Dracula | 1897, rare first edition with original signed Bram Stoker letter.

Dracula is the book that redefined Gothic literature. Published in 1897, it unleashed Count Dracula on the world and has haunted readers, writers, and cinema ever since. Survival in fine condition is rare. Survival paired with Stoker’s own signed words is almost unheard of.

This copy is accompanied by an autograph letter signed “Bram Stoker,” written on Lyceum Theatre stationery and dated July 17, 1902. In it, Stoker references his new novel The Mystery of the Sea, noting: “My new book The Mystery of the Sea comes out in a few days (Hutchinsons) & I hope you will care to read it. I send advance copy.” Letters in which Stoker speaks about his own literary work are scarce, and this is a rare moment where he is caught promoting his fiction in real time.

The combination is electric: the defining vampire novel, paired with a signed letter in which its author discusses his craft. Stoker’s signature is rare enough, but his literary correspondence is on another level of desirability. Together they form one of the most compelling Gothic offerings a collector could hope to encounter — the masterpiece of horror fiction, united with the hand of the man who created it.

Book Condition:

Original yellow cloth with red lettering; spine darkened, boards showing general soiling and some staining; corners and spine ends worn but unrestored. A sound and pleasing example of this famously fragile binding. Internally a few nicks and chips to the edges of pages but overall very good+

Letter condition:

Fine with paper fold across the middle. Handwritten and signed by Bram Stoker.