It's time for the letter F for the
A-Z Challenge and today I'm featuring The Flying Dutchman created by
Thomas Peckett Prest. According
to Wikipedia, The Flying Dutchman originated from a centuries-old sailor superstition about a legendary phantom ship that could not make land and was cursed to sail the ocean for an eternity. Wow, that's some deep stuff, huh? Anyway, the myth started in the mid 17th century and since then sparked a flurry of other creative works like Prest's penny dreadful.
"The Flying Dutchman or The Demon Ship"
The British Library has the most information about this penny dreadful, including amazing images of the original text. As I mentioned above there were plenty of novels written over the years about The Flying Dutchman including an opera created by composer Richard Wagner. During the Victorian era, I'm sure the fear alone of being lost at sea would be enough to launch a lifetime of wicked tales. Right? Right! Interestingly and not surprising at all, it was Prest who created a version that feed public's appetite for Gothic literature. His version used the beautiful illustrations, action, romance and suspense thrilling the fans of his generation. And personally, I would have gone with the name, The Demon Ship instead of The Flying Dutchman, but that's me.
Another aspect about this book that I wanted to mention was although Prest was a definite creator, he wasn't the only author mentioned in this 96 page novel. In addition to Prest,
W Johnson Neale was also listed a author on a few of the versions I found.
Where can I get a copy of The Flying Dutchman; or, the Demon Ship?
Well, there are versions aplenty based off of the original myth. Feel free to browse the ones I found on
Amazon. I was not able to find the penny dreadful version I mentioned in an e-copy format though. Sorry! I did discover a way to source the
hard copy here via Google Books.
And there you have the letter F! Whew! This whole penny dreadful theme is HARD!
Make it a great day!
9 comments:
The Flying Dutchman is a story most of us have heard of, even if we don't know the details. The world was a much bigger place when that legend came about, but eve now, we are reminded how big and deep our oceans are by the loss of aircraft and shipping where no trace can be found, even with modern technology like black boxes.
Sophie
Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles
FB3X
Wittegen Press
There is a small boat class in sailing named the Flying Dutchman (I think it's one of the classes Hungarians won medals in). It took me a long time to connect the boat to the legend, because the legend in Hungarian is called "The Wandering Dutchman" Go figure :D
@TarkabarkaHolgy from
Multicolored Diary - Epics from A to Z
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I wonder why another author is listed sometimes? There are a lot of mysteries with these books.
I'd definitely heard of The Flying Dutchman but didn't know its origins. Love your theme! I'll have to check out the rest of your posts :)
I didn't know of the story or it's origins. In fact, the only thing I could think of when I saw the title was perhaps it had something to do with Pirates of the Caribbean or Spongebob. :/ It seems I'm totally and woefully ignorant of this legend and I'll have to try and fix that. Off to the link to Amazon! Thanks for the post and good luck with the challenge!
It's such an enduring story and obviously captures the imagination, no wonder it has appeared in so many versions.
What a neat topic! Thanks for sharing. I never knew that's what that term referred to. If you have time you should stop by and check out my F post.
Stopping by during the #Challenge. Visiting the (WR) blogs like mine. Congratulations on all the hard work you've done for these posts. Hope you have a minute to come visit me too.
Yeah, the Flying Dutchman creeps me out. Ghost ships I have issues with.
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