The death of Dracula – the Glasgow connection

By gtougher on October 28, 2011 • ( 0 )

As it is Halloween, we thought you might like a Glasgow vampire story. You don’t need to be afraid though – it is about the creator of, and inspiration for, the most famous vampire of them all – Count Dracula.

In this item held at Archive Services, Bram Stoker, sends the University love and thanks on behalf of Henry Irving’s sons, Harry and Lawrence. A regular visitor to Glasgow, the great Shakespearean actor,Sir Henry Irving (1838-1905) was the inspiration behind Stoker’s Dracula, published in 1897. The telegram comes from Bradford and is dated with a Hillhead post office stamp on October 14 1905. It is most likely in reply to a note of condolence.

Irving died in Bradford after appearing as the Archbishop in Tennyson’s “Becket”, a role that was one of the most popular in his repertoire. The University bestowed an honorary degree on him in 1899 and further correspondence is contained in the papers of the Story family and in Senate papers.

The 8 volume Henry Irving Shakespeare was originally published in Glasgow by Blackie & Sons, whose archive we also hold here at the University.

For anyone wishing to find out more about Irving, Stoker, Blackie and the Glasgow connection, we recommend these online resources as well as our own collections

http://www.henryirving.co.uk/index.php

http://www.bramstoker.org/nonfic/irving.html

Happy Halloween.