427

Matthew Gregory Lewis (1775-1818)

The Monk: A Romance.

Dublin: Printed by William Porter, [and] N. Kelly for the Proprietors, 1797.
Second Dublin edition, two 12mo volumes; bound in full uniform contemporary sheepskin, spines with later lacquering; boards detached; ex libris Nathan Comfort Starr with in volume one; rare, ESTC locates only two U.S. copies at the Houghton and the Lilly; very few copies of this edition in RBH; text leaf E2 in first volume torn; 6 3/4 x 4 in. (2)

ESTC T107675.

"The Monk is a violent, salacious, and unsettling story penned with graphic detail. Ambrosio is a Spanish monk seduced by a woman named Matilda, a demon in disguise. Matilda summons Lucifer so that Ambrosio can deflower a fifteen-year-old girl named Antonia. The Devil ultimately gives Ambrosio a myrtle bough that grants him the ability to rape Antonia without her knowing. Ambrosio tries to rape Antonia, but her mother enters her bedroom and Ambrosio murders her instead. Matilda convinces Ambrosio to concoct another potion. This time, the magic allows Ambrosio to successfully rape Antonia, who he then murders. Lewis reveals at the novel's end that Ambrosio and Antonia are siblings, thereby adding incest and matricide to Ambrosio's brimming list of sins." (Quoted from Henry Ceffalio's "The Great Monk Controversy: Religious, Moral, and Literary Criticism on The Monk, 1796-98," in the McGill Undergraduate Review of 2023: https://mcgillchannelundergraduatereview.com/2023/03/the-great-monk-controversy-religious-moral-and-literary-criticism-on-the-monk-1796-98/)

  • Condition: I: A-K12, L10. II: A-L12, M1.

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