Bram Stoker's Secret Journal Found on Great Grandson's Bookshelf

Posted on October 29, 2011

A never before seen personal journal by Dracula author Bram Stoker has been found, sitting a bookshelf in the home of Stoker's great-grandson Noel Dobbs, who lives on Isle of Wight. CNN reports that Noel found the book when a researcher asked him if he had any papers from his famous ancestor. The book is unmarked and is signed "Abraham Stoker."

The diary begins when Stoker was in his early 20s in 1871. He had graduated from Trinity College in Ireland and was working at Dublin Castle. It details how he read about Vlad the Impaler, who was the inspiration for Count Dracula. The journal details his travels, which were extensive, and reveals numerous story ideas for other books. It even includes romantic poems, which surprised the researchers.

Dacre Stoker, Noel's cousin who is an American professor who has written a book about Bram Stoker, said, "When I saw it, I was amazed... I thought, 'The Holy Grail! We've found it!' There is so little written by Bram about Bram. Family, scholars and hard-core fans -- so many people have wanted to know what made the man who wrote 'Dracula' tick. And here we had a major set of clues."

Next March, the diary will be published under the title The Lost Journal.

A photo of Dracula by Bram Stoker/Intervisual Books is pictured above.