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The brooding, introverted Count von O— arrives in Venice during the carnival in order to escape from his duties and live incognito. But after encountering an enigmatic Armenian stranger who makes an uncanny pronouncement, a bizarre chain of events unfolds, involving a Jesuit secret society, a ghostly seance and a mysterious Sicilian magician – leading the Count to question his faith and morality.
First serialized in 1787–89, this multilayered, fragmentary novel – which gave Friedrich Schiller a platform to expound his Enlightenment ideas on society and religion – has thrilled and engaged lovers of Gothic literature for over two centuries.
Find out more about our Gothic novels collection
REVIEWS
Frederick von Schiller was something more than a great author; he was also in an eminent sense a great man; and his works are not more worthy of being studied for their singular force and originality than his moral character for its nobility and aspiring grandeur.
Thomas De Quincey
Friedrich Schiller
The German poet, playwright, philosopher and historian Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) was, along with Goethe, the leading figure of the Weimar Classicism movement, which combined elements of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Classicism.