Guy Fawkes

The novel Guy Fawkes first appeared as a serial in Bentley's Miscellany, between January and November 1840. It was subsequently published as a three-volume set in July 1841, with illustrations by George Cruikshank. The first of William Harrison Ainsworth's seven "Lancashire novels", the story is based on the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, an unsuccessful attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Ainsworth relied heavily on historical documents describing the trial and execution of the conspirators, of whom Fawkes was one, but he also embellished the known facts. He invented the character of Viviana Radcliffe, daughter of the prominent Radcliffe family of Ordsall Hallwho becomes Fawkes's wifeand introduced gothic and supernatural elements into the story, such as the ability of the alchemist, John Dee, to raise the spirits of the dead. The novel was very popular, and marked the beginning of Ainsworth's 40-year career in historical romances, but it was not universally admired. Edgar Allan Poe described the style of writing as "turgid pretension". Background and publication During 1840, Ainsworth simultaneously wrote The Tower of London and Guy Fawkes, both initially published as serials. The stories began their publication in January 1840; Guy Fawkes was published in instalments in Bentley's Miscellany until November 1840. Ainsworth serialised the story again in his own magazine, Ainsworth's Magazine, in 1849–50.