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Tales of Wonder. Containing The Castle of Enchantment or The Mysterious Deception. The Robbers Daughter or The Phantom of the Grotto. The Magic-Legacy & c.
Full text linkTales of Wonder contains four short gothic stories. Their titles are: The Castle of Enchantment or The Mysterious Deception, The Robber\u27s Daughter or The Phantom of the Grotto, The Magic Legacy, and The Enchanted Knight; or Phebe. For a more detailed summary of each, please see the Gothic Archive\u27s supplemental materials.https://epublications.marquette.edu/english_gothic/1022/thumbnail.jp
Frontispiece from \u3cem\u3eTales of Wonder. Containing The Castle of Enchantment or The Mysterious Deception. The Robbers Daughter or The Phantom of the Grotto. The Magic-Legacy & c.\u3c/em\u3e
No full textFrontispiece from Tales of Wonder. Containing The Castle of Enchantment or The Mysterious Deception. The Robbers Daughter or The Phantom of the Grotto. The Magic-Legacy & c.https://epublications.marquette.edu/gothic_front/1007/thumbnail.jp
The Gothic Story of Courville Castle; or the Illegitimate Son, a Victim of Prejudice and Passion: Owing to the Early Impressions Inculcated with Unremitting Assiduity by an Implacable Mother Whose Resentment to Her Husband Excited Her Son to Envy, Usurpation, and Murder; but Retributive Justice at Length Restores the Right Heir to His Lawful Possessions. To Which is Added the English Earl: or the History of Robert Fitzwalter
Full text linkThe Gothic Story of Courville Castle begins with Alphonso de Courville returning to his ancestral castle after traveling through foreign lands. During Alphonso’s German travels, he had been attacked by banditti and fallen in love with Julia, a baron’s daughter. However, when Alphonso returns home to gain his uncle’s consent for his marriage, Alphonso is shocked to find Courville Castle entirely abandoned. Alphonso finds a note from his uncle explaining that Alphonso is the true owner of Courville Castle and that the uncle can no longer bear to reside there. Alphonso explores the castle and finds a decaying female corpse hidden in a chest, as well as a number of hidden rooms and passages.
Alphonso leaves the castle to return to Julia to explain the situation. While at an inn, however, Alphonso discovers Julia tending to his dying uncle, who had just saved her from an attempted kidnapping. The uncle leaves Alphonso a letter detailing his crimes against Alphonso’s parents – the murder of his father and imprisonment of his mother. Alphonso inters his uncle’s remains at Courville Castle, and is attacked during the night by a man who was his uncle’s partner in the attempted murder of Alphonso’s father. This man reveals that Alphonso’s father escaped the fate intended for him. Soon thereafter, both of Alphonso’s parents are located and are reunited with Alphonso and Julia at Courville Castle.
“The English Earl; or the History of Robert Fitzwalter” describes Robert Fitzwalter’s conflicts with his evil brother Edwin and repeated rescues of the fair Elfrida.https://epublications.marquette.edu/english_gothic/1023/thumbnail.jp
Cronstadt Castle; or, The Mysterious Visitor. An Original Romance.
Full text linkThe Count de Cronstadt retires for unknown reasons to his remote family castle with his wife, the Countess, and daughter, Joanna. The family dwells there in complete isolation for ten years until their peace is interrupted by the arrival of a young nobleman, Villeroy, who appears at the castle while the Count is away. His servant, Martin, has been gravely injured defending his master from desperadoes. The Countess agrees to care for Martin on the condition that both men remain hidden and depart without the Count knowing of their stay. Villeroy, who has taken an interest in Joanna, is curious about the Count’s self-inflicted exile. One night, a ghost-like figure appears before Villeroy and leads him to an underground vault. When he relates the incident to Martin, his servant becomes convinced the Count de Cronstadt is a murderer. The two men are interrupted by the Countess, who enters the apartment in tears and leads Villeroy to her husband, who is dying from a self-inflicted stab wound. Before he dies, the Count takes Villeroy’s hand and begs his forgiveness. The Countess explains to Villeroy (who is actually Henry, the Marquis Mont Aubin) that before his suicide, the Count confessed to having kept Henry’s father locked in the castle for the last ten years. Remembering his mysterious visitor, Henry returns to the underground vault and discovers a cellar containing his emaciated father. The entire party sits down to hear the contents of a confession left by the Count. Years before, he was good friends with the elder Marquis and Chevalier Lannoy, until the Count fell madly in love with Lannoy’s wife, Julia. The two began an affair while Lannoy was abroad and Julia became pregnant. The Count conspired with a servant, Rodolpho, to murder the chevalier on his return journey. The elder Marquis eventually discovered the affair and the Count imprisoned him to maintain the secret. The Count was finally driven to suicide when he learned Rodolpho, under torture, had recently confessed his part in the murder. The chapbook concludes with Henry and Joanna’s marriage.
The appended short story, The Unfortunate Victim, is the tale of Ludovisio Carantani, who has two daughters. In a bid to consolidate his wealth, he decides to place his daughter Olympia in a convent, while the other, Victoria, is to marry a wealthy young man. He threatens to kill Olympia if she does not take the veil at his command. She begs him to release her from confinement at the convent, since she longs to enjoy her youth. In the end, she hangs herself in the convent’s garret before her vows are complete. Her father is dragged to death by his horse immediately thereafter. Victoria’s intended husband abandons her, and Victoria dies from grief.https://epublications.marquette.edu/english_gothic/1005/thumbnail.jp
The History of Nicolas Pedrosa, and His Escape from the Inquisition in Madrid. A Tale.
Full text linkAndalusian-born Nicolas Pedrosa is a shaver, surgeon, and male-midwife living in Madrid. One day, after assisting in a birth, Nicolas is returning home when his mule becomes obstreperous and he beats it, rejecting the offered advice of a group of passing friars who counsel patience. Angered by Pedrosa\u27s reaction, the friars sweep on only to be trampled when the mule loses control because of the sound of their bells.
The next morning, Pedrosa receives a summons from the Inquisition, an especially worrisome situation for him as he is secretly a Jew. Imprisoned and tortured briefly, Pedrosa The interrogation by the Inquisitor General (Don Ignacio de Santos Apparicio, a name with obvious associations to the Jesuit Ignatius) is ended when Pedrosa reveals that he had been returning from the childbed of a woman named Donna Leonora as the Inquisitor General takes Pedrosa aside and commissions him to slip a vial of what he claims is medicine to Donna Leonora.
Suspicious of the Inquisitor General\u27s motives, Pedrosa flees to Portugal and accepts employment as a ship\u27s surgeon. Under the tutelage of the British captain, Pedrosa experiences freedom from fear of the Inquisition and is able to act to save Don Manuel, the husband of Donna Leonora, who is captured and brought aboard the ship. Though initially skeptical, Don Manuel is persuaded of the Inquisitor General\u27s evil intent when he receives a letter written by the dying Leonora.
Pedrosa and Don Manuel go to England. Once there, they receive word that the Inquisitor General has either disappeared or is dead so a return home would be safe. Pedrosa is happier, however, living in glorious and tolerant England where he can live as a Jew without fear of the Inquisition.https://epublications.marquette.edu/english_gothic/1008/thumbnail.jp
Source for The Unfortunate Victim
Full text linkThe Unfortunate Victim is a short story appended to our chapbook entitled Cronstadt Castle. The strange thing about this: Cronstadt Castle uses British spellings, but The Unfortunate Victim uses American spellings. As it turns out, this is our first evidence of a London chapbook publisher using an American source to fill space. The Unfortunate Victim ran twice in a periodical called The Dessert to the True American under a different title, The Tragical Story of Ludovisio Carantani, A Milanese and His Two Daughters. The first time was in its entirety on December 29, 1798, and the second was serially in two editions of the same magazine, January and February of 1799.https://epublications.marquette.edu/gothic_supp/1004/thumbnail.jp
Amorous Friars: Or, The Intrigues of a Convent
Full text linkContains: The history of Donna Miranda Solis ; The history of Feliciana ; Jealousy out-witted, an Italian novel ; Basil and Clara, an Italian novel ; Musinot and Mannoa, a French novel ; The enterprising friars, a French novel.https://epublications.marquette.edu/gothic_supp/1001/thumbnail.jp
The Lady\u27s Drawing Room. Being a Faithful Picture of the Great World. In Which the Various Humours of Both Sexes are Display\u27d. Drawn from the Life: and Interspers\u27d with Entertaining and Affecting Novels. The Second Edition.
Full text linkhttps://epublications.marquette.edu/gothic_supp/1002/thumbnail.jp