Escal-Vigor
1899
Georges Eekhoud
Paris : Société du Mercure de France
Belgian
Novel
261pp
Gay Men, Hellenic
Had I to live again it is thus that I would love.
Summary
About a gay count and his love for a peasant, and the attack by his community set on him by a woman jealous for the count's affections. Also known by its English name, A Strange Love: A Novel of Abnormal Passion.
More Info
The novel motivated authorities to place Eekhound on trial in October 1900 for depicting homosexuality, but he was eventually aquitted.
Also see:
"Gay Taboos in 1900 Brussels: The Literary, Journalistic and Private Debate Surrounding Georges Eekhoud's Novel Escal-Vigor" (2018) by Michael Rosenfield
"Du national au transnational. Escal-Vigor (1899) et sa traduction en néerlandais" (2014) by Kris Peeters
"Martyrologe d’un genre nouveau: Le Dénouement d’Escal-Vigor de Georges Eekhoud" (2006) by Philippe Chavasse
Content & Trigger Warnings
(highlight to reveal)
DEATH: of both main characters by murder.
The introduction by "Gauntlet" in English editions is also extraordinarily homophobic.
Editions
Paris : Société du Mercure de France (1899) 261p.
Paris : Mercure de France (1901) 252p. By La Bataille des Livres. Title page by Wikimedia.
Bruxelles : The Gutemburg Press (1909) in English. 271p. 1,150 copies. By the Book Merchant Jenkins.
New York : Panurge Press (1930) as A Strange Love: A Novel of Abnormal Passion. 252p. 1,010 copies, 10 for the press editors.