A Rare Treasure of English Literature. Much before Bram Stoker's Dracula, there was "The Vampyre: A Tale," first published in 1819. Created in the summer of 1816 by Dr. John William Polidori, Lord Byron's physician and a close friend of Frankenstein's author Mary Shelly, "The Vampyre" tells a fascinating tale of vampirism in the early 19th century. Part of the project Immortal Literature Series of classic literature, this is a new edition of the classic work published in 1819 - not a facsimile reprint. Obvious typographical errors have been carefully corrected and the entire text has been reset and redesigned to enhance readability.