“From the very first time I saw him, I felt that he could dive deep into my heart . . . every time he looked at me, I felt all the blood within my veins was always set aglow.” So begins the doomed love affair between Des Grieux and Teleny. Captivated at a concert by Teleny’s haunting music and his hypnotic gaze, Des Grieux gradually finds himself drawn toward the handsome young man. The novel follows their relationship from Des Grieux’s initial fascination with Teleny to their adventures in the orgies of the gay underworld to their eventual mutual passionate love for one another, a love that will end in tragedy. First published anonymously in a now unobtainable edition of only 200 copies, Teleny is one of the earliest examples of gay erotica and remains one of the best. This new scholarly edition includes the unabridged text of the 1893 edition from the copy in the British Library as well as a new introduction and notes by Amanda Mordavsky Caleb. In her introduction, Caleb discusses homosexuality in Victorian England as well as the novel’s preoccupation with many of the hot topics of the day, such as telepathy, hypnosis, and the paranormal. Also featured is an appendix containing a translation of French bookseller Charles Hirsch’s 1934 account of the composition of the novel and the roles Oscar Wilde and others played in its genesis.
