The Northanger Set of the Seven Horrid Novels

The Northanger Set of Jane Austen Horrid Novels. London: The Folio Press, 1968. Edited by Devendra P. Varma. 7 vols (see below). 

Narrow Royal octavo set in Scotch Roman, display headings in Old English Text. Printed by Richard Clay. Bound by Mackay in full black buckram decorated in blind and gold; black endleaves and black coloured top edges. Housed in a black, seven-volume plain slip case. 

The present edition of these seven tales of Gothic horror was the first work published under the ‘public’ imprint of The Folio Press, and was also the first typographical book to contain no illustrations of any kind (the Psalms had been given a purely calligraphic treatment in 1952 (item 52)). The seven volumes are as follows:

[1] Castle of Wolfenbach, in two volumes, by Eliza Parsons. 252 × 150 × 18 mm. Pp. [i–viii] ix–xxiv, [1–2] 3–178 [179–180]. First published in 1793. Varma’s preface to the series is printed on pages xiii–xxiv.

[2] Clermont, a tale in four volumes by Regina Maria Roche [quotation from Edmund Waller]. 252 × 157 × 33 mm. Pp. [i–vi] vii–xii, [1–2] 3–372 [373–376]. First published in 1798.

[3] The Mysterious Warning, A German tale in four volumes by Eliza Parsons [quotation from Hamlet]. 252 × 155 × 34 mm. Pp. [i–vi] vii–xviii, [1–2] 3–380 [381–342]. First published in 1796.

[4] The Necromancer, or The Tale of the Black Forest, founded on facts, translated from the German of Lawrence Flammenberg by Peter Teuthold, in three parts. 252 × 154 × 19 mm. Pp. [i–vi] vii–xvi, [1–2] 3–157 [158]. First published in 1794.

[5] The Midnight Bell, a German Story Founded on Incidents in Real Life, in Three Volumes, by Francis Lathom [quotation from Othello]. 252 × 156 × 20 mm. Pp. [i–vi] vii–xv [xvi], [1–2] 3–196 [197–200]. First published in 1798.

[6] The Orphan of the Rhine, A Romance in Four Volumes by Eleanor Sleath [quotation from As you like it]. 252 × 156 × 34 mm. Pp. [i–vi] vii–xi [xii–xiv], [1–2] 3–359 [360–362]. First published in 1798.

[7] Horrid Mysteries, A Story translated from the German of the Marquis of Grosse by Peter Will, in four volumes. 252 × 155 × 33 mm. Pp. [i–vi] vii–xviii, [1–2] 3–357 [358]. First published in 1796.

Here is some interesting information from the Folio Society 1968 Prospectus for 'Extras & Folio Press Books'

The Gothic Novels, recommended by Isabella Thorpe in Northanger Abbey to Miss Catherine Morland as seven novels which she had been told were ‘all horrid’, were often thought to be the creations of Jane Austen’s imagination, but they are in fact very real, though they were in such demand from the circulating libraries of their day, that most copies disintegrated and they are now excessively rare. It was Montague Summers and others who proved their existence and published the proof in Notes and queries during the First World War, and Michael Sadleir identified them all in detail in 1927.

There had been other novels which may be considered more outstanding examples of the Gothic Novel, but these seven, in themselves, represent the whole chronicle of the origin, efflorescence and disintegration of Gothic Romance. Today, they may have to be read with the tongue at least slightly in the cheek, but this in no way minimizes their fascination nor their importance. Standing as they did between the great eighteenth century novelists and their nineteenth century counterparts, they influenced the course of English literature in a surprising number of ways, while their prodigious success mirrors the general taste of their period.

Nothing could give a better idea of the flavour of these remarkable books than the titles—Castle of Wolfenbach, The Necromancer of the Black Forest, The Midnight Bell, Clermont, Mysterious Warning, Horrid Mysteries and Orphan of the Rhine. Gothic villains pursue heroines through the bat-infested vaults of decaying castles, while outside a desolate landscape is swept by flashes of lightning. Interfering, brutal fathers force on their hapless offspring loathsome marriages and the fiendish officials of the Inquisition gloat as they torture. Page upon page is crimsoned with gore and turns with a ghostly flutter…

Dr D. P. Varma, Professor of English at Dalhousie University and author of The Gothic Flame, has succeeded, after years of investigation, in tracking down the first editions from which the present set has been printed, and has also written a special introduction to each volume.

‘The reprinting of the “Horrid Novels” is a major event in the history of fiction.’
Professor Robert D. Mayo.

Condition

A truly wonderful set of book, all in very-good/near-fine condition with only one or two spots of foxing to edges and the odd spot of discolouration; all with their original glassine wrappers that show a little nibbling to extremities. In a very worn, plain slipcase that is heavily enforced on the inside with tape. 

This is a very rare set to be found in any condition, let alone with books that are very good, approaching near-fine.