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Last edited by MARC Bot
September 30, 2020 | History
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John William Polidori

7 September 1795 - 24 August 1821

Dr. Polidori was Lord Byron's personal physician. Upon accompanying Byron on holiday to Switzerland, he participated in a "ghost story" writing exercise.
His own story was met with scorn, but, inspired by the fragment that Byron wrote, Polidori used this base to write was would become the first modern vampire story in the English language.
His character, Lord Ruthven, an aristocratic bloodsucker based on Byron, would be used in English, French and German novels, operas and plays until the character was eclipsed by Stoker's Count Dracula.
Polidori became depressed and indebted due to gambling. His death at the age of 25 was officially classed as natural causes, but it was likely that Polidori committed suicide. There is strong evidence indicating poisoning with cyanide.
Through his sister, Polidori was the uncle to Dante Gabriel Rossetti, co-founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

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  • Cover of: The vampyre: a tale

    First published in 1819 61 editions in 1 language — 3 previewable Cover of edition vampyretale0000poli Cover of edition vampyre0000john
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  • Cover of: The Vampyre and Ernestus Berchtold;: or, The Modern OEdipus

    First published in 1994 5 editions in 1 language — 1 previewable
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  • Cover of: The Evil Image: two centuries of Gothic short fiction and poetry

    First published in 1981 3 editions in 1 language — 1 previewable
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  • Cover of: El vampiro

    First published in 1824 2 editions in 1 language
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  • Cover of: The vampyre, and other tales of the macabre

    First published in 2001 2 editions in 1 language — 2 previewable Cover of edition vampyreothertale0000unse
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  • Cover of: The vampyre, the werewolf and other gothic tales of horror

    First published in 2009 2 editions in 1 language
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  • Cover of: Polidori's Vampyre

    First published in 2002 2 editions in 1 language — 1 previewable
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  • Cover of: Ernestus Berchtold: or, The Modern oepidus, a tale

    First published in 1819 1 edition in 1 language
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  • Cover of: Contes de vampires

    First published in 2010 1 edition in 1 language — 1 previewable
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  • Cover of: Dissertatio medica inauguralis, quaedam de morbo, oneirodynia dicto, complectens

    First published in 1815 1 edition in 1 language — 1 previewable
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  • Cover of: Diary, 1816, relating to Byron, Shelley, etc.: Edited and elucidated by William Michael Rossetti.

    First published in 1911 1 edition — 1 previewable
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  • Cover of: The diary of Dr. John William Polidori: 1816 : relating to Byron, Shelley, etc.

    First published in 1911 1 edition — 1 previewable
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  • Cover of: The diary of Dr. John William Polidori, 1816, relating to Bryron, Shelley, etc.

    First published in 1978 1 edition in 1 language
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  • Cover of: The diary of Dr. John William Polidori, 1816, relating to Byron, Shelley, etc.

    First published in 1975 1 edition in 1 language
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  • Cover of: The Vampyre, 1819 (Revolution and Romanticism, 1789-1834)

    First published in 1991 1 edition in 1 language
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  • Cover of: Ximenes, the wreath, and other poems

    First published in 1819 1 edition in 1 language — 1 previewable
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  • Cover of: The fall of the angels: a sacred poem.

    First published in 1821 1 edition in 1 language — 1 previewable
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  • Cover of: The diary of Dr. John William Polidori, 1816, relating to Byron, Shelley, etc.

    First published in 1911 1 edition in 1 language — 1 previewable
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  • Cover of: Disputatio medica inauguralis, quaedam de morbo, oneirodynia dicto, complectens: quam, annuente summo numine, ex auctoritate reverendi admodum viri d. Georgii Baird ... necnon amplissimi Senatus academici consensu, et nobilissimae facultatis medicae decreto; pro gradu doctoris, summisque in medicina honoribus ac privilegiis rite et legitime consequendis

    First published in 1815 1 edition in 1 language
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  • Cover of: Ernestus Berchtold, or, The modern Œdipus: a tale

    First published in 1819 1 edition in 1 language
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Photo of John William Polidori
Subjects
Fiction, horror, Fiction, Vampires, Description and travel, English Horror tales, Vampires, fiction, Biography, Diaries, English Poets, English fiction, Friends and associates, Homes and haunts, Horror tales, Incest, Intellectual life, Poets, English, American Horror tales, American literature, Boys, Children's fiction, Classic Literature, Contes littéraires, Devil, English literature, Fiction - General
Places
Europe, Jefferson, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New England, Salem Village, Yoknapatawpha County
People
George Gordon Byron Byron Baron (1788-1824), Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), John William Polidori (1795-1821), Colonel Sartoris, Devil, Emily Grierson, Ethelred, Faith Brown, Goodman Brown, Goody Cloyse, Homer Barron, Madeline Usher, Mr. Grierson, Roderick Usher, Tobe
Time
19th century, 1600s, Antebellum era

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Alternative names

  • John Polidori
  • Dr. John William Polidori

History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON
September 30, 2020 Edited by MARC Bot add ISNI
March 31, 2017 Edited by MARC Bot add VIAF and wikidata ID
January 30, 2016 Edited by Tom Morris Edited without comment.
April 25, 2014 Edited by Xzigalia Merged names. Added birth & death dates. Added photo. Wrote bio.
June 7, 2012 Edited by VacuumBot Removed period from death date