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Last edited by MARC Bot
September 30, 2020 | History
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John William Polidori

Dr. Polidori was Lord Byron's personal physician. Upon accompanying Byron on holiday to Switzerland, he participated in a "ghost story" writing exercise.
His own story was met with scorn, but, inspired by the fragment that Byron wrote, Polidori used this base to write was would become the first modern vampire story in the English language.
His character, Lord Ruthven, an aristocratic bloodsucker based on Byron, would be used in English, French and German novels, operas and plays until the character was eclipsed by Stoker's Count Dracula.
Polidori became depressed and indebted due to gambling. His death at the age of 25 was officially classed as natural causes, but it was likely that Polidori committed suicide. There is strong evidence indicating poisoning with cyanide.
Through his sister, Polidori was the uncle to Dante Gabriel Rossetti, co-founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Photo of John William Polidori

Born 7 September 1795
Died 24 August 1821

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  • Cover of: The vampyre: a tale

    Cover of edition vampyre0000john Cover of edition vampyretale0000poli First published in 1819 — 74 editions
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  • Cover of: The Evil Image: two centuries of Gothic short fiction and poetry

    First published in 1981 — 3 editions
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  • Cover of: Polidori's Vampyre

    First published in 2002 — 2 editions
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  • Cover of: The Vampyre: And Other Tales of the Macabre (Oxford World's Classics)

    Cover of edition vampyreothertale0000poli First published in 2001 — 2 editions
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  • Cover of: Contes de vampires

    First published in 2010 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: Dissertatio medica inauguralis, quaedam de morbo, oneirodynia dicto, complectens

    First published in 1815 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: Diary, 1816, relating to Byron, Shelley, etc.: Edited and elucidated by William Michael Rossetti.

    First published in 1911 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: The diary of Dr. John William Polidori: 1816 : relating to Byron, Shelley, etc.

    First published in 1911 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: Ximenes, the wreath, and other poems

    First published in 1819 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: The fall of the angels: a sacred poem.

    First published in 1821 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: The diary of Dr. John William Polidori, 1816, relating to Byron, Shelley, etc.

    First published in 1911 — 1 edition
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  • Cover of: Relatos escalofriantes: Selección

    First published in 1999 — 1 edition
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Photo of John William Polidori

Born 7 September 1795
Died 24 August 1821

Subjects

Fiction, horror, Description and travel, Fiction, Vampires, English Horror tales, Horror tales, Vampires, fiction, American Horror tales, American literature, Boys, Children's fiction, Classic Literature, Contes littéraires, Devil, English fiction, English literature, Fiction, ghost, Gothic fiction (literary genre), Gothic revival (Literature), Horror, Horrorerzählung, Incest, Mentally ill women, Puritans, Romans, nouvelles

Places

Europe, Jefferson, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New England, Salem Village, Yoknapatawpha County

People

Colonel Sartoris, Devil, Emily Grierson, Ethelred, Faith Brown, George Gordon Byron Byron Baron (1788-1824), Goodman Brown, Goody Cloyse, Homer Barron, Madeline Usher, Mr. Grierson, Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), Roderick Usher, Tobe

Time

1600s, Antebellum era

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Alternative names

  • John Polidori
  • Dr. John William Polidori

History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON
September 30, 2020 Edited by MARC Bot add ISNI
March 31, 2017 Edited by MARC Bot add VIAF and wikidata ID
January 30, 2016 Edited by Tom Morris Edited without comment.
April 25, 2014 Edited by Xzigalia Merged names. Added birth & death dates. Added photo. Wrote bio.
April 1, 2008 Created by an anonymous user initial import