POLIDORI New Theatre, Bridgenorth.- On Tuesday evening, February 11th, 1834, will be presented the laughable piece, called Turning the Tables… After which, the admired Melo-Drama of, The Vampire, or, The Bride of the Siles. Characters in the vision: The Vampire, Mr. Gregory… A variety of singing by Mr. & Mrs. Phillips, Mr. Ranoe, & Mr. Wood. The whole to conlude with the laughable Farce of The Lottery Ticket and Lawyer’s Clerk.

Very rare handbill for the celebrated theatre play The Vampire, inspired by the work The Vampyre, written by Polidori in 1819.

The latter was based on the story by Lord Byron, written as a contest between Polidori, Lord Byron, Mary Shelley and Percey Shelley during a stay at villa Diodati on Lake Geneva. Often described as the birth of Gothic literature, the writers produced, other than The Vampyre, the seminal work Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus.

The Vampyre was edited in 1820 by Charles Nodier and introduced to the French readers, based on the translation by Cyprien Bérard. The theatre play proved to be a great success and was first performed on 19 August 1819. The principal actors of this presentation of 1834 are : The Vampire (Mr. Gregory), Lady Margaret (Miss Stanton), Ariel, the spirit (Miss H. Stanton), Unda, Spirit of the Flood (Miss E. Stanton), Ruthven (again Mr Gregory), Willie (Mr. Eccles) and many other.

Very good condition.