In her Vampire Chronicles and other series, New Orleans author Anne Rice taps into a need for Gothic longing and freedom in today's world. Murderous, sensual, and darkly erotic, the outsider as vampire is recast by Rice as someone deserving of our sympathy as well as our envy. They are outside of the human family, and form alternative families with other outsiders. Some of the characters (for example, the vampire Lestat and his mother) are related by heredity as well as by choice. Rice follows the Gothic convention of incest in the relationships between some of her characters. Shown here are four special editions published by New Orleans bookseller Britton Trice (U.Va. Class of 1974), as well as a first edition from the Taylor Collection of American Best Sellers.  

Violin. By Anne Rice. New Orleans: B. E. Trice, 1997.

Violin. By Anne Rice. New Orleans: B. E. Trice, 1997. First edition. Gift of Britton Trice. The Special Collections Department. A facsimile reprint of the original first edition, published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1997. This special limited edition is bound in its original suede cloth, and bears an illustration by Kevin Sloan mounted on the front cover. Both author and artist have signed the limitation leaf.

Servant of the Bones. By Anne Rice. New Orleans: B. E. Trice, 1996.

Servant of the Bones. By Anne Rice. New Orleans: B. E. Trice, 1996. First edition. Gift of Britton Trice. The Special Collections Department. A facsimile reprint of the original first edition, published by Alfred A. Knopf, 1996. This special limited edition is bound in its original red cloth. An illustration by Stan Rice, the author's husband, is mounted on the front cover. The author and artist have both signed the limitation leaf.

Memnoch the Devil. By Anne Rice. New Orleans: B. E. Trice, 1995.

Memnoch the Devil. By Anne Rice. New Orleans: B. E. Trice, 1995. The Special Collections Department. A facsimile reprint of the original first edition, published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1995. The cover illustration is by George Dure, and the limitation leaf is signed both by the artist and author.

Taltos: Lives of the Mayfair Witches. New Orleans: B. E. Trice, 1994.

Taltos: Lives of the Mayfair Witches. New Orleans: B. E. Trice, 1994. Gift of Britton Trice. The Special Collections Department. A facsimile reprint of the original first edition, published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1994. This special limited edition is bound in its original purple cloth. The cover photo is by Sandra Russell Clark. The artist and author have both signed the limitation leaf.

Queen of the Damned. By Anne Rice. First edition. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998.

Queen of the Damned. By Anne Rice. First edition. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998. From the Taylor American Best Sellers Collection.