Publisher's Synopsis
Schwob, one of the key symbolist writers, presents 22 mythopoeic literary portraits of figures from ancient history, art history, and the history of crime and punishment. From demi-gods, sorcerers, incendiaries, wantons and philosophers of the ancient world, to the 'poet of hate' Cecco Angiolieri and the painter Paolo Uccello, through to the pirates William Kid and Major Stede-Bonney, and finally the serial killers Burke and Hare, this is a vivid array of characters who display all that is macabre, deviant and terrifying in human beings and in life.
