Black magic :. a tale of the rise and fall of Antichrist,. by Marjorie Bowen.
Margaret Gabrielle Vere Campbell (1888 - 1952)
Category
Books
Date
1909
Materials
Place of origin
London
Collection
Quarry Bank, Cheshire
NT 3215038
Caption
Written in 1909, Black Magic is an atmospheric and engaging story set in Europe during the middle-ages, in a time when noble families battled it out for the title of Emperor and the Pope wielded enormous political power. The tale opens with the scene of a lowly woodworker putting gilt onto a carving of the devil in a small town in Northern France. This woodcutter is a student of black magic and we follow his journey to riches and power as he follows the devil’s teachings. The plot contains love, murder and political intrigue, but most importantly the supernatural battle between good and evil. While gothic horror had been a popular genre since the publication of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein in 1818, the genre reached a new peak at the turn of the twentieth century. Books about vampires, the occult and science experiments that take a dark turn, gained in popularity between 1880 and 1914. The reason for this growth in supernatural fiction may have been in part a response to social anxiety surrounding the question of what it is to be human. Religion was declining in importance for many people and the emergence of new sciences, such as psychiatry and psychology helped draw attention to subconscious human desires. People could no longer be seen as wholly good or evil, but instead a complex mix of the two (a concept explored brilliantly in another book in the Worker’s Library, R.L Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.) Black Magic explores the subtle and complex motivations behind the actions of the protagonist who might superficially be seen as being completely evil. The story keeps us intrigued until the very end with a plot twist that may well have shocked a contemporary audience.
Summary
Bibliographic description
vi, 390, [2], 24 p. ;. 8vo.,. 19 cm. Old no. at front: 468. Provenance: Blue rubber stamp on inside front cover and half-title: `Styal Village Club Library'. Number in ink at rear: `880'. Binding: Publisher's case, covered in pictorial black cloth, with gold lettering on spine and front cover. Label on spine, torn.
Makers and roles
Margaret Gabrielle Vere Campbell (1888 - 1952)