Red Eve

Set in medieval Europe, the historical romance Red Eve follows the beautiful Eve Clavering, or "Red Eve," and her lover and cousin, the merchant Hugh de Cressi. When villainous Sir Edmund Acour weds Eve against her will by giving her a love philtre, Hugh and his companion Gray Dick embark on a quest to seek an annulment from Pope Clement. In addition to numerous incidents of derring-do, Haggard includes a supernatural personification of Death named Murgh who appears repeatedly in the plot.

The Red Magazine serialized RE between 1 December 1910 and 1 March 1911 in an edition that included 21 illustrations by Paul Hardy. Hodder and Stoughton, London, published the first book edition on 28 August 1911 in an issue of 13,500 copies. This printing featured 4 full-page color illustrations by A. C. Michael on glossy paper. The first US edition, published by Doubleday, Garden City, also included the same 4 illustrations by Michael. Later editions, such as the 1912 edition by Doubleday, Page & Co., included only a frontispiece. Grossett & Dunlap purchased the remaining unsold copies from Doubleday and issued its own edition, which bound Doubleday's sheets into new boards. The Grossett & Dunlap editions also feature a frontispiece by Michael.

Further Reading

Haggard, H. Rider. The Days of My Life, An Autobiography. 2 Vols. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1926. II: 225. Print.

Pocock, Tom. Rider Haggard and the Lost Empire. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1993. 149. Print.

Whatmore, D.E.. H Rider Haggard: A Bibliography. Westport, CT: Meckler Publishing Co., 1987. F37, 52-53. Print.