The Monk

by Lewis, Matthew G.; Berryman, John

• ISBN13: 9780802151070
• ISBN10: 0802151078
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-01-13
• Publisher: Grove Press

Summary

When Matthew Lewis's "The Monk" was published in 1796, readers were shocked by this gripping and horrific novel. Lewis's story, which drove the House of Commons--of which he was a member--to deem him licentious and perverse, follows the abbot Ambrosio as he is tempted into a world of incest, murder, and torture by a young girl who has concealed herself in his monastery disguised as a boy. As Ambrosio spirals into hell, the reader encounters an array of haunting characters: the innocent virgin, the Bleeding Nun, the Wandering Jew, an evil prioress, and Lucifer himself. This Modern Library Paperback Classic, set from the unexpurgated first edition of 1796, brings to a new generation of readers a timeless classic of gothic fiction that has influenced writers from Byron and Emily Bronte to Poe and Hawthorne.

Table of Contents

Facsimile of title page, First Edition See across
Introduction: John Berryman
The Book	11	(6)
The Man	17	(9)
The Influence	26	(3)
``A Note on the Text'': Louis F. Peck	29	(2)
Table of the Poetry	31	(1)
Advertisement	32	(1)
Preface: ``Imitation of Horace''	33	(392)
The Monk
Volume I	35	(108)
Volume II	143	(134)
Volume III	277	(146)
Appendix:
``A Note on the Variant Readings''	423	(2)
Louis F. Peck
Variant Readings	425