Draculais a novel by Bram Stoker. This novel is a Gothic horror story about a vampire attempting to move to England. It was first published in the UK by Archibald Constable and Company, Westminster. Over the years, there has been a great deal of debate over the exact date of publication of this book. However, in the May 27, 1897 issue of The Daily News, London, there was a review of Dracula with a headline that read: "PUBLISHED TO-DAY." The book itself is a 390 page hardcover with a yellow cloth cover stamped on the spine and front panel in red. Several weeks later Dracula was published by Hutchinson & Co., London, as a part of their Hutchinson's Colonial Library series for circulation in India and the British Colonies. According to a notice placed in the "Colonial Editions: Published since last week" section of the July 22, 1897 issue of the Booksellers Review, London, the this edition was published somewhere between July 15, 1897 and July 22, 1897. This book is a 390 page hardcover with a red cloth cover stamped on the spine and front panel in gold. About two years later, Dracula was first published in the US as serial in a daily newspaper. It appeared in twenty-eight consecutive issues of The Inter Ocean, Chicago, with the first installment appearing on Sunday, May 7, 1899 and the last on Sunday, June 4, 1999.
A. Constable and Co. (publisher) First edition book cover
Archibald Constable and Company, Westminster, 1897 Serial publication After it was published as a serial in The Inter Ocean, Dracula was reprinted as a daily or weekly serial in at least three more newspapers across the US. It appeared as follows: US book publication After its serial publication, Dracula was first published in book form in the US by Doubleday & McClure Co., New York. According to a notice in the "Notes and News" section of the September 2, 1899 issue of The New York Times, New York, it was scheduled for publication in a "day or two." This book is a 378 page hardcover with a beige cloth cover stamped on the spine and front panel in black, tan and gold. Abridged edition Dracula was republished in an abridged version in the UK by Archibald Constable and Company, Westminster. According to a short article in the "Miscellaneous" section of the May 3, 1901 issue of The Sheffield Daily Independent, Sheffield, "Mr. Bram Stoker's clever and thrilling vampire story, "Dracula," has just been added to Messrs. A. Constable and Co.'s sixpenny library of reprints." The publishers wanted to release a cheaper, easier to read version that would appeal to a wider range of people. As a result, the text was revised and reduced by approximately fifteen percent by Stoker himself. The book itself is a 144 page paperback with a white cover stamped on the spine, front panel and rear panel in blue. Excerpt An excerpt from of Dracula was published in the UK under the name "Jonathan Harker's Journal." In 1903 the second half of "Chapter I - Jonathan Harker's Journal" appeared under that title in the "New Edition" of the book The Cabinet of Irish Literature Vol. IV, Gresham Publishing Company, London. The first edition of this series of books was published in 1884 by Blackie and Son, London. "Jonathan Harker's Journal" is not present in this earlier edition since Dracula was not published until 1897. Play After he finished writing Dracula, Stoker wrote a play based on the novel under the title Dracula or, the Un-Dead in a Prologue and Five Acts. Stoker also arranged to do a reading of the script on May 18, 1897 at the Lyceum Theatre (London) in front of a small group of people to secure the copyright for the play. However, the play was never performed in front of an real audience. Availability This novel is available as a: "Jonathan Harker's Journal" is available as a: It can also be purchased online as a: Early publication notice
Pall Mall Gazette, London, June 10, 1897 |