#onthisday 1912, Bram Stoker Died
Published on 21st October 2022
Bram Stoker was born in Dublin's Marino Crescent on November 8th, 1847. After an early life plagued by illness, he went on to graduate from Trinity College in 1868 with a Masters Degree in mathematics. His early work life was as a civil servant in Dublin Castle, while he was at the same time a freelance journalist and theatre critic.
Stoker first met the actor Henry Irving in 1878, soon after his marriage to Florence Balcombe (who had spurned Oscar Wilde in his favour), and he left Dublin to become Irving’s theatrical agent and business manager in London. He afterwards became manager of Irving’s Lyceum Theatre, a position he held until Irving's death in 1905.
Continuing the tradition of gothic fiction already established in Dublin by writers such as Charles Maturin and Sheridan le Fanu, Stoker's most famous novel, 'Dracula', was published in 1897. Bram Stoker produced several other writings with a supernatural theme, but none to rival 'Dracula' and its enduring popularity.
Stoker's Dracula was chosen as the Dublin: One City, One Book choice in 2012, the 100th anniversary of his death.
Bram Stoker died on this day in 1912.
The Bram Stoker Collection
Dublin City Public Libraries houses the Leslie Shepard Bram Stoker Collection, and this valuable donation of books by and about Bram Stoker, gathered over a lifetime of interest by the late Leslie Shepard, is a treasure-trove for researchers and enthusiasts. The collection comprises in excess of 230 books and pamphlets relating to Bram Stoker and his creation Dracula. The collection can be found at Marino Library and at the Dublin City Library and Archive, Pearse Street.
Did You Know?
Bram Stoker Park lies just across from where the author of Dracula was born, at 15 Marino Crescent. It is a small park with a private, even secretive feel to it, though it is unlikely to host the activities shown below on a regular basis. Photo Credit: Dublin City Photographic Collection.
