Question of the Week – January 4, 2009
Did anything notable or surprising occur during the writing process?
We discovered 124 pages of Bram’s handwritten notes on his original draft of his 1897 novel, “Dracula” stored at the Rosenbacjh Library in Philadelphia. In the notes we discovered characters and plot points and hints of existing character backgrounds that were edited out of Bram’s work. We used these bits of tantalizing clues as to what Bram Stoker had in mind to craft our sequel. It was almost as if the ghost of Bram was at ourside whispering in our ear as we wrote.
I just wanted to add that these notes that Bram had compiled over 5 years are now available to the general public in a published book! Elizabeth Miller and Robert Eighteen- Bisang have recently released a book called “Bram Stoker’s Notes for Dracula” These notes have been annotated and transcribed in a very easy and understandable manner. You could still plan a visit to the Rosenbach, or buy a copy of this book if you are really into this type of research.
How the blazes did it end up there at the Rosenbach Library in Philadelphia? What neglect in Dublin for testaments of it’s cultural hritage.
I’ll need to look up the Miller-Eighteen book. I purchased Christie’s 40+ page booklet on the original typewritten manuscript that was published when it was placed on the auction block in 2002 and I also own Stoker’s stage play, DRACULA OR THE UN-DEAD (along with the famous Balderston/Deane play). Naturally, the news of publication of the annotated notes is of tremendous interest to me.
As for how Stoker’s Notes ended up in Philadelphia, we know just part of the story. The papers were sold at auction (Sotheby’s) in London in 1913, the year after Stoker’s death. The purchaser was a New York book-dealer named James Drake. Then the trail becomes somewhat hazy. In 1970, a Philadelphia bookseller (Charles Sessler) sold them to the Rosenbach brothers. They have remained at the Rosenbach Museum & Library (Philadelphia) ever since. Our edition of the Notes, containing a full set of facsimile pages, along with complete transcription (Stoker’s handwriting was atrocious) and copious annotations, was published by McFarland a few months ago. For details check http://www.blooferland.com/drc