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!
