[140] Dr John Anster’s excellent translations of the first part of Faust appeared in Blackwood’s Magazine in 1820, about the time when Maturin was finishing Melmoth the Wanderer. There is no evidence of Maturin’s having been able to read German, nor are there many allusions, in his writings, to German literature.—The points of contact with Faust are pointed out by Müller, pp. 98-99.
[141] In The Fortunes of Nigel (1822) the tale of Lady Hermione begins with this statement: ‘In Spain you may have heard how the Catholic priests, and particularly the monks, besiege the beds of the dying, to obtain bequests for the good of the Church’—which possibly is a hint from the Tale of Guzman’s Family.
[142] Blackwood’s Magazine 1820, vol. VIII p. 161.
[143] Both in the preface and in a marginal note Maturin states that The Lovers’ Tale is a record of actual experience, although he mentions no sources.
[144] Müller, p. 103.
[145] This resemblance has been pointed out already by the critic in the London Magazine 1821.
[146] Müller, p. 107.
[147] Introduction to Tales of Mystery (Mrs Radcliffe—Lewis—Maturin), edited by George Saintsbury, London 1891.
[148] Quarterly Review 1821, vol. XXIV p. 303.
[149] Poe, Introduction to Poems 1831 (Letter to Mr B——).