecting.

A book to really sink ones teeth into.....

I am delighted to share an incredibly special new arrival to the shelves at Bayliss Rare Books: the first edition of Bram Stoker's magnum opus, Dracula, published in 1897.

According to Stoker's son Noel, the genesis of Dracula was a terrifying dream about a vampire king rising from his tomb, brought on by eating too much lobster.  Now just over a hundred years since it was first published (and from such a surreal conception), Dracula asserts a profound hold on the popular imagination. As a character, Count Dracula remains an archetype of exceptionally enduring power. His nocturnal savageries are both deeply repellent and yet strangely compelling. An impressive first edition and a book that commands as much of a hold upon the collector as the Count might do upon a victim!

Published in 1897, this particular first edition is elevated by being bound in the entirely original yellow and red publisher's cloth. A rarer find than one might expect these days as most copies have either been rebound or restored. 

Description and Condition:

First edition, second impression, with the 1 page "The Shoulder of Shasta" final ad leaf integral to the text, bound in the publisher's original red stamped yellow cloth. Mild general overall handling, head and foot of spine fine, outer hinges fine, back corners still square, inner hinges just starting, ding to the head of spine affecting the first 2 letters in Dracula, 2 short closed tears to text, small red ownership stamp to front blank endleaf and half title otherwise internally clean and bright, housed in a red morocco backed clamshell slipcase.

Published by Archibald Constable and Company, London , 1897.