Transylvania - The Land Beyond the Forest

First published in 1888, Emily Gerard’s Transylvania: The Land Beyond the Forest remains one of the most captivating and influential travel studies of Romania’s landscapes, folklore, and traditions ever written in the English language.

A Scottish author living in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Gerard ventured deep into Transylvania’s mountain villages and Saxon towns, recording with empathy and fascination the customs, beliefs, and superstitions of its diverse peoples—Romanian, Hungarian, German, and Roma. Her vivid descriptions of rural life, haunted castles, and ancient rituals reveal a world poised between medieval mystery and modern transformation. Most famously, her writings on local vampire legends would later inspire Bram Stoker’s Dracula, giving her observations a lasting place in literary and cultural history.

Part ethnographic record, part Gothic reverie, Transylvania: The Land Beyond the Forest endures as both a cornerstone of Eastern European travel literature and a lyrical testament to the beauty and strangeness of a land still shrouded in legend.

Complete and unabridged edition of Emily Gerard’s 1888 classic

Authentic firsthand account of Transylvanian folklore, customs, and landscapes

A vital resource for students of folklore, Gothic literature, and Eastern European history

Essential reading for collectors of Victorian travel narratives and cultural ethnography