Not to be outdone by the current deluge of time-traveling Janeites, the West Coast Bureau Correspondent discovered a pair of long stays which, if laced too tightly, send the wearer back to Georgian/Regency England … but rather than follow the herd to chase after Mr. Darcy, she recalled her duty to review the following:

Chapbooks (unbound, usually under 24 pages) and bluebooks (blue paper cover, 36-72 pages) were inexpensive, popular reading material before and through Jane Austen’s time. The Veiled Picture, originally published in 1802 and now reissued by Valancourt Books, is a “bluebook” edition of Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho, intended to make fashionable Gothic literature accessible to the common reader.

In this unofficial abridgement, the names of places and characters have been changed (Valancourt’s edition includes a handy reference guide). All the descriptions and philosophical reveries on landscape, the picturesque, morality, or poetry have been removed. What remains reads like a 72-page (!) screenplay treatment: breathless, nonstop action and, as Henry Tilney notes, hair-raising. It’s a wild ride. If Eleanor stepped away even for five minutes she would miss much of the story:

Beautiful young Emily D’Orville lives a peaceful existence in the French countryside with her loving parents. But when tragedy strikes and leaves her an orphan, Emily is separated from her true love Angereau and imprisoned in the Castle of Gorgono, her sinister uncle’s fortress in the Apennine Mountains. Can Emily escape the horrors of Gorgono, or will she fall victim to Signor Androssi and his murderous friends? And what is the mystery of the horrifying picture that hangs in a locked chamber, shrouded in a black veil?

Valancourt’s edition, edited by Jack G. Voller, includes a new introduction and notes, contemporary reviews and reactions to the original Mysteries of Udolpho, short essays on Gothic architecture and the sublime, an essay by Ann Radcliffe on the role of supernatural in poetry, and a comparison of selected passages from Udolpho with their abbreviated bluebook counterparts: see how 547 words can be compressed to 15! Last, if The Veiled Picture excites your curiosity (as it did mine), the select bibliography is an excellent resource to learn more about Ann Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho, and Gothic bluebooks.

I’m reluctant to recommend The Veiled Picture as a first experience with Udolpho, especially to those who wish to learn more about how it relates to Northanger Abbey. The original Udolpho is a more accurate place to start, because Jane Austen alluded to and parodied more than the plot alone. Udolpho’s style, subtleties, and contemplation of aesthetics immerse the reader in the Gothic environment, especially the suspense and terror Radcliffe sought to create, and all these elements are addressed in Northanger Abbey.

Nevertheless, Valancourt Books’ edition of The Veiled Picture is a fascinating little book in its own right: a peek into the past at the height of the Gothic craze and the chapbook/bluebook tradition.