SOURCE: "John Polidori and The Vampyre," in Three Gothic Novels, edited by E. F. Bleiler, Dover Publications, 1966, pp. xxxi-xl.

In the following essay, Bleiler discusses the writing and publication of The Vampyre and assesses its influence.

By the beginning of 1816 it was inevitable that the great poet Lord George Gordon Byron and his wife Anne were to separate, and Byron announced his decision to leave England. As T. L. Peacock, Shelley's friend and correspondent, phrased it in Nightmare Abbey, "Sir, I have quarrelled with my wife; and a man who has quarrelled with his wife is absolved from all duty to his country. I have written an ode to tell the people as much, and they may take it as they list."

Byron caused a gigantic coach to be built containing in compressed form all conveniences for life on the Continent, including a bed, a library, a plate...