He went in front of a mirror and looked into it with a terrifying persistence: this disproportionate perfection that combined beauties that are usually not found together, made him resemble more than ever the fallen Angel, as he shone satanically against the black background of the mirror.
Paul felt fear for himself: It seemed to him that the sockets of his eyes were throwing poisonous spears at him through the mirror. Imagine Medusa seeing her terrible yet graceful head in the wild glimmer of a steel shield. Naples, 19th century. Ships continuously come and go at the port carrying visitors, mainly English. They come to take advantage of the Mediterranean climate of Southern Italy, the sun and the sea, and to tour the monuments of the glorious Roman civilization, to grasp something of its splendor to accompany them in the misty landscapes of their homeland.
Among them is a young Frenchman, slightly different from the others, not necessarily repulsive, but curious; mainly his glance. He comes to meet his beloved, a young Englishwoman of exceptional beauty, ethereal. However, his arrival is accompanied by strange events, ominous and sometimes terrifying. The explanation for some lies within the realm of logic, for others, however, in the supernatural.
Translation: Petros Stoikos
Transcription, notes, afterword: Eleni Ornithopoulou
Collector's edition of the masterpiece by Théophile Gautier in a limited print run of 313 numbered copies. For the first time made available to the Greek reading public is a tasteful edition, impeccably edited. With exhaustive notes and the wonderful, colored illustrations by François Courboin.
