Although he is at first oblivious to his acquaintance's true nature, Aubrey eventually realizes that Ruthven leaves a trail of dead bodies in his wake, but not in time to save his own sister from his clutches.

In The Vampyre, Aubrey, a wealthy, orphaned Englishman, encounters Lord Ruthven, a mysterious nobleman who is, in fact, a vampire. The Vampyre is a short gothic novel that is considered the forerunner of the vampire genre while disparate components of vampirism appeared throughout history's horror stories, Polidori was the first writer to create a cohesive vampire character - a withdrawn, aristocratic male with an insatiable thirst for blood - that would set the standard for all subsequent vampire novels. Due to its complicated printing history, The Vampyre in Viets' first and second states are virtually unattainable for modern collectors, and, accordingly, copies of Viets' third state (the second Sherwood issue) are the first truly available issues, yet still exceedingly scarce. This copy is the third Sherwood issue (Viets IV), with the main change being the removal of a slur referring to Mary Godwin Shelley and Clair Clairmont in the first 'Extract' (page xiv).

Sherwood's second issue (Viets III) mentioned no author, and, since the first Sherwood issue was also suppressed, it represents the first edition to be widely accessible to the public. Polidori.' Colburn then sold his printed sheets to Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, who produced a scare first issue (Viets II) with their publishing imprint and listing Byron as author. Colburn's second state (Viets I), of which only 4 or 5 copies survived, retained his imprint, removed the author's name, and included the half-title 'A Tale related by Lord Byron to Dr. Colburn's first state, with himself as publisher and Byron credited as author, was suppressed and no copies exist today. The Vampyre was originally published by Henry Colburn in the Apissue of New Monthly Magazine under the title 'The Vampyre: A Tale by Lord Byron.' Although the tale was in fact written by John William Polidori, Byron's physician, this false attribution was continued in the first book form, also by Henry Colburn. Overall, an attractive copy of the first vampire story in English literature. Near fine, with only some light scattered spotting and foxing throughout, lacking the half-title and ads at rear.

Finely bound in three-quarter red morocco, with two raised bands to the spine, boards ruled in gilt, spine lettered in gilt, light marbled endpapers. London: Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, 1819 First edition, third Sherwood issue (Viets IV), with no author credited on the title page and without the references to Mary Godwin and Jane Clermont, and 'lmost' to page 36.

The Vampyre by John William Polidori