I’m intrigued by this list from the news clipping about New Englanders digging up the corpses of family members and burning them. Rural New Englanders would have been visited by: “the book agent, the chromo peddler, and the patent medicine man.” What is a chromo peddler? This article made me think of the character in Paulette Jules’ News of the World. I can imagine a news peddler enthralling audiences with these accounts. Great stuff!
Ooo I love it! My educated guess regarding "chromo peddlers" is that it has something to do with selling chromo-lithographs (a color printing technique). The 19th century was an exciting time for new print techniques.
How neat! Do you think Stoker started his research with the intent to write a story, or did a story idea just start to grow out of all his paraphernalia?
Perfect timing for this one. I'm glad they mention the Rosenbach Museum in the video. I've been to their Behind the Bookcase "tour" of the notes and typescript for Dracula. If you ever find yourself in Philly it's a great place to visit.
Surprising in a way, so much research needed for a fictitious character and setting, but as you point out, this meticulous dedication is exactly why it became a sensation. Chilling and fascinating: no shadow, enormous strength, sees in the dark, no looking glass….
Whilst the chronological shuffling to date order removes the to-fro narrative interleaving of Stoker's original, it produces a wonderfully energetic flow with some dates busy beyond belief with entries, and stretches of no news or updates. I'd heartily recommend it!
This is great! I just started the new podcast about the true story behind Dracula and the first one talks all about Stoker’s notes and what he incorporated into the story from history and legend.
I’m still stuck on the trunkful of desiccated rat corpses.
Oh, me too! It's just too perfectly Dracula.
I’m intrigued by this list from the news clipping about New Englanders digging up the corpses of family members and burning them. Rural New Englanders would have been visited by: “the book agent, the chromo peddler, and the patent medicine man.” What is a chromo peddler? This article made me think of the character in Paulette Jules’ News of the World. I can imagine a news peddler enthralling audiences with these accounts. Great stuff!
Ooo I love it! My educated guess regarding "chromo peddlers" is that it has something to do with selling chromo-lithographs (a color printing technique). The 19th century was an exciting time for new print techniques.
How neat! Do you think Stoker started his research with the intent to write a story, or did a story idea just start to grow out of all his paraphernalia?
He definitely wanted to write a story--he had been experimenting with writing for some time, but not very successfully.
Perfect timing for this one. I'm glad they mention the Rosenbach Museum in the video. I've been to their Behind the Bookcase "tour" of the notes and typescript for Dracula. If you ever find yourself in Philly it's a great place to visit.
I can't believe I've never been to the Rosenbach! I would love to take that tour!
He was a great writer but a terrible handwriter.
Very true--it's something Stoker himself admitted. Thankfully, the two aren't correlated ;)
Surprising in a way, so much research needed for a fictitious character and setting, but as you point out, this meticulous dedication is exactly why it became a sensation. Chilling and fascinating: no shadow, enormous strength, sees in the dark, no looking glass….
Some novelists do more research than historians!
I've read Dracula, and a fair few books on it (and vampire tales more broadly), but I did really enjoy reading via https://open.substack.com/pub/draculadaily?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2chyhh
Whilst the chronological shuffling to date order removes the to-fro narrative interleaving of Stoker's original, it produces a wonderfully energetic flow with some dates busy beyond belief with entries, and stretches of no news or updates. I'd heartily recommend it!
Oh, yes! I love the idea of daily Dracula. There really is a substack for everything!
This was so fun! 😍
So glad you enjoyed it, Jenovia!
I love this post! I re-read Dracula almost every October and it's fascinating to see the research that went into it.
Out of all the fictional monsters, Dracula was always the one that fascinated me most! 🧛🏻 So cool to get some insight into the author’s process
I've heard that there are "vampire people" and "zombie people". I'm definitely a vampire person.
Dracula camp for sure! And pretty fitting as I’m also spider team 🕸️ (versus bees ;)
Obviously, I'm forever team bee! But yes, you are totally a spider.
Thank you for this timely and fascinating journey into Stoker's notes and the vampire myth.
You're welcome, David! Thanks for your comment!
Fascinating stuff 🧛
Glad you thought so too, B.A.!
This is great! I just started the new podcast about the true story behind Dracula and the first one talks all about Stoker’s notes and what he incorporated into the story from history and legend.
Ok, am I the only one who must know more about the third trunk full of desiccated rat corpses?
Plus, if I am correct on this, the book is written as a collection of diary entries. Relevant?
This was awesome. Right up my alley. Thanks for the video by Spedding. It's great to see those books.
I saw this special edition recently, which looks very cool: https://www.beehivebooks.com/products/dracula