St. Leon

by Brewer, William D.

• ISBN13: 9781551115382
• ISBN10: 1551115387
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-11-30
• Publisher: Broadview Pr

Summary

Set in Europe during the Protestant Reformation and first published in 1799, St. Leon tells the story of an impoverished aristocrat who obtains the philosopher's stone and the elixir of immortality. In this philosophical fable, endless riches and immortal life prove to be curses rather than gifts and transform St. Leon into an outcast. William Godwin's second full-length novel explores the predicament of a would-be philanthropist whose attempts to benefit humanity are frustrated by superstition and ignorance.This Broadview edition includes a critical introduction and full annotation. The appendices include contemporary reviews of the novel; Godwin's writings on immortality, the domestic affections, and alchemy; and selections from works influenced by St. Leon, most notably Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	9	(2)
Introduction	11	(29)
William Godwin: A Brief Chronology	40	(5)
A Note on the Text	45	(2)
St. Leon: A Tale of the Sixteenth Century	47	(404)
Appendix A: From Hermippus Redivivus (1744): The Inspiration for St. Leon	451	(4)
Appendix B: William Godwin on Immortality, the Domestic Affections, and Alchemy	455	(14)
1. From William Godwin, Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, and its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness (1793)	455	(4)
2. From William Godwin, Memoirs of the Author ofA Vindication of the Rights of Woman, 2nd Edition (1798)	459	(2)
3. From William Godwin, Lives of the Necromancers (1834)	461	(8)
i. Alchemy	461	(1)
ii. Cornelius Agrippa	462	(5)
iii. Paracelsus	467	(2)
Appendix C: Reviews of St. Leon	469	(10)
1. The Monthly Review (1800)	469	(3)
2. Critical Review (January 1800)	472	(1)
3. Monthly Magazine, and British Register (20 January 1800)	473	(2)
4. Monthly Mirror: Reflecting Men and Manners (January 1800)	475	(4)
Appendix D: From Edward Du Bois, St. Godwin (1800)	479	(7)
Appendix E: The Influence of St. Leon	486	(20)
1. From John Burk, Bethlem Gabor, Lord of Transylvania, or, The Man Hating Palatine (1807)	486	(3)
2. From Percy Bysshe Shelley, St. Irvyne; or, The Rosicrucian: A Romance (ATI)	489	(4)
3. From Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818)	493	(2)
4. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, "The Mortal Immortal: A Tale" (1833)	495	(11)
Select Bibliography	506