Publisher's Synopsis
Polidori (1795-1821) was an English writer and physician known for his association with the Romantic movement and credited by some as the creator of the vampire genre of fantasy fiction. His most successful work was the short story The Vampyre (1819) which was at first erroneously accredited to Byron. In 1816 Polidori entered the service of Byron as his physician and accompanied him on a trip through Europe. Publisher John Murray paid him £500 to keep a diary of their travels which was later edited by Polidori's nephew, William Michael Rossetti, and published posthumously in 1911.