The Jewel of Seven Stars

Bram Stoker is perhaps best remembered for his novel Dracula, which was written a few years prior to the publication of The Jewel of Seven Stars. Stoker’s The Jewel of Seven Stars is a first-person narrative of a man pulled into an archaeologist’s plot to revive Queen Tera, an ancient Egyptian mummy. The novel explores common fin de siècle themes such as imperialism, the rise of the New Woman and feminism and societal progress. The book was first published in 1903 and subsequently re-released in 1912. In the revised edition, chapter XVI, “Powers – Old and New”, had been removed. The ending was rewritten as a more upbeat, straightforward conclusion. It is thought that the original publishers had asked Stoker for a happier and less gruesome ending. Stoker’s own feelings, stated in a 1908 essay, indicate that he would probably not have allowed censorship by the publisher: “[T]he strongest controlling force of imagination is in the individual with whom it originates. No one has power to stop the workings of imagination ... individual discretion is the first line of defence against such evils as may come from imagination.” It has been argued that Stoker himself chose to revise the ending and remove chapter XVI because it incited religious doubt and speculation that would threaten dominant religious beliefs at the time. The cover design is based on that of the first edition.