Varney the Vampire; Or, the Feast of Blood, Page 2

  PREFACE

  The unprecedented success of the romance of "Varney the Vampyre," leavesthe Author but little to say further, than that he accepts that successand its results as gratefully as it is possible for any one to dopopular favours.

  A belief in the existence of Vampyres first took its rise in Norway andSweden, from whence it rapidly spread to more southern regions, taking afirm hold of the imaginations of the more credulous portion of mankind.

  The following romance is collected from seemingly the most authenticsources, and the Author must leave the question of credibility entirelyto his readers, not even thinking that he is peculiarly called upon toexpress his own opinion upon the subject.

  Nothing has been omitted in the life of the unhappy Varney, which couldtend to throw a light upon his most extraordinary career, and the factof his death just as it is here related, made a great noise at the timethrough Europe and is to be found in the public prints for the year1713.

  With these few observations, the Author and Publisher, are well contentto leave the work in the hands of a public, which has stamped it with anapprobation far exceeding their most sanguine expectations, and which iscalculated to act as the strongest possible incentive to the productionof other works, which in a like, or perchance a still further degree maybe deserving of public patronage and support.

  To the whole of the Metropolitan Press for their laudatory notices, theAuthor is peculiarly obliged.

  _London Sep. 1847_

  VARNEY, THE VAMPYRE;

  OR

  THE FEAST OF BLOOD

  A Romance