Spirite and The Coffee Pot

Spirite is one of Gautier's major prose works, yet one of his most neglected. It is the tale of a woman who dies before the man she loves even notices she exists. There follows a sometimes thrilling, sometimes touching story of the interaction between the spirit world and reality. A mystical masterpiece. [Dedalus, 1995] This volume provides his first piece of fantastical prose, The Coffee Pot, and his last, Spirite. The latter may seem something of a sequel to the former, continuing to chart a path of male erotic fantasy; but the combination is of greater value for making visible some of the consistencies and evolutions of Gautier's oeuvre as a whole. [Dedalus, 2015] * First published in France in 1831 & 1865 Spirite (Le Moniteur universel, 17 novembre - 6 décembre 1865; książka 1866) First published by Dedalus in 1995 Cover illustration by Lise Weisgerber Introduction and chronology by Patrick Jenkins