Full Description
Set in Europe during the Protestant Reformation and first published in 1799, St. Leon tells the story of an impoverished aristocrat who obtains the philosopher's stone and the elixir of immortality. In this philosophical fable, endless riches and immortal life prove to be curses rather than gifts and transform St. Leon into an outcast. William Godwin's second full-length novel explores the predicament of a would-be philanthropist whose attempts to benefit humanity are frustrated by superstition and ignorance.
This Broadview edition includes a critical introduction and full annotation. The appendices include contemporary reviews of the novel; Godwin's writings on immortality, the domestic affections, and alchemy; and selections from works influenced by St. Leon, most notably Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
William Godwin: A Brief Chronology
A Note on the Text
St. Leon: A Tale of the Sixteenth Century
Appendix A: From Hermippus Redivivus (1744): The Inspiration for St. Leon
Appendix B: William Godwin on Immortality, the Domestic Affections, and Alchemy
From William Godwin, Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, and its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness (1793)
From William Godwin, Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman, 2nd Edition (1798)
From William Godwin, Lives of the Necromancers (1834)
Alchemy
Cornelius Agrippa
Paracelsus
Appendix C: Reviews of St. Leon
The Monthly Review (1800)
Critical Review (January 1800)
Monthly Magazine, and British Register (20 January 1800)
Monthly Mirror: Reflecting Men and Manners (January 1800)
Appendix D: From Edward Du Bois, St. Godwin (1800)
Appendix E: The Influence of St. Leon
From John Burk, Bethlem Gabor, Lord of Transylvania, or, The Man Hating Palatine (1807)
From Percy Bysshe Shelley, St. Irvyne; or,The Rosicrucian: A Romance (1811)
From Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818)
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, "The Mortal Immortal: A Tale" (1833)
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