1810 GOTHIC HORROR NOVEL. The Sicilian Pirate Sells Soul to Devil & Prophecies by a Wizard. Rare.

A very rare gothic "terror" novel or "horror" novel, of the kind satirized by Jane Austen. It belongs to a school of literature which spawned enduring literature, such as Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus, etc., but which was largely littered with lurid tales that mashed into a chapbook format every horror and taboo with which one might induce a reader to inquire within. . . a sort of printed menagerie or "freak show." 

The present work is exceptionally rare, with no copies offered at auction and none at present in the trade. And we see the terror stacking language in the subtitle. Pirate, mystery, terrific, devil, Lapland, wizard, notorious, depredations, cruel, terror, and a hint at suicide. If that didn't drag the kid in, nothing would! 

Anonyomous. The Sicilian Pirate, or the Pillar of Mystery. A Terrific Romance. Forming the Singular Life and Adventures of Adelmorn, Who, After Selling Himself to the Devil, at the Instigation of a Lapland Wizzard, Becomes a Notorious Pirate, and by His Depredations and Cruelties, Renders Himself the Terror of the Northern Parts of Europe. At Length the Wizzard's Prediction is Fulfilled, and He Ends his Days overwhelmed with Anguish and Despair. London. Printed by T. Maiden, for J. Roe. 1810. 108pp.

A good + copy, bound in half leather, generally solid, with moderate foxing, handled pages, and blank ffep lacking. Perhaps lacking a frontis, though no pagination for this edition was located.