Anything is possible

There is nothing new about introducing vampires and other monsters into a historical or a fictional setting, but there has been an interesting trend over the last couple of years with, I think, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies as the most popular one. It will probably not surprise you that I have read none of these books, but I have enjoyed some of the book trailers, like the one with sea monsters and the vampire hunting Lincoln. I only recently noticed that the latter book also has been promoted by this documentary, which is another example that in the realm of fictional vampires anything is possible:

Rohr and De Virunculis Metallicis

Apropos of the copy of Philipp Rohr's De masticatione mortuorum - apparently from the collection of Montague Summers himself - that is on sale, here is what Summers had to say about Rohr in The Vampire in Europe (p. 178) when introducing his translation of the 1679 book:

'Philip Rohr in his day stood in fair repute for his scholarship and he was also known as an occult investigator. His work on the Kobolts who haunt mines is held in esteem. It may be remarked, however, that the subject had previously been treated by Georg Landmann, the famous metallurgist, in his De Animantibus subterraneis, which with other of his treatises was published at Bale, folio, 1657.'

Despite Summers's numerous footnotes, it is hard to see if the characterization of Rohr is based in fact or in the fantasy of Summers. In any case, thanks to the Bayerisches Staatsbibliothek and the Münchener DigitalisieringsZentrum you can now take a look at an online copy of the Dissertatio pneumatica de Spiritibus in fodinis apparentibus, sive, de virunculis metallicis presented by Johann Heinrich Rumpel on April 24 1672 with Rohr as respondent. So the dissertation according to the title is about the spirits and dwarves (literally: small men) appearing in mines: Berg-Männlein and Wichtelein as mentioned in some quotes in German.

The reference to De Animantibus subterraneis is to George Agricola, and it was published approximately one hundred years before the date mentioned by Summers. Looking at the list near the end of Agricola's book, you will see that, although he mentions: 'Demon subeterraneus truculentus: bergteufel mitis: bergmennel/kobel/guttel', Agricola is actually concerned with animals: Serpents, birds etc.

De Masticatione Mortuorum for sale!

You can now get hold of a very special copy of a very special and rare book - but it will cost you $21.375!

Zubal Books is selling a copy of Philipp Rohr's 1679 De Masticatione Mortuorum, and you should check it out on their web site to see the images of the book. You can also find it on Abebooks:

'first edition; leaves slightly shorter than 20 cm., [24] unnumbered pages beginning with title, A1; later paper covered boards darkened and rubbed at leather spine and tips, general age toning but entirely readable and not at all fragile, C3 has five block letters penciled in margins, overall a very good copy for this very infrequently seen item; Montague Summers' copy with his book plate by Eric Gill, "Alphoinvs Montagve Svmmers Liber svvs ." with a wood engraving featuring Saint Jerome and lion; usually translated as ?On the Chewing Dead? Rohr's work explores the strange and terrible legends of the dead reanimated through demonic possession devouring their own shrouds and moving on to gnaw on nearby corpses in a sort of unholy manduction, this of course has a relevance to the vampire mythos that certainly would have been appreciated by Summers; rare '

Calmet anno 1976

In 1976, Merlin Verlag published an edition of Calmet's Dissertation, Des Hochwürdigen Herrn Augustini Calmet gelehrte Verhandlung von denen sogenannten Vampiren oder zurückkommenden Verstorbenen as the fourth volume in the series Merlin's Bibliothek der geheimen Wissenschaften und magischen Künste (Merlin's library of the secret sciences and magical arts). In fact, it was only of a modernization of the original German translation of volume II of Calmet's second edition from 1751, i.e. the part that deals with vampires.

Apart from a number of illustrations, the book contains an essay by Dipl.-Psych. Wolfgang Bauer on the early literature on vampires and revenants: Von denen Traktaten. Die historischen Vampirschriften und ihre Verfasser. The essay relies on Ranft, Harenberg and Summers in particular, and seems pretty dated now, not least because Bauer's psychological background clearly leads him to psychoanalyze the vampire, of course quoting from Freud's Totem und Tabu: 'Denn deutet man eine Reihe von abergläubischen Vorstellungen um den Vampir in Zusammenhang näher aus, so ergibt sich, daß diese im Gesamtkonzept eine ausgepr]agte Mutterleibsphantasie konstitueren.' And so forth.

Nowadays, we have the 'ungekürzte Ausgabe' edited by Abraham & Irina Silberschmidt which was published in 2006 by Edition Roter Drache.

More information on Merlin's Bibliothek der geheimen Wissenschaften und magischen Künste can be found in this part of the history of the publisher, Merlin Verlag, and here.

Death In Legend & Tradition

Even vampires are invited to contribute to this conference:

'Death In Legend & Tradition

This two-day conference at Brompton Cemetery, London SW10, will be held on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th September 2010 as the fifth Legendary Weekend of the Folklore Society. We'd like to hear from anyone who can attend and present a paper – folklorists, undertakers, storytellers, clergy, singers, mediums, anthropologists, vampires and historians. In the silent city of the dead we will be celebrating the fascination, fantasies and fears that surround the one experience we must all share. Cultural responses to the Grim Reaper take a thousand forms, from the dignity of funerary monuments to the carnival Day of the Dead, from the shame of gibbeting to the glories of wonder-working relics. Our maps go beyond this world to Brig o’ Dread, Mount Purgatory and the Summerlands. Banshees and sin-eaters, omens and tombstones, grave humour and near-death experiences are all part of the lore with which we face those sightless eyes, weaving our maidens’ garlands and forging our mourning rings. Death may kill us off as individuals, but through the endless transmission of song and story we make death live.

Presentations, which should be 20 minutes long, can take the form of talks, performances, or DVD. The main event will take place on Saturday with additional material including a cemetery tour on Sunday.

If you would like to attend or to present a paper or performance, please contact:
Jeremy Harte
Bourne Hall
Spring Street
Ewell
Surrey KT17 1UF
020 8394 1734
JHarte@epsom-ewell.gov.uk'

An old-fashioned sense for vampires

Here you can listen to President of the Folklore Society, Jacqueline Simpson, being asked about the modern kind of vampire and answering:

'I'm rather old-fashioned in the kind of vampire I go for. I like the early medieval sort, the really gruesome undead corpse that is all stinky and nasty, and spreading plague wherever it goes.'

Arnold Paul on TV

'Arnold Paul' turns up in this recent British documentary, Vampires: Why They Bite, which was broadcast in February on BBC Three, and hosted by historian Lisa Hilton. Unfortunately, it is not accurate, neither concerning 'Arnold Paul' nor a few other subjects, and as usual the focus tends to be on the sexual aspects. Still, I think this is the only documentary in English that actually traces the vampire back to Serbia.

There are a couple of reviews of it online, like the one from Times Higher Education, which not uncorrectly describes it as 'music video masquerading as documentary'.

Vampire: Von damals bis(s) heute

While looking at magazines at the main railway station in Copenhagen the other day, I happened to notice the words: 'Die widerkehrenden Toten: DAS VAMPIR-SPECIAL' on the cover a magazine called Dark Spy which I think is aimed at people interesting in Goth styles. The 'vampire special' is actually just a three page article on vampires, but as it is accompanied by reproductions of the covers of the 1734 edition of Ranft's Tractat von dem Kauen und Schmatzen and the Curieuse und sehr wunderbare Relation, von denen sich neuer Dingen in Servien erzeigenden Blut-Saugern oder Vampyrs by W.S.G.E., I took at closer look, and found that it is written by Nicolaus Equiamicus, known from his books and blog.

Visiting his blog for the first time in a while, I notice that he has announced the publication of the book on vampires that he has been working on for some time, and it will be out later this year:

'Auf das Erscheinen meines nächsten Buches "Vampire - von damals bis(s) heute" (voraussichtlich im November 2010) freue ich mich schon sehr, steckt doch sprichwörtlich viel "Herzblut" in dieser Essenz meiner jahrelangen Beschäftigung mit der hoch interessanten Vampirthematik. Ich hoffe, dass ich mein Ziel, einen umfassenden lehrreichen, aber auch unterhaltsame Überblick über den Vampir in Geschichte und Gegenwart zu verfassen, erreicht habe. Auf Wunsch des Verlages habe ich nachträglich auch noch einige Kapitel zur Entwicklung der Vampirliteratur und des Vampirfilms hinzugefügt, die hoffentlich eine Bereicherung und Abrundung darstellen :-)'

A vampire in the mail

I am not used to receiving letters or parcels addressed to 'Magia posthuma', but it happened the other day when I received a copy of Florian Kührer's new book Vampire: Monster - Mythos - Medienstar published by Butzon & Bercker (paperback, 297 pages, €17.90). I thank the author for the copy which I intend to read in the near future.

Kührer kindly mentions this blog in the bibliography under 'Textsammlungen':

'Der wahrscheinlich umfassendste und aktuellste Blog zum Thema, der laufend vom Betreiber, einem versierten Laien, aktualisiert wird. An diesem Blog geht kaum eine einschlägige Publikation aus dem deutschen, englischen und französischen Sprachraum vorbei. Die einführenden Kommentare sind kompetent und in gut lesbarem Englisch verfasst.'

In the introduction, the author says that he aims at critically following the development of the vampire from village monster to pop star:

'Das Thema Vampir, sein Wesen, sein Motiv, ist alles andere als trivial. Seine fast unbegrenzte Kapazität als Projektionsfläche macht ihn selbst zum Spiegel unserer Ängste und Wünsche. Er ist Teenie-Schwarm und Werbeträger, Antisemit und Massenmörder - "allen ist er alles geworden". Läuft der Vampir Gefahr, sich durch seine ausufernde Präsenz selbst zu trivialisieren? Dieses Buch entwirrt mit kritischem Blick die Motivstränge des Vampir-Mythos und erzählt dabei die Geschichte vom Aufstieg eines Dorfmonsters zum Popstar der Moderne.'

The book contains three parts: An initial part on the vampire in folk beliefs ('ein Monster aus der Mitte der Gemeinschaft'), followed by one that the traces the vampire from the Middle Ages over the 18th century vampires to Dracula and modern vampire fiction. The final part, titled 'Globaler Code und blutige Realität - ein Mythos zwischen den Extremen', seems to deal with a number of themes, including e.g. the modern extension of the vampire term to serial killers and other actual, living people.

Well, I am looking forward to reading it.

Neuheiten

Vampire: Monster - Mythos - Medienstar by Florian Kührer, Mag. Phil. at the University of Vienna with a background in Romanian history, is published by Butzon U. Bercker this June:

'Die Vampire sind zurück! Ob als blutgierige Monster, aristokratische Einzelgänger, sensible Feingeister oder als Ziel erotischer Schwärmereien - die Grenzgänger zwischen Leben und Tod haben nichts von ihrer Jahrhunderte langen Faszination verloren. Als Geschöpfe menschlicher Phantasie sind sie Spiegel unserer Ängste und Wünsche und zugleich Fenster zu einer anderen Welt. Was ist ihr Geheimnis? Und wo liegt die Grenze zwischen Mythos und Realität? Dieses Buch entwirrt mit kritischem Blick die Motivstränge des Vampir-Mythos und erzählt dabei die Geschichte vom Aufstieg eines Dorfmonsters zu einem der größten Popstars der Moderne.'

Der Vampir sind wir: Die Erfolgsgeschichte eines unsterblichen Mythos by Rainer M. Köpl is published by Residenz Verlag on September 15. Köpl is professor at the Institut für Theater-, Film- und Medienwissenschaft at the University of Vienna and is probably best known for his contribution to the Vampir Prinzessin documentary which he hosted. The book is advertised this way:

'Sie sind zwischen dem Diesseits und dem Jenseits unterwegs, geistern durch die Nacht und beißen schöne Frauen in den Hals. Wunschvorstellungen und Ängste offenbaren sich in der Figur des Vampirs, der als Roman- und Filmstoff Weltruhm erlangte, aber auch in Werbespots, politischen Kampagnen und in der Psychoanalyse zum Einsatz kommt.

Der Wiener Vampirologe Rainer M. Köppl erzählt von der angstvollen Hysterie zwischen Aberglaube und Aufklärung. Er zeigt, wie die Vampire in die romantisch verklärte Literatur flüchteten, im 20. Jahrhundert im Film wiederauferstanden und zu Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts erfolgreicher denn je agieren. An eindrücklichen Beispielen macht er die Vollkommenheit von Form und Funktion des Vampirs deutlich: als Spiegelbild unserer Phantasien über Sex, Gewalt, Angst, Blut, Tod, ewige Liebe und ewiges Leben.

Eine faszinierende Zeitreise durch die Geschichte eines unsterblichen Mythos.'

Another book that is out in September is Dracula-Mythen und Wahrheiten: Ein Handbuch der Vampire by Christine Klell and Reinhard Deutsch. Published by Styria Im Styria Pichler, this one should be some kind of encyclopaedic handbook:

'Menschen brauchen Mythen: Vampire sind ein ewig junger Stoff, antike und neueste Trivialthemen, Sehnsüchte und Ängste verknüpfen sich in dieser Figur. Schon seit den früh esten Stummfilmen kamen die ersten Vampire, nun haben sie Hollywood endgültig erobert, lassen Jung und Alt in die Kinosäle und Buchhandlungen strömen. Von Erotik bis zu handfesten Machtkämpfen, von Film- und Bühnengeschichten bis zu Bildender Kunst, Comic, Musik, Religion und Literatur reicht das Betätigungsfeld der Blutsauger. Doch wer die Vampire wirklich sind und warum sie keinen kalt lassen – das erzählt dieses enzyklopädische Lese- und Stöberbuch, in dem sogar solche Leser fündig werden, die Bücher sonst scheuen wie der Vampir das Tageslicht ...'

Finally, also in September another reprint of Sturm and Völker's classic anthology Von denen Vampiren oder Menschensaugern is published by Unionsverlag. This is definitely one of the most reprinted books on vampires ever, and deservedly so, although it is somewhat dated now.