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The Saragossa Manuscript, A Collection of Weird Tales
The Saragossa Manuscript A Collection of Weird Tales Author:Jan Potocki, Translated by Elisabeth Abbott This is an extraordinary collection of tales that is sure to appeal to all readers of the weird and supernatural. Written in French by a Polish nobleman and first published, almost secretly, in St. Petersburg in 1804, they were recently rediscovered by Roger Caillois, who came upon Potocki's stories while preparing an anthology of fantastic tale... more »s. As Caillois writes, this book "marks a decisive milestone in the evolution of the type." During the wars in Spain, an officer of the Walloon Guards finds, in a deserted castle in Saragossa from which the inhabitants have obviously fled in haste, a manuscript of such absorbing interest that he carries it with him on his campaigns. Taken prisoner by the Spaniards, he falls into the hands of a Spanish officer who claims that the manuscript belonged to his family. The Spaniard proceeds to dictate to his prisoner, now an honored guest in the officer's house, the remaining stories in his collection, which the officer writes down in French.
With this conceit, Jan Potocki introduces what he calls his "New Decameron." The tales, all dealing with a traveler and two demoniacal sisters, are written in a crisp, easy and elegant style. They make absorbing, fascinating and unusual reading.« less