The Mysteries of Udolpho, a Romance; - 1794

London: printed for G. G. and J. Robinson,, 1794. The archetypal gothic novel First edition of one of the founding texts of Gothic literature by the pioneer of the genre (1764-1823); from the collection of the distinguished British book collector Eric Quayle, with his book label to the front pastedown of the first volume. Through The Mysteries of Udolpho, Radcliffe is particularly responsible for popularizing the "haunted castle" Gothic trope, Udolpho being directly parodied in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, and influencing many other, later books such as Wilkie Collins' Woman in White. Even into the 20th century, the atmosphere of Udolpho lingered to haunt books such as Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca. Quayle published large-format and well-illustrated guides to book collecting, based on his own collection, which still act as signposts for new collectors, and important references for the experienced. In his The Collector's Book of Detective Fiction (1972), Quayle notes the importance of Udolpho as a forerunner of crime and mystery novels, establishing themes which would become a mainstay of these genres (pp. 15-16). In his Collector's Book of Books (1971), Quayle comments: "The copy I have of the first edition of Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho, 1794, is a fine four-volume set, complete with all the half-titles so often missing in novels of the period that have been through the binder's hands. I bought the work in 1960 for £10 ($24); but the latest cataloguing by a leading London antiquarian bookseller offers it at £120 ($288)" (p. 30). Four volumes, duodecimo (171 x 100 mm). Contemporary tree calf, neatly rebacked with sheep and recornered, orange morocco labels. Complete with half-titles. Slight scratch and worming to a couple of covers, contents fresh with gentle foxing, chip at foot of vol. II leaf F8 just shaving text, and head of vol. IV leaves L5 and L6 not affecting text. An excellent copy. ESTC T62063; Lowndes 2035; Rothschild 1701, Summers 434; Tinker 1703.