"The Salamander and Other Gothic Tales" contains eight stories which represent the best of Russian Romantic fiction from the first half of the 19th century. These include "The Salamander", "The Cosmorama", and "The Sylph", Odoevsky's three main metaphysical tales. The collection as a whole represents some of the best of the Russian Romantic fiction from the first half of the nineteenth century. This is the first English edition of Odoevsky's work to be published since 1965 and six of the tales are here translated for the first time.The selection, which coincides with the recent revival of interest in him as a leading exponent of Russian Romanticism, displays Odoevsky's Gogolian sense of humour and his interest in social issues as well as highlighting his philosophical approach, drawn from German Romanticism and a wealth of European sources, to themes of the Gothic and the fantastic. Stories of this title include: "New Year"; "The Tale of a Dead Body"; "Belonging to No One Knows Whom"; "The Story of a Cock, a Cat and a Frog"; "The Sylph"; "Letter IV [To Countess Ye. P. Rostopchina]"; "The Live Corpse"; "The Cosmorama"; and, "The Salamander".
