St. Leon: a tale of the sixteenth century … in four volumes.

First edition. 4 vols. 12mo (11 x 18cm) [4], xii, 331, [1]; [4], 331, [1]; [4], 286; [4], 336pp., with half-titles in each volume, early nineteenth century bookplates ( Conyngham ), very good in contemporary marbled boards backed in red leather, flat spines ruled and lettered direct in gilt, small foliage device at centre of each compartment, light wear to extremities. First edition of this supernatural gothic tale, the second novel written by the philosopher William Godwin (1756-1836), father of Mary Shelley (1797-1851). Set in the sixteenth century, the narrative centres on St. Leon, a French nobleman impoverished by gambling, who is gifted the secrets of the philosophers stone and elixir of immortality by a wandering Venetian alchemist. Rather than leading to a life of contentment, his wealth and Rosicrucian knowledge casts St. Leon into isolation as a pariah. He experiences a series of misfortunes in the course of his travels, suffering persecution in Italy, imprisonment in Spain, and the loss of his family. In Hungary he establishes a friendship with a gothic giant named Bethlem Gabor, however Gabor desires St. Leon s arcane secrets, turning against him and incarcerating him in the dungeon of his castle. St. Leon s escape is facilitated by an attack on the castle by Austrian soldiers. It transpires that his son, Charles, is the commander of the force, and St. Leon attempts their reconciliation. An influence on Mary Shelley s Frankenstein (1818), and Charles Maturin s Melmoth the wanderer (1820), Godwin s novel is recognised as a pioneering experiment in genres, merging elements of the supernatural, philosophical and domestic. This handsome set bears the bookplates of the Anglo-Irish courtier Henry Conyngham, 1st Marquess Conyngham (1766-1832). Garside, Raven & Schöwerling 1799:42. Frank, The first Gothics 140.