The Book of Vampires, Wright, Dudley. Published by Dorset Press, New York, 1987. 8vo up to 9½” tall., 217pp. Quarter red cloth over black boards, gilt spine titles. Volume is in unread condition; unclipped jacket has light scuffing.
Originally published in 1914, this was the first serious study of vampirism in the English language. Wright examines the body of evidence and discusses vampirism as an observable phenomenon with distinct scientific, sociological, mythic, and literary elements. The result is an excellent introduction to the subject. Dudley Wright (1868-1950) was an English writer, historian, occultist, scholar of Islam and a Mason; at one point the editor of England’s most influential Masonic newspaper, The Freemason.
