Fantasmagoriana
The anonymous 1812 French anthology of German ghost stories that the Byron-Shelley circle read in 1816, sparking Frankenstein. Its translator-compiler was Jean-Baptiste Benoit Eyries.
- Original byline
- Anonymous
- Published
- 1812
- Form
- Other works
- Authorship
- Revealed: Jean-Baptiste Benoit Eyries
- Attribution source
- Wikipedia: List of anonymously published works
- How it came out
- the anonymous translator-compiler was later identified in the documented record
- Reason for anonymity
- Unrecorded
- Copyright
- Public domain
- Reference
- Wikipedia · Wikidata
The authorship story
Fantasmagoriana appeared in Paris in 1812 as an anonymous French rendering of German ghost stories. Its fame is second-hand and immense: in the wet summer of 1816 at the Villa Diodati, Byron, Polidori, and the Shelleys read it aloud and challenged each other to write ghost stories of their own, a game that produced Frankenstein and The Vampyre. The anonymity belonged to the translator and compiler, the geographer Jean-Baptiste Benoit Eyries, whose role is part of the documented record; the German source authors were credited in their own editions. A book without a name on it thus stands godparent to modern horror.
Questions readers ask
Who wrote Fantasmagoriana?
Fantasmagoriana was published anonymously and is documented as the work of Jean-Baptiste Benoit Eyries. (the anonymous translator-compiler was later identified in the documented record). Source: Wikipedia: List of anonymously published works.
Can I read Fantasmagoriana for free?
Yes. Fantasmagoriana is in the public domain and the full text is free to read at the Internet Archive.
When was Fantasmagoriana published?
Fantasmagoriana was published in 1812 without an author’s name.
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