Chillon: A Literary Guide.

by Patrick Vincent (Editor)

Built a thousand years ago on a rock beside Lake Geneva to guard the trade route between Italy and FRance, Chillon Castle's fame is relatively recent, and despite a bloody history, owes everything to literature. It was Lord Byron who made Chillon and its prisoner, François Bonivard, household names in Great Britain and in the United States. For several generations of English-speaking travelers the castle's "snow-white battlement" was a must-see destination and its dungeon with seven columns a symbol for political oppression. By the twentieth century, however, Chillon was too well known to be noticed.
This anthology traces the tajectory of response to Chillon from fascination to disenchantment in the travel narratives, letters, poetry and fiction of close to fifty Britih and American writers. Spanning almost three and half centuries, it guides readers through Chillon's labyrinthine dungeons, provides at times chilling, other times highly comic accounts of its history and myths, and offers lively insight into the quotidian realities of castle life. The selection includes texts by many lesser known authors as well as by major literary figures, among themn Byron, Shelley, Cooper, Dickens, Beecher Stowe, Hawthorne, Ruskin, Twain, James, and Fitzgerald.

159 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2010

Reviews

[Tim Chamberlain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent pocket-sized guide book, perfect for accompanying a visit to the castle. I read it when I visited Chillon in 2014, and I've written a blog post about my visit and the many artistic reflections which have been inspired by this beautiful place, especially the famous poem by Lord Byron and Mark Twain's wry take on the misfortunes of the castle's eponymous prisoner - which you can read here.

[Cabrina McNeil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this literary journey of the writings regarding Chillon. I recently had the opportunity to visit the chateau and I'm trying to figure out when I can go back. I had no idea there was so much literary history here!