The Last Days of Pompeii (1834 Lytton), novel

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The Last Days of Pompeii (1834) is a novel by Edward Bulwer Lytton.

Abstract

Hugely popular novel used its characters to contrast, not uncritically, the decadent culture of first-century Rome with both older cultures (Greece and Egypt) and coming trends (Christianity). The novel was inspired by the success of the opera, L’ultimo giorno di Pompei (1825) by Italian composer Giovanni Pacini, and of the painting The Last Day of Pompeii (1833) by Russian painter Karl Briullov, which Bulwer-Lytton had seen in Milan. Although these works had made no reference to Christianity, they suggested that the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE could also provide a climactic and providential setting to a “Christian” story.

Editions

Published in London, England: Richard Bentley, (1834).

Translations

Translated in all major European languages.

Adaptations

See also:

External links