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O'Connor, Robert H.

Henry William Bunbury's Tales of the Devil
1995 0-7734-9429-4
This volume makes available the text and illustrations of a neglected volume of poetic parody and visual humor whose contents suggest the reaction of a lingering Neo-Classical rationalism against the more extravagant Gothic element in turn-of-the-century Romantic verse. The introductory remarks narrate the appearance in 1796 of several British translations and adaptations of G. A. Burger's horror ballad "Lenore"; they describe the rise of the Gothic ballad movement in the late 1790s which these translations inspired; give an account of the parodies written in reaction to the Gothic ballads; give an overview of Bunbury's life and career; and comment on the contents of Tales of the Devil itself, particularly those elements of the book which parody The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.