 First edition, volume 1title page with an engraving depicting "Der Freischütz" | |
| Author | Johann August Apel,Friedrich Laun,Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué,Carl Borromäus von Miltitz |
|---|---|
| Country | Kingdom of Saxony |
| Language | German |
| Genre | Gothic fiction |
| Publisher | G. J. Göschen |
| Published | 1810–1817 |
| Media type | |
| No. of books | 7 |
| OCLC | 43030162 |
| Followed by | Wunderbuch(vols. 5–7);Aus der Geisterwelt |
TheGespensterbuch (literally 'Ghost Book' or 'Book of Spectres'[1]) is a collection of Germanghost stories written byAugust Apel andFriedrich Laun and published in seven volumes between 1810 and 1817. Volumes five to seven were also published under the titleWunderbuch ('Book of Wonders'). The final volume was published after Apel's death, with stories by his friendsFriedrich de la Motte Fouqué andCarl Borromäus von Miltitz. Laun, Fouqué, Miltitz, andCaroline de la Motte Fouqué followed up on the series by publishing another book of ghost storiesAus der Geisterwelt ('From the Spirit-World') (1818).
| Volume | Year | Original title | Literal translation | Author | First English translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1810 | "Der Freischütz" | 'The Freeshooter' | Apel | 1823 |
| "Das Ideal" | 'The Ideal' | Laun | |||
| "Der Geist des Verstorbenen" | 'The Ghost of the Deceased' | Laun | 2005 | ||
| "König Pfau" | 'KingPeacock' | Apel | |||
| "Die Verwandtschaft mit der Geisterwelt" | 'The Connection with the Spirit-World' | Laun | 1813 | ||
| 2 | 1811 | "Die Todtenbraut" | 'The Dead Bride' | Laun | 1813 |
| "Die Bräutigamsvorschau" | 'The Bridegroom Preview' | Apel | 1845 | ||
| "Der Todtenkopf" | 'TheDeath's Head' | Laun | 1813 | ||
| "Die schwarze Kammer" | 'The Black Chamber' | Apel | 1823 | ||
| "Das Todesvorzeichen" | 'The Death Omens' | Laun | 1825 | ||
| "Der Brautschmuck" | 'The Bridal Jewelry' | Apel | 1826 | ||
| "Empusa-Lamia: Griechische Sage" | 'Empusa-Lamia: Greek Legend' | Apel | 1824 | ||
| "Asvit und Asmund: Nordische Sage" | 'Asvid and Asmund: Norse Legend' | Apel | |||
| "Alp" | 'Alp' | Apel | 1845 | ||
| "Der Rabe: Griechisches Märchen" | 'The Raven: Greek Tale' | Apel | 1823 | ||
| "Hildur's Zauberlied: Nordische Sage" | 'Hildur's Magic Song: Norse Legend' | Apel | |||
| 3 | 1811 | "Die Vorbedeutungen" | 'The Portents' | Laun | |
| "Klara Mongomery" | 'ClaraMontgomery' | Apel | 1825 | ||
| "Der Gespensterläugner" | 'The Ghost-Deniers' | Laun | |||
| "Das Geisterschloß" | 'The Ghost-Castle' | Apel | |||
| "Der Geisterruf" | 'The Ghost Call' | Apel | 1835 | ||
| "Der Todtentanz" | 'TheDance of the Dead' | Apel | 1824 | ||
| 4 | 1811 | "Zwei Neujahrsnächte" | 'TwoNew Year's Nights' | Apel | 1824 |
| "Der verhängnißvolle Abend" | 'The Fateful Evening' | Laun | |||
| "Zauberliebe" | 'Magic Love' | Apel | |||
| "Die Braut im Sarge" | 'The Bride in the Coffin' | Laun | |||
| "Das unterirdische Glück" | 'The Underground Fortune' | Laun | |||
| 5[note 1] | 1815 | "Der Heckethaler" | 'The HedgeThaler' | Laun | |
| "Der Liebesschwur" | 'The Love Oath' | Laun | |||
| "Die Ruine von Paulinzell" | 'The Ruins of Paulinzell' | Apel | |||
| "Die Hausehre" | 'The House-Honour' | Laun | |||
| "Die Schuhe auf den Stangen" | 'The Shoes on the Poles' | Apel | |||
| "Legende" | 'Legend' | Laun | |||
| "Das silberne Fräulein" | 'The Silver Maiden' | Apel | 1837 | ||
| 6[note 2] | 1816 | "Swanehild" | 'Swanhilda' | Laun | |
| "Der Schutzgeist" | 'The Guardian Spirit' | Apel | 1824 | ||
| "Die Wachsfigur" | 'TheWax Sculpture' | Laun | |||
| "Blendwerke" | 'Illusions' | Laun | |||
| "Das Meerfräulein" | 'TheMermaid' | Laun | 1824 | ||
| "Der Mönch" | 'The Monk' | Laun | |||
| "Der rothe Faden" | 'The Red Thread' | Laun | |||
| "Der Lügenstein" | 'The Lying Stone' | Laun | |||
| 7[note 3] | 1817 | "Die drei Templer" | 'The ThreeTemplars' | Fouqué | |
| "Der Liebesring" | 'TheLove Ring' | Laun | |||
| "Die Jungfrau des Pöhlberges" | 'The Maiden of thePöhlberg' | Laun | |||
| "Der Bergmönch" | 'The Mountain Monk' | Miltitz | |||
| "Die Fräulein vom See" | 'The Maidens from the Lake' | Laun | |||
| "Muhme Bleich" | 'Aunt Pale' | Miltitz | |||
| "Friedbert" | 'Friedbert' | Miltitz | |||
| "Altmeister Ehrenfried und seine Familie" | 'Head Master Ehrenfried and His Family' | Fouqué | 1826 |
According toFriedrich Laun's memoirs, Laun had stayed a week at Apel's family estate at Ermlitz, nearSchkopau. A few stories were told about ghosts that appeared there at and after dusk, from the times when a high court was located nearby. These stories made such an impression on Apel and Laun, that when they returned toLeipzig they recounted them to their friends over tea. This proved very popular, and they started to holdGespensterthee ('ghost tea') evenings from time to time, where ghost stories were told, and which led Apel and Laun to write theGespensterbuch.[2]
Apel and Laun included stories both with and without ghosts, but also those where the question is left open – an innovation that was later expanded on by other authors.[3]They tried to add variety to the first volume by adding two comic fairy tales: "König Pfau" (Apel's retelling ofMadame d'Aulnoy's "La Princesse Rosette"[4]) and "Das Ideal" (an original tale by Laun), but the response to these stories was negative, and they did not include fairy tales in later volumes.[2] The first volume also included "Der Freischütz", a story written by Apel about a hunter making a pact with the devil.Johann Georg Theodor Grässe traced the origin of this story to a 1730 book calledMonatliche Unterredungen aus dem Reich der Geister ('Monthly Conversations from the Spirit-World') which contained a similar story taken from a 1710 court session inBohemia. Laun owned a copy of this book, and Grässe theorised that he brought the story to the attention of Apel.[5][6] Some characters in the stories may have been based on personal acquaintances, suchCarl Friedrich Wilhelm Wagner (1770–1813), a police actuary, who may have inspired "Aktuarius Wermuth" in "Die schwarze Kammer".[7]
Both Apel and Laun knewJohann Wolfgang von Goethe, whose playClaudine von Villa Bella (1776) may have influenced Laun's "Die Todtenbraut". Scholar Robert Stockhammer notes that "Der Todtenkopf" contains characters inspired byCagliostro, who Goethe had written on, and who may have been discussed when Laun visited Goethe in 1804.[8] Goethe's "Erlkönig" (1782) also inspired Apel's poem "Alp".[9][10][11]
For the fifth volume, they decided to expand the scope from ghosts to anything that could not be explained by the laws of nature, and gave the series a second title:Wunderbuch ('Book of Wonders'). In another attempt to add variety, they decided to invite other authors to contribute, which led to Apel's friendsFriedrich de la Motte Fouqué andCarl Borromäus von Miltitz writing stories for the final volume of theWunderbuch.[2]
The first volume ofGespensterbuch was published in 1810 by G. J. Göschen inLeipzig, with a colouredfrontispiece illustration of the story "Das Ideal" ('The Ideal'). Very few copies of this edition have survived, leading many sources to assume the series was published from 1811, when the first volume was reprinted (this time without the frontispiece), simultaneously with the second and third volumes. Volume four was published later in the same year.[12]
The fifth volume was published in 1815 with two title pages: one giving the title asGespensterbuch volume five, and another with the titleWunderbuch ('Book of Wonders') volume one. This reflected Apel and Laun's decision to expand the scope of the books to include other supernatural stories.[2] Volume six was published in the same way in 1816.[13] The final volume was published in 1817 only under the titleWunderbuch volume three, but thesignature marks inpage footers of some editions sayGespensterbuch 7 Theil ('Gespensterbuch Volume 7').[14]
The book has been reprinted several times since then. The Macklots published the last four volumes inStuttgart from 1816–1818.[note 4] Following the premiere ofWeber'sDer Freischütz (1821), Apel'sDer Freischütz eine Volkssage was reprinted in its own volume by Fleischer in 1823.[18]Gespensterbuch was reprinted by Philipp Reclam junior in Leipzig (1885),[19] Belser in Stuttgart (1987–1990),[20] and Aufbau-Taschenbuch in Berlin (1991).[21]
Jean-Baptiste Benoît Eyriès translated five of theGespensterbuch stories into French for his anthologyFantasmagoriana (1812).[a] Three of these were translated from French to English bySarah Elizabeth Utterson inTales of the Dead (1813),[b] and again byMarjorie Bowen (1933–1935).[c] The two remaining stories were translated by both A. J. Day (2005),[d] and Anna Ziegelhof (2023).[e] Some of these stories were also translated directly from the German, includingThomas De Quincey's "The Black Chamber" (1823),[f] "The Fatal Prophecy" inLa Belle Assemblée (1824),[g] andRobert Pearse Gillies's "The Sisters" and "The Spectre Bride" (1826).[h]
Following the success ofCarl Maria von Weber's operaDer Freischütz (1821), theGespensterbuch story that it was based on – also called "Der Freischütz" – was translated into English several times. The first translation was byThomas De Quincey (1823),[i] followed byWalter Sholto Douglas (1825),[j]George Godfrey Cunningham (1829),[k] an anonymous translation (1833),[l] andJacob Wrey Mould (1849).[m]
The 1820s saw a growing interest inGerman Romanticist literature in Britain,[26] and several moreGespensterbuch stories began to be translated individually, mostly in magazines andannuals: "The Raven: A Greek Tale" (1823),[n] "The Lamia: Greek Tradition" (1824),[o] "The Spectre Unmasked" (1824),[p] "The Dance of the Dead" (1824),[q] "Maredata" (1824),[r] "New Year's Eve: The Omens" (1824),[s] "Death Tokens" (1825),[t] "The Veiled Bride" (1825),[u] "Head Master Rhenfried and His Family" (1826),[v] "The Bridal Ornaments" (1826),[w] "The Piper of Neisse" (1829),[x] "The Spirit's Summons" (1835),[y] "The Silver Lady" (1837),[z] "The Two New Year's Nights" (1839),[aa] "Fatal Curiosity" (1845),[ab] and "The Night-Mare" (1845).[ac] In addition to these translations, some authors adaptedGespensterbuch stories for an English-speaking audience, such asWalter Sholto Douglas's "The Three Damsels" (1826), based on part of "Die Bräutigamsvorschau",[ad] "The Black Chamber" inDublin University Magazine (1858), which expands on "Die schwarze Kammer",[ae]Charles John Tibbits's "A Strange Bride" (1890), an abridged version of Gillies's "The Spectre Bride",[af] andJ. E. Preston Muddock's "The Dance of the Dead" (1899), a retelling of "Der Todtentanz".[ag]
Some translations were never published, such as Walter Sholto Douglas's translation of "Zauberliebe",[27] and a translation of "Der Gespensterläugner" started by De Quincey in autumn 1824.[28]
The first tale in the first volume is "Der Freischütz", a retelling byApel of theFreischütz folktale. It formed the inspiration forWeber's operaDer Freischütz (1821).[29] However, unlike Apel's version, in Weber's opera the final bullet does not kill the protagonist's fiancée, but is deflected, and kills the huntsman who convinced him to cast the bullets instead.
In June 1816,Lord Byron,Mary Shelley,Percy Bysshe Shelley,John William Polidori andClaire Clairmont readFantasmagoriana (1812), a collection of German ghost stories translated into French, five of which were from theGespensterbuch. Inspired by the book, the group decided to write their own ghost stories, with Mary Shelley writingFrankenstein, and Polidori writingThe Vampyre, based on Byron's "Fragment of a Novel".[1]
Two of the fiveGespensterbuch stories inFantasmagoriana had a significant influence onFrankenstein. "Die Todtenbraut" ('The Dead Bride') was one of the two stories Mary Shelley described in her introduction to the 1831 edition ofFrankenstein, and the death of Frankenstein's wife Elizabeth may have been inspired by the story,[30] while "Die schwarze Kammer" ('The Black Chamber') is similar to Mary Shelley's account of the dream that inspiredFrankenstein, of a haunting figure standing at the bedside.[31]
Another of theGespensterbuch stories inFantasmagoriana, "Die Verwandtschaft mit der Geisterwelt" ('The Connection with the Spirit-World', translated as "L'Heure fatale",'The Fatal Hour'), may have been an inspiration for the Astarte scene in Byron'sManfred, which he began in late 1816.[32]
Joseph von Auffenberg's 1824 play,Viola, oder die Vorschau ('Viola, or The Preview') was based on Apel's "Die Bräutigamsvorschau" from volume 2 ofGespensterbuch.[33]
Der Bergmönch, an opera based onCarl Borromäus von Miltitz's story of the same name from the final volume, was composed byJoseph Maria Wolfram, with a libretto by Miltitz.[34] It premiered on 14 March 1830 inDresden.[35]