BRAM STOKER'S RESEARCH ON DRACULA DISCOVERED

DRACULA 1st Edition, held by the British Library.

Who the hell is "Hommy Beg"? That's what I've wanted to know for years; as a matter of fact, ever since I saw the name as Bram Stoker's dedication in his most famous of horror novels, "Dracula".

Turns out Hommy Beg is the nickname given to one Hall Caine, a close friend of Stoker's and a best-selling author of the day. Mystery solved!

Bram Stoker's friend, Hall Caine (aka Hommy Beg).

But, a deeper mystery was left undiscovered until just recently, when Philip Spedding of the London Library revealed evidence that Bram Stoker used the library extensively for researching "Dracula". The evidence is in the form of notes and marginalia that Stoker made in many of the books. Now, I know that we were all told not to do this on uncertain terms, but it appears like this was an allowed practice in the 1800's. It has also shown us a rare glimpse into the type of background subjects Stoker studied in forming his story of the undead vampire.

Stoker joined the Library in 1890, when he first visited Whitby during the early development of the novel. He left his patronage of the Library after "Dracula" was published in 1897.

So, for those of you who believe that someone like Stoker was a capable enough of a writer to pull all the fantastic ideas in "Dracula" out of his admittedly imaginative brain, the story below from www.londonlibrary.co.uk will reveal the truth behind the making of one very famous monster.

Inside the London Library today.

THE BOOKS THAT MADE DRACULA

The London Library today unveiled a fascinating discovery that sheds new light on how Dracula was researched and written. We've found 26 books that are almost certainly the original copies that Bram Stoker used to help research his enduring classic.

Philip Spedding, the Library’s Development Director who made the discovery, commented: “Bram Stoker was a member of The London Library but until now we have had no indication whether or how he used our collection. Today’s discovery changes that and we can establish beyond reasonable doubt that numerous books still on our shelves are the very copies that he was using to help write and research his masterpiece.”

Philip’s detective trail began with the collection of Stoker’s handwritten and typed notes that had been discovered in 1913 but only published in facsimile form in 2008*. The notes list a wide range of Stoker’s sources for Dracula and include hundreds of references to individual lines and phrases that he considered relevant. A recent trawl of our shelves has revealed that the Library has original copies of 25 of these books, carrying detailed markings that closely match Stoker’s notebook references.

The markings range from crosses and underlinings against relevant paragraphs, to page turnings on key pages, to instructions to have someone copy entire sections into his typewritten notes.

Some of the most heavily marked books include Sabine Baring-Gould’s “Book of Were-Wolves” and Thomas Browne’s “Pseudodoxica Epidemica”. But the range of titles also sheds light on the detail of Stoker’s geographical and historical research – for example, AF Crosse’s “Round About the Carpathians” and Charles’ Boner’s “Transylvania”.

Illustration from Sabine Baring-Gould's "Book of Werewolves" (1865). 

 The suggestion that Stoker was using the Library heavily is given added weight by the timing of his seven-year membership which coincides almost exactly with the period when he was working on Dracula and beginning to develop an active writing career alongside his already very successful role as theatre manager at The Lyceum Theatre. Earlier research by our Archive Librarian Helen O’Neill showed that he joined in 1890, the year he visited Whitby and first developed the idea for his vampire story, and he finally left the Library in 1897, the year Dracula was published. His membership form is seconded by his close friend Henry Hall Caine, a bestselling author of the day, a London Library member, and the man to whom Stoker dedicated Dracula, using Hall Caine’s nickname “Hommy-Beg”.

Philip Spedding continued, “It is almost certain that the books we have found have been marked up by Bram Stoker himself and that he drew heavily on The London Library’s collection to help research Dracula. Indeed, it is not fanciful to suggest that his extraordinary tale of the Transylvanian undead has many of its origins in the quiet confines of St. James’s Square.”

Professor Nick Groom from Exeter University and a leading expert on gothic literature said, “This is a very exciting discovery. I have examined the books and their annotations with Philip Spedding and have compared them with Bram Stoker’s own notes. I am in no doubt that Bram Stoker used these very copies for Dracula – a book that took him seven years to write. They demonstrate that The London Library was the crucible of one of the most influential novels in world history.”

Philip Marshall, Director of The London Library concluded: “Bram Stoker followed the same path that many writers have pursued before and since - using the Library to transition into a serious writing career, and drawing heavily on the Library’s collection to seek inspiration and ideas for his masterpiece. With the Library’s incredible list of members past and present, some of the most famous characters in fiction must have been developed here – with today’s discovery we can feel sure that Dracula was one of them. We hope that many aspiring writers will follow Bram Stoker’s example and use The London Library as a source of inspiration and support when creating their own masterpieces.”

Watch the video as Philip Spedding tells the story behind an amazing discovery.

The Books That Created Dracula from The London Library on Vimeo.

CREATION THEATRE DRACULA PERFORMANCE

Following the discovery that the Library’s collection is intimately connection with the creation ofDracula, we're proud to announce that in February 2019 we will be hosting 18 performances of Creation Theatre’s acclaimed theatre production of “Dracula”. Tickets are on sale.

Creation Theatre have established a growing reputation for their innovative theatrical adaptions of famous books with performances taking place in dramatic and unexpected locations. “Dracula” features just two actors and draws on innovative audio-visual design to tell the story of Bram Stoker’s great creation.

18 performances will take place in The London Library Reading Room from 7.30pm on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings between 2nd February and 2nd March 2019 (2nd Feb is a Preview).

Tickets are on sale now at £28 for London Library members and £32 for non-members and £15 for Preview tickets.

BOOKS REFERENCED IN BRAM STOKER’S NOTEBOOKS THAT ARE STILL ON THE LIBRARY’S SHELVES

• Nineteenth Century XVIII, Mme Emily de Laszowka Gerard, Kegan Paul, Trench & Co, July 1885
• The Book of Were-Wolves, Sabine Baring-Gould, Smith, Elder and Co, 186
• Pseudodoxia Epidemica,Thomas Browne, 1672
• Magyarland, Nina Elizabeth Mazuchelli, Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1881
• The Golden Chersonese, Isabella Bird, John Murray, 1883
• Round about the Carpathians, AF Crosse, Blackwoods, 1878
• On the Track of Crescent, Major EC Johnson, Hurst & Blackett, 1885
• Transylvania: Its Products and Its People, Charles Boner, Longman, Green, Reader & Dyer, 1865
• An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, William Wilkinson, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1820
• Curious Myths of the Middle Ages (2 vol), Sabine Baring-Gould, Rivington, 1868
• Germany Past and Present (2 vol), Sabine Baring-Gould, C Kegan Paul & Co, 1879
• Legends & Superstitions of the Sea, Bassett
• The Origin of Primitive Superstitions, Dorman, Lippincott, 1881
• Credulities Past & Present, W Jones, Chatto & Windus, 1880
• The Folk-Tales of The Magyars, The Rev W Henry Jones and Lewis L. Kropf, The Folk-Lore Society, 1889
• Superstition & Force, HC Lea, Lea Brothers & Co, 1892
• Sea Fables Explained, Henry Lee, William Cloves & Sons, 1883
• Anecdotes of the Habits and Instincts of Birds, Reptiles and Fishes, Mrs R Lee, Grant & Griffith, 1853
• The Other World; or, Glimpses of the Supernatural. Being Facts, Records, and Traditions, FG Lee, Henry S King & Co, 1875
• Letters on the Truths Contained in Popular Superstitions, Herbert Mayo, Blackwood, 1849
• The Devil: His Origin, Greatness and Decadence, Rev Albert Réville, Williams & Norgate, 1871
• A Tarantasse Journey through Eastern Russia in the Autumn of 1856, W Spottiswode, Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans & Roberts
• Miscellany, W Spottiswode
• Traité des Superstitions qui Regardent les Sacraments (4 vol), Jean-Baptiste Thiers, Louis Chambeau, 1777
• The Phantom World: or, The Philosophy of Spirits, Apparitions &c. (2 vol), Augustin Calmet, Richard Bentley, 1850
• The Land Beyond the Forest (2 vol), E Gerard, William Blackwood & Sons, 1888

OTHER BOOKS ON THE LIBRARY’S SHELVES NOT REFERENCED IN STOKER’S NOTEBOOKS BUT CONTAINING COMPARABLE MARGINALIA

• On the Truths Contained in Popular Superstitions with an Account of Mesmerism, H Mayo, William Blackwood & Sons, 1851
• La Magie et L'Astrologie dans L'Antiquité at au Moyen Age, Didier et Cie, 1860
• Anecdotes of the Habits and Instincts of Animals, Mrs R Lee, Grant & Griffith, 1852
• Narratives of Sorcery and Magic (2 vol), Thomas Wright, Richard Bentley, 1851
• Things not Generally Known. Popular Errors Explained, John Timbs, Kent & Co, 1858
• Roumania Past and Present, James Samuelson, Longmans, Green & Co, 1882

BOOKS REFERENCED IN BRAM STOKER’S NOTEBOOKS NO LONGER ON THE LIBRARY’S SHELVES

• A Glossary of Words used in the Neighbourhood of Whitby, FK Robinson
• The Natural & Supernatural of Man, John Jones,
• History & Mystery of Previous Stones, W Jones
• Superstition Connected with Hist & Medicine

BOOKS REFERENCED IN BRAM STOKER’S NOTEBOOKS NEVER HELD BY THE LIBRARY

• Fishery Barometer Manual, Robert Scott
• The Theory of Dreams (2 vol), FC & J Rivington, St. Pauls Churchyard, 1808
• Sea Monsters Unmasked, Henry Lee
• A report in IBIS on "The Birds of Translyvania", Danford and Brown

* ‘Bram Stoker’s Notes For Dracula’ was published in 2008 in a facsimile edition annotated and transcribed by Robert Eighteen-Bisang and Elizabeth Miller.

The ruins of Whitby Abbey.

ABOUT THE LONDON LIBRARY

For nearly two hundred years The London Library has played a central role in the intellectual and cultural life of the nation and has enjoyed an association with an impressive range of members and supporters.

The London Library holds a remarkable collection of over one million books and periodicals and around 8000 new volumes are added annually. It includes some astonishing rarities and a uniquely eclectic mix of titles.

Membership is open to everyone and provides the opportunity to browse and borrow from a collection of extraordinary range and depth. Members have open access to 17 miles of books, and outstanding reading and working spaces.