Montague Summers
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Augustus Montague Summers (10 April 1880 – 10 August 1948) was an English author, clergyman, and teacher. As an independent scholar, he published many works on the
English drama Drama was introduced to Britain from Europe by the Romans, and auditoriums were constructed across the country for this purpose. Medieval period By the medieval period, the mummers' plays had developed, a form of early street theatre associ ...
of the
Stuart Restoration The Stuart Restoration was the reinstatement in May 1660 of the Stuart monarchy in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland. It replaced the Commonwealth of England, established in January 164 ...
(1660–1688) and helped to organise and to promote the performance of plays from that period. He also wrote extensively on the
occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...
and has been characterized as "arguably the most seminal twentieth century purveyor of
pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...
occultism." Summers initially prepared for a career in the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
at
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
and
Lichfield Lichfield () is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated south-east of the county town of Stafford, north-east of Walsall, north-west of ...
, and was ordained as an Anglican deacon in 1908. He then converted to
Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and began styling himself as a
Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...
. He was, however, never under the authority of any Catholic
diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...
or
religious order A religious order is a subgroup within a larger confessional community with a distinctive high-religiosity lifestyle and clear membership. Religious orders often trace their lineage from revered teachers, venerate their Organizational founder, ...
in England, and it is doubtful that he was ever actually ordained to the priesthood. While employed as a teacher of English and
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
, he pursued scholarly work on the English theatre of the 17th century. For his contributions to that field he was elected to the
Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...
in 1916. Noted for his eccentric personality and interests, Summers became a popular figure in London high society first for his theatrical work and later for his ''History of Witchcraft and Demonology'', published in 1926. That work was followed by other studies on
witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...
,
vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...
s, and
werewolves In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf–humanlike creature, either purposely or after bei ...
, in all of which he professed to believe. In 1928 he published his translation of the 15th-century witch hunter's manual, the ''
Malleus Maleficarum The ''Malleus Maleficarum'', usually translated as the ''Hammer of Witches'', is the best known treatise about witchcraft. It was written by the German Catholic Church, Catholic clergyman Heinrich Kramer (under his Latinisation of names, Latini ...
'', and for decades this remained the only full English translation of that historical document. Summers also produced scholarly work on
Gothic fiction Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean me ...
and published several anthologies of horror stories. He wrote some original works of fiction, none of which were published in his lifetime.


Early life

Montague Summers was the youngest of the seven children of Augustus William Summers, a wealthy businessman and justice of the peace in
Clifton, Bristol Clifton is an inner suburb of Bristol, England, and the name of one of the city's thirty-five Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral wards. The Clifton ward also includes the areas of Cliftonwood and Hotwells. The easter ...
, and his wife Ellen ''née'' Bush. Augustus was a director of
Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank plc is a major British retail banking, retail and commercial bank with a significant presence across England and Wales. It has traditionally been regarded one of the "Big Four (banking)#England and Wales, Big Four" clearing house ...
, chairman of Bristol United Breweries, and the head of a firm of mineral water manufacturers. Ellen was the daughter of a manager of the Warminster Savings Bank. Montague grew up in a luxurious home located next to
Clifton Down Clifton Down is an area of public open space in Bristol, England, north of the village of Clifton. With its neighbour Durdham Down to the north and east, it constitutes the large area known as The Downs, much used for leisure including walki ...
and called "Tellisford House", which today is a
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
. He was educated as a day boy at the nearby
Clifton College Clifton College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike mo ...
. Early on, he rebelled against his father's
evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...
,
low church In Anglican Christianity, the term ''low church'' refers to those who give little emphasis to ritual, often having an emphasis on preaching, individual salvation, and personal conversion. The term is most often used in a liturgical sense, denot ...
religiosity, embracing instead a ritualistic
Anglo-Catholicism Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholicism, Catholic heritage (especially pre-English Reformation, Reformation roots) and identity of the Church of England and various churches within Anglicanism. Anglo-Ca ...
. According to his biographer Brocard Sewell, there was a strain of mental illness in his mother's side of the family. In 1899, Summers matriculated at
Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...
. Although an avid reader and linguist, Summers neglected his university studies. In 1904 he received a fourth-class Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in
theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...
, promoted in 1906 to a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
(MA) degree, as per the custom of the
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
. Summers continued his religious training at
Lichfield Theological College Lichfield Theological College was founded in 1857 to train Anglican clergy to serve in the Church of England. Uniquely at its foundation, the college did not require a degree, and non-graduates made up the majority of its ordinands. The college ...
with the intention of becoming a priest in the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
. Summers self-published his first book, ''
Antinous Antinous, also called Antinoös, (; ; – ) was a Greek youth from Bithynia, a favourite and lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian. Following his premature death before his 20th birthday, Antinous was deified on Hadrian's orders, being worshippe ...
and Other Poems'', in 1907. Its contents reflected the influence of the literary
Decadent movement The Decadent movement (from the French language, French ''décadence'', ) was a late 19th-century Art movement, artistic and literary movement, literary movement, centered in Western Europe, that followed an aesthetic ideology of excess and artif ...
while showcasing Summers's own preoccupations with
pederasty Pederasty or paederasty () is a sexual relationship between an adult man and an adolescent boy. It was a socially acknowledged practice in Ancient Greece and Rome and elsewhere in the world, such as Pre-Meiji Japan. In most countries today, ...
,
medievalism Medievalism is a system of belief and practice inspired by the Middle Ages of Europe, or by devotion to elements of that period, which have been expressed in areas such as architecture, literature, music, art, philosophy, scholarship, and variou ...
,
Catholic liturgy Catholic liturgy means the whole complex of official liturgical worship, including all the rites, ceremonies, prayers, and sacraments of the Church, as opposed to private or collective devotions. In this sense the arrangement of all these s ...
, and the
occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...
. Summers dedicated that book to the writer
Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen Baron Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen (20 February 1880 – 5 November 1923) was a French novelist and poet. His life forms the basis of a fictionalised 1959 novel by Roger Peyrefitte entitled ''The Exile of Capri'' (''L'exilé de Capri''). In 1903, ...
, who was notorious for having been convicted years earlier by a court in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
of "inciting minors to debauchery". Summers was ordained as
deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...
in 1908 by George Forrest Browne, the
Bishop of Bristol The Bishop of Bristol heads the Church of England Diocese of Bristol in the Province of Canterbury, in England. The present diocese covers parts of the counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire together with a small area of Wiltshire. The see ...
. He was then appointed as curate in
Bitton Bitton is a village and civil parish of South Gloucestershire in Gloucestershire, England, to the east of Bristol and on the River Boyd. The parish of Bitton had a population of 9,307, and apart from the village itself, includes Swineford, ...
, near Bristol. The vicar of Bitton was the elderly Canon Ellacombe, who could provide Summers with little supervision or guidance. When a friend from Oxford, the poet J. Redwood Anderson, visited Summers at the Bitton vicarage, he found Summers "in a thoroughly neurotic state and exhibiting a morbid fascination with evil". Summers's brief curacy ended under a cloud and he never proceeded to higher orders in the Anglican Church, apparently because of rumours of his interest in
Satanism Satanism refers to a group of religious, ideological, or philosophical beliefs based on Satan—particularly his worship or veneration. Because of the ties to the historical Abrahamic religious figure, Satanism—as well as other religious ...
and allegations of sexual impropriety with young boys. Summers's interest in Satanism probably derived in part from his reading of the works of the French writer
Joris-Karl Huysmans Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (, ; 5 February 1848 – 12 May 1907) was a French novelist and art critic who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans (, variably abbreviated as J. K. or J.-K.). He is most famous for the novel (1884, pub ...
, particularly the novel '' Là-bas'' (1891), which includes an account of a
Black Mass A Black Mass is a ceremony celebrated by various Satanic groups. It has allegedly existed for centuries in different forms, and the modern form is intentionally a sacrilegious and blasphemous parody of a Catholic Mass. In the 19th century the ...
. Summers himself later claimed in private conversation to have attended Black Masses in
Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...
,
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
, and
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. Some of his former associates, including Redwood Anderson, claim that in his early years Summers conducted such ceremonies himself. According to the testimonies quoted by Gerard P. O'Sullivan, Summers and another clergyman, the Rev. Austin Nelson, were accused in 1908 of attempting to seduce a
choirboy A choirboy is a boy member of a choir, also known as a treble. As a derisive slang term, it refers to a do-gooder or someone who is morally upright, in the same sense that "Boy Scout" (also derisively) refers to someone who is considered honor ...
in
Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...
. Fearing that the police might question him, Summers fled to
Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
, in Belgium. Summers was not prosecuted and he returned to England soon thereafter.Gerard P. O'Sullivan, "Prologue: The Continuing Quest for Montague Summers," in Montague Summers, ''The Vampire: His Kith and King – A Critical Edition'', ed. John Edgar Browning (Berkeley, CA: Apocryphile Press, 2011), pp. xxviii- lxxii


Conversion to Catholicism

In 1909, Summers converted to Catholicism and began studying for the Catholic priesthood at St John's Seminary, Wonersh, receiving the clerical
tonsure Tonsure () is the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The term originates from the Latin word ' (meaning "clipping" or "shearing") and referred to a specific practice in ...
on 28 December 1910. After 1913 he styled himself as the "Reverend Alphonsus Joseph-Mary Augustus Montague Summers" and acted as a Catholic priest, even though he was never a member of any Catholic
order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...
or
diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...
in England. After this time, he also consistently appeared in public in what Brocard Sewell described as " clerical attire reminiscent of some exotic ''
abbé ''Abbé'' (from Latin , in turn from Greek , , from Aramaic ''abba'', a title of honour, literally meaning "the father, my father", emphatic state of ''abh'', "father") is the French word for an abbot. It is also the title used for lower-ranki ...
'' of the time of Louis Quatorze". Whether he was actually
ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...
as a priest is disputed. According to some testimonies, Summers had transferred from the seminary in Wornesh to the
Diocese of Nottingham The Diocese of Nottingham () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic church in England and a suffragan of the Metropolitan Diocese of Westminster. The diocese covers an area of , taking in the English counties of Nottinghamshire (now exclu ...
, but the local bishop refused to ordain him after receiving incriminating reports of Summers's prior conduct. Some sources claim that Summers then travelled to Continental Europe and was ordained by Cardinal Mercier in Belgium or by Archbishop Guido Maria Conforti in Italy. It is also alleged that Summers was ordained as a priest by Ulric Vernon Herford, the self-styled "Bishop of
Mercia Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...
and
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
" in the "Evangelical Catholic Communion", one of several ''
episcopi vagantes In Christianity, an (plural ; Latin for 'wandering bishops' or 'stray bishops') is a person consecrated, in a "clandestine or irregular way", as a bishop outside the structures and canon law of the established churches; a person regularly con ...
'' ("wandering bishops") operating in Britain at the time. Brocard Sewell argued that "there is a strong probability, if not a
moral certainty Moral certainty is a concept of intuitive probability. It means a very high degree of probability, sufficient for action, but short of absolute or mathematical certainty. Origins The notion of different degrees of certainty can be traced back to a ...
" that Summers had been validly but perhaps illicitly ordained as a priest. Sewell gave as evidence the facts that Summers was allowed to say mass publicly when he travelled in the Continent and that Monsignor
Ronald Knox Ronald Arbuthnott Knox (17 February 1888 – 24 August 1957) was an English Catholic priest, theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an ...
, although wholly unsympathetic and opposed to Summers, regarded him as actually being a Catholic priest.


Work as a teacher

From 1911 to 1926 Summers found employment as a teacher of English,
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
, French, and
history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
. He was an assistant master at Hertford Grammar School in 1911–1912, and then at the Junior School of the
Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a art school, school of fine arts, fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School ...
in
Holborn Holborn ( or ), an area in central London, covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part (St Andrew Holborn (parish), St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Wards of the City of London, Ward of Farringdon Without i ...
in 1912–1922. During that time he also taught evening classes at
London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...
schools. In 1922, he became senior English and
Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...
master at Brockley County School in south-east London. Despite his eccentric appearance and habits, he was apparently a successful and well-regarded teacher. Summers gave up teaching in 1926, after the success of his first book on
witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...
allowed him to adopt writing as his full-time occupation.


Literary scholarship

While employed as a schoolmaster and with the encouragement of
Arthur Henry Bullen Arthur Henry Bullen, often known as A. H. Bullen (9 February 1857, London – 29 February 1920, Stratford-on-Avon), was an English editor in chief, editor and publisher, a specialist in 16th century in literature, 16th- and 17th century in literat ...
of the Shakespeare Head Press, Summers established himself as an independent scholar specializing on the dramatic literature of the
Stuart Restoration The Stuart Restoration was the reinstatement in May 1660 of the Stuart monarchy in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland. It replaced the Commonwealth of England, established in January 164 ...
. In 1914 he published a critical edition of George Villiers's '' The Rehearsal''. He then edited the plays of
Aphra Behn Aphra Behn (; baptism, bapt. 14 December 1640 – 16 April 1689) was an English playwright, poet, prose writer and translator from the Restoration (England), Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writ ...
, which appeared in 1915 in six volumes. That work was well received by other scholars and earned him election as fellow of the
Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...
in 1916.


Restoration drama

Summers helped to create a new society called "The Phoenix" that performed "old plays", including long neglected Restoration comedies, and which operated from 1919 to 1925 under the patronage of Lady Cunard and with the support of Sir
Edmund Gosse Sir Edmund William Gosse (; 21 September 184916 May 1928) was an English poet, author and critic. He was strictly brought up in a small Protestant sect, the Plymouth Brethren, but broke away sharply from that faith. His account of his childhood ...
. It was succeeded by the "Renaissance Theatre", which gave occasional performances until 1928. Summers wrote extensive programme notes for those productions and offered his scholarly advice during rehearsals. That work made Summers a well known and popular figure in theatrical circles. Among Summers's associates in the London theater were actor
Lewis Casson Sir Lewis Thomas Casson (26 October 187516 May 1969) was an English actor and theatre director, and the husband of actress Dame Sybil Thorndike.Devlin, DianaCasson, Sir Lewis Thomas (1875–1969) ''The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' ...
and his wife
Sybil Thorndike Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson (24 October 18829 June 1976) was an English actress whose stage career lasted from 1904 to 1969. Trained in her youth as a concert pianist, Thorndike turned to the stage when a medical problem with her h ...
. With the
Nonesuch Press Nonesuch Press was a private press founded in 1922 in London by Francis Meynell, his second wife Vera Mendel, and their mutual friend David Garnett,Miranda Knorr"The Nonesuch Press: A Product of Determination" An Exhibit of Rare Books at the Ok ...
, Summers published critical editions of the collected plays of
William Congreve William Congreve (24 January 1670 – 19 January 1729) was an English playwright, satirist, poet, and Whig politician. He spent most of his career between London and Dublin, and was noted for his highly polished style of writing, being regard ...
(1923),
William Wycherley William Wycherley ( ; April 16411 January 1716) was an English Army officer and playwright best known for writing the plays '' The Country Wife'' and ''The Plain Dealer''. Early life Wycherley was born at Clive near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, ...
(1924), and
Thomas Otway Thomas Otway (3 March 165214 April 1685) was an English dramatist of the Restoration period, best known for '' Venice Preserv'd'', or ''A Plot Discover'd'' (1682). Life Otway was born at Trotton near Midhurst, the parish of which his father ...
(1926). With Reginald Caton's Fortune Press, Summers edited the works of
Thomas Shadwell Thomas Shadwell ( – 19 November 1692) was an English poet and playwright who was appointed Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate in 1689. Life Shadwell was born at either Bromehill Farm, Weeting-with-Broomhill or Santon House, Ly ...
(1927). In 1931-32 there appeared his edition of the works of
John Dryden John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration (En ...
, published by Nonesuch, which attracted considerable criticism from other scholars for what they identified as faulty editing of the texts and unacknowledged borrowing from other scholars in the notes. After that, Summers published no other critical editions of dramatists. Several decades after his death, literary critic and historian Robert D. Hume characterized Montague Summers's scholarship on Restoration drama as pioneering and useful, but also as marred by sloppiness, eccentricity, uncritical deference to Edmund Gosse and other similar gentlemen-amateurs, and even occasional dishonesty. Hume judged Summers's studies on ''The Restoration Theatre'' (1934) and ''The Playhouse of Pepys'' (1935) to be particularly fruitful sources. In his own day, Summers's credibility among university-based scholars was adversely impacted by the acrimonious public disputes in which he engaged with others working in the same field, such as Frederick S. Boas and
Allardyce Nicoll John Ramsay Allardyce Nicoll (28 June 1894 – 17 April 1976) was a Scottish literary scholar and teacher. Allardyce Nicoll was born in Partick, Glasgow, and educated at Stirling High School and the University of Glasgow, where he was the G. A. C ...
.


Gothic fiction

In 1917, Summers presented a lecture on
Ann Radcliffe Ann Radcliffe (née Ward; 9 July 1764 – 7 February 1823) was an English novelist who pioneered the Gothic fiction, Gothic novel, and a minor poet. Her fourth and most popular novel, ''The Mysteries of Udolpho'', was published in 1794. She i ...
, the pioneering Gothic novelist, before the Royal Society of Literature. That same year he lectured the Society on
Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...
in the context of the centenary of her death. In the 1920s Summers and another scholar,
Michael Sadleir Michael Sadleir (25 December 1888 – 13 December 1957), born Michael Thomas Harvey Sadler, was a British publisher, novelist, book collector, and Bibliography, bibliographer. Biography Michael Sadleir was born in Oxford, Oxford, England, the ...
, rediscovered the seven obscure Gothic novels, known as the " Northanger Horrid Novels", that Austen mentioned in her Gothic parody novel ''
Northanger Abbey ''Northanger Abbey'' ( ) is a coming-of-age novel and a satire of Gothic fiction, Gothic novels written by the English author Jane Austen. Although the title page is dated 1818 and the novel was published posthumously in 1817 with ''Persuasio ...
''. Many readers had come to suppose that the lurid titles were Austen's own invention, but Summers and Sadleir showed that they corresponded to novels published in the 1790s. Summers produced partial editions of two of those works.
Gothic fiction Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean me ...
became the other focus of Summers's literary scholarship, in addition to Restoration drama. In 1938, Summers published a history of the Gothic novel titled ''The Gothic Quest'', which was later praised by the French scholar André Parreaux as "a unique and valuable book, indispensable to the student of the period". A second volume of that history, to be titled ''The Gothic Achievement'', had not been completed when Summers died in 1948. Summers's ''Gothic Bibliography'', published in 1940, has been characterized as "flawed but useful." Summers also compiled three anthologies of supernatural stories: ''The Supernatural Omnibus'' (1931), ''Victorian Ghost Stories'' (1933), and ''The Grimoire and other Supernatural Stories'' (1936). On the strength of that work, he has been described as "the major anthologist of supernatural and Gothic fiction" in the 1930s.


Poetry

Summers also edited the poetry of
Richard Barnfield Richard Barnfield (baptized 29 June 1574 – 1620) was an English poet. His relationship with William Shakespeare has long made him interesting to scholars. It has been suggested that he was the " rival poet" mentioned in Shakespeare's sonnet ...
, a contemporary of
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
. Summers' introduction to his 1936 edition of Barnfield's poems stressed the
homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...
theme of some of those works, particularly ''The Affectionate Shepherd''. Brocard Sewell states that Summers's introduction to ''The Poems of Richard Barnfield'' is one of the two works that Summers published on the "psychology of sex", the other being his 1920 essay on the
Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade ( ; ; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814) was a French writer, libertine, political activist and nobleman best known for his libertine novels and imprisonment for sex crimes, blasphemy and pornography ...
.


The occult

From 1916 onwards, Summers regularly published articles in popular occult periodicals, including '' The Occult Review'' and the Spiritualist periodical ''Light''. In 1926 his work on ''The History of Witchcraft and Demonology'' appeared as part of the "History of Civilization" published by Kegan Paul and edited by
Charles Kay Ogden Charles Kay Ogden (; 1 June 1889 – 20 March 1957) was a British linguist, philosopher, and writer. Described as a polymath but also an Eccentricity (behavior), eccentric and Emic and etic, outsider, he took part in many ventures related to lit ...
. In the introduction to that book, Summers wrote: The basic tenet of Summers's approach to witchcraft was Thomas Stapleton's dictum ("
Heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...
grows with witchcraft, and witchcraft with heresy"). Summers presented modern
spiritualism Spiritualism may refer to: * Spiritual church movement, a group of Spiritualist churches and denominations historically based in the African-American community * Spiritualism (beliefs), a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at leas ...
as a continuation of older forms of witchcraft and
necromancy Necromancy () is the practice of Magic (paranormal), magic involving communication with the Death, dead by Evocation, summoning their spirits as Ghost, apparitions or Vision (spirituality), visions for the purpose of divination; imparting the ...
. Summers expressed belief in the existence of
demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...
s, their role in possession and exorcism, and other preternatural phenomena associated with their activity. However, he also argued, based on the theological views of
Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...
and
Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...
, that the magical rites of witches can do no real harm to others. He considered that the testimonies according to which witches reached the place of their "
sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, Ten Commandments, commanded by God to be kept as a Holid ...
" by magical flight were based on some delusion and argued that the "devil" reported to appear at such gatherings was an ordinary man in disguise, engaged in a burlesque of the ritual of the
holy mass The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass "the same Christ ...
. ''The History of Witchcraft and Demonology'' sold well and attracted considerable attention in the press, with several reviewers expressing surprise that a 20th-century scholar had written as if the persons accused during the historical
witch hunt A witch hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. Practicing evil spells or Incantation, incantations was proscribed and punishable in early human civilizations in the ...
s had really been guilty of the crimes attributed to them. The book's success made Summers "something of a social celebrity" and allowed him to give up teaching and write full time. In 1927 Summers published a companion volume, ''The Geography of Witchcraft'', also as part of Ogden's "History of Civilization" series. In 1928, Summers published the first full English translation of the ''
Malleus Maleficarum The ''Malleus Maleficarum'', usually translated as the ''Hammer of Witches'', is the best known treatise about witchcraft. It was written by the German Catholic Church, Catholic clergyman Heinrich Kramer (under his Latinisation of names, Latini ...
'' ("The Hammer of Witches"), a Latin manual on the detection and prosecution of witches written in the
15th century The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian calendar dates from 1 January 1401 (represented by the Roman numerals MCDI) to 31 December 1500 (MD). In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Re ...
by the Dominican inquisitors
Heinrich Kramer Heinrich Kramer ( 1430 – 1505, aged 74-75), also known under the Latinized name Henricus Institor, was a German churchman and inquisitor. With his widely distributed book ''Malleus Maleficarum'' (1487), which describes witchcraft and endors ...
and
Jacob Sprenger Jacob Sprenger (1436/1438 – 6 December 1495) was a Dominican inquisitor and theologian principally known for his association with an infamous book on witch-hunting ''Malleus Maleficarum'' (1486). He was born in Rheinfelden, Further Austria, t ...
. In his introduction, Summers insists that the reality of witchcraft is an essential part of Catholic doctrine and declares the ''Malleus'' an admirable and correct account of witchcraft and of the methods necessary to combat it. In fact, however, the Catholic authorities of the 15th century had condemned the ''Malleus'' on both ethical and legal grounds. Other Catholic scholars contemporary with Summers were highly critical of the ''Malleus''. For instance, the Rev.
Herbert Thurston Herbert Henry Charles Thurston (15 November 1856 – 3 November 1939) was an English priest of the Roman Catholic Church, a member of the Jesuit order, and a prolific scholar on liturgical, literary, historical, and spiritual matters. In ...
's article on "Witchcraft" for the ''
Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...
'' of 1912, refers to the publication of the ''Malleus'' as a "disastrous episode." After his first works on witchcraft were published, Summers turned his attention to
vampires A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...
, producing ''The Vampire: His Kith and Kin'' (1928) and ''The Vampire in Europe'' (1929). According to Summers's books, his research on vampires was not exclusively bibliographical, but also drew on oral traditions that he had encountered during his travels in
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
. Summers then turned to
werewolves In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf–humanlike creature, either purposely or after bei ...
with ''The Werewolf'' (1933). In 1933, copies of Summers's translations of ''The Confessions of Madeleine Bavent'' and of
Ludovico Maria Sinistrari Ludovico Maria Sinistrari (26 February 1622 – 1701) was an Italian Franciscan priest and author. Biography Born in Ameno, Italy, he studied in Pavia and entered the Franciscan Order in 1647. He taught philosophy and theology to students in ...
's ''Demoniality'' were seized by the police due to their explicit accounts of sexual intercourse between humans and demons. At the ensuing trial of the publisher for
obscene libel The publication of an obscene libel was an offence under the common law of England. Prior to the abolition bsection 1of the Criminal Law Act 1967 of the distinction between felony and misdemeanour, it was regarded as a misdemeanour. It has been abol ...
, anthropologist E. E. Evans-Pritchard testified in defence of the scholarly value of the works in question. The publisher, Reginald Caton, was convicted and the unsold copies destroyed.


Influence

Summers's work on the occult is notorious for his old-fashioned and eccentric writing style, his display of erudition, and his purported belief in the reality of some of the preternatural subjects he treats. Presented from the perspective of a highly traditionalist Catholicism, Summers's occult scholarship has actually had its greatest influence upon modern
popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art
f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...
or mass art, sometimes contraste ...
. According to historian
Juliette Wood Juliette Wood is a British historian and lecturer at Cardiff University. She specializes in Celtic and Medieval history, magic, and folklore. She is a former director of the Folklore Society and an Honorary Fellow of Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum ...
, Summers's According to
horror genre Horror is a genre of speculative fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten, or scare an audience. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defin ...
scholar John Edgar Browning, "it is because of Summers that the modern serious study of the vampire figure exists today". On the other hand, Browning also finds that, for all their erudition, Summers's research on the occult exhibits "a curious absence of any real depth", which may explain why "a stigma has been attached to Summers's writings for almost as long as they have been in print." After Christopher S. MacKay published a full translation of the ''
Malleus Maleficarum The ''Malleus Maleficarum'', usually translated as the ''Hammer of Witches'', is the best known treatise about witchcraft. It was written by the German Catholic Church, Catholic clergyman Heinrich Kramer (under his Latinisation of names, Latini ...
'' in 2006, historian Jonathan Seitz welcomed that new work, noting that, until then, the ''Malleus'' had "been readily available in English only in the atrocious 1928 'translation' authored by Montague Summers". Seitz added that "to dub Summers an eccentric would be to understate substantially his outsized personality, and his edition reflects his idiosyncrasies." The prominent Catholic historian
Jeffrey Burton Russell Jeffrey Burton Russell (1 August 1934 – 12 April 2023) was an American historian of medieval Europe and religious studies scholar. Early life Russell received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1955 and his ...
, a specialist in the religion of the European
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, wrote in 1972 that According to Brian Doherty, Summers's later writings on witchcraft, published in the 1930s and 1940s, "adopted a far more paranoid and conspiracy-driven worldview" than his earlier works on the subject. These later writings draw extensively from earlier conspiracy theorists such as the French counter-revolutionary Abbé Augustin Barruel and the English Fascist
Nesta Helen Webster Nesta Helen Webster (née Bevan, 24 August 1876 – 16 May 1960) was an English author who revived conspiracy theories about the Illuminati.Who are the Illuminati? ''Independent on Sunday'' (London) 6 November 2005. She claimed that the sec ...
. As such, Doherty argues that Summers's work may have influenced the " Satanic Panic" of the 1980s and 1990s.


Antisemitism

Summers's ''History of Witchcraft and Demonology'' (1926) gives credence to various historical accusations that
European Jews The history of the Jews in Europe spans a period of over two thousand years. Jews, a Semitic people descending from the Judeans of Judea in the Southern Levant, Natural History 102:11 (November 1993): 12–19. began migrating to Europe just b ...
kidnapped and sacrificed Christian children. Summers wrote that "the evidence is quite conclusive that the body, and especially the blood of the victim, was used for magical purposes", and concluded that it was for this "practice of the dark and hideous traditions of Hebrew magic"—and not for the Biblical Jewish faith—that Jews had been persecuted by Christians in the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
and in the
early modern period The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...
. The great majority of historians now reject the view that this "
blood libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mu ...
" against the Jews had any basis in fact. According to historian
Norman Cohn Norman Rufus Colin Cohn FBA (12 January 1915 – 31 July 2007) was a British academic, historian and writer who spent 14 years as a professorial fellow and as Astor-Wolfson Professor at the University of Sussex. Life Cohn was born in London, ...
, Summers's writings on witchcraft helped to promote
antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
tropes well after Summers's death.


Other pursuits

Summers cultivated his reputation for
eccentricity Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off-Centre (geometry), center, in geometry * Eccentricity (g ...
. ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' wrote he was "in every way a 'character' and in some sort a throwback to the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
." His biographer, Father Brocard Sewell, paints the following portrait: Summers wrote works of
hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian ...
on
Catherine of Siena Caterina di Jacopo di Benincasa (25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), known as Catherine of Siena, was an Italian mystic and pious laywoman who engaged in papal and Italian politics through extensive letter-writing and advocacy. Canonized in 1461, ...
, Anthony Maria Zaccaria, and other Catholic saints, but his primary religious interest was always in the occult. While
Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...
, with whom he was acquainted and whose career he followed closely, adopted the persona of a modern-day sorcerer, Summers played the part of a learned Catholic witch-hunter. Despite his conservative religiosity, Summers was an active member of the British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology (BSSSP), to which he contributed an essay on the
Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade ( ; ; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814) was a French writer, libertine, political activist and nobleman best known for his libertine novels and imprisonment for sex crimes, blasphemy and pornography ...
in 1920. Summers also appears to have been a member of the Order of Chaeronea, a
secret society A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence ag ...
of homosexual men that was established by George Cecil Ives, another member of the BSSSP, and which was active between the 1890s and the 1920s. In 1926, Summers advertised in the London '' Times'' for a secretary to assist him with his literary work. A young
Cyril Connolly Cyril Vernon Connolly CBE (10 September 1903 – 26 November 1974) was an English literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine ''Horizon (British magazine), Horizon'' (1940–49) and wrote ''Enemies of Pro ...
responded, but found Summers uncongenial and turned down the position. Connolly privately mocked Summers in
blank verse Blank verse is poetry written with regular metre (poetry), metrical but rhyme, unrhymed lines, usually in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th cen ...
as "a sorcerer / a fruity unfrocked cleric of the Nineties / Like an old toad that carries in his head / The jewel of literature, a puffy
satyr In Greek mythology, a satyr (, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( ), and sileni (plural), is a male List of nature deities, nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exaggerated erection. ...
/ That blends his Romish ritual with the filth / Scrawled on Pompeian pavement."Jeremy Lewis, ''Cyril Connolly: A Life'' (Jonathan Cape, 1997), p. 143 The posthumously published personal diaries of socialite and later
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
politician Sir
Henry Channon Sir Henry Channon (7 March 1897 – 7 October 1958), known as Chips Channon, was an American-born British Conservative politician, author and diarist. Channon moved to England in 1920 and became strongly anti-American, feeling that American ...
relate how Channon first met Summers at a dinner party in Summers's honour given by Lady Cunard in January 1928. Channon's diaries then describe a series of visits to Summers's home in Richmond. Channon recounts that, on more than one occasion and at Channon's suggestion, Summers took Channon upstairs to his private chapel after dinner and beat him over the altar. Channon characterized Summers as a "lecherous priest", "a madman", and "as dangerous as he is brilliant", cutting off contact with him after a couple of months. Summers lived in
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
from 1929 to 1934, where he often worked at the
Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...
and attended high mass at Blackfriars. He collaborated with a number of student dramatic productions and became the object of much attention and gossip among Oxford University undergraduates, who regarded him as "a kind of clerical Doctor Faustus". The popular novelist
Dennis Wheatley Dennis Yates Wheatley (8 January 1897 – 10 November 1977) was an English writer whose prolific output of thrillers and occult novels made him one of the world's best-selling authors from the 1930s through to the 1960s. Early life Wheatley w ...
relates that he was introduced to Summers by the journalist and politician
Tom Driberg Thomas Edward Neil Driberg, Baron Bradwell (22 May 1905 – 12 August 1976) was a British journalist, politician, High Anglican churchman and possible Soviet spy, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1942 to 1955, and again from 1 ...
while Wheatley was researching occultism for his novel '' The Devil Rides Out'' (1934). A weekend visit by Wheatley and his wife to Summers's home in Alresford was cut short by the Wheatleys, who determined "never to see the, perhaps not so Reverend, gentleman again". Summers and Wheatley continued to correspond on friendly terms, but Wheatley reportedly based the character of the evil Canon Copely-Syle, in his novel ''To the Devil – a Daughter'' (1953), on Montague Summers. According to Fr. Brocard Sewell, Summers was the only English member of the ''Société J.-K. Huysmans'' of Paris, which was dedicated to the legacy of the French novelist and critic
Joris-Karl Huysmans Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (, ; 5 February 1848 – 12 May 1907) was a French novelist and art critic who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans (, variably abbreviated as J. K. or J.-K.). He is most famous for the novel (1884, pub ...
. In 1943, the Fortune Press published an English translation of Huysmans's novel '' Là-bas'', edited and annotated by Summers. Summers wrote several original works of fiction, but none of these were published during his lifetime. The unpublished manuscripts include two plays: '' William Henry: A Play in Four Acts'' and ''
Piers Gaveston Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall ( – 19 June 1312) was an English nobleman of Gascon origin, and the favourite of Edward II of England. At a young age, Gaveston made a good impression on King Edward I, who assigned him to the househo ...
'' (whose text is now lost and whose title is sometimes listed as ''
Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also known as Edward of Caernarfon or Caernarvon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir to the throne follo ...
''). A number of ghost stories and a short novel, ''The Bride of Christ'', were found among Summers's papers and published long after his death.


Relations with the Catholic Church

Although he presented himself as an uncompromising defender of Catholic orthodoxy, the great majority of Summers's books on religious subjects were not published with the approval of Catholic authorities (see ''
nihil obstat (Latin for 'nothing hinders' or 'nothing stands in the way') is a phrase traditionally used by Catholic Church authorities to formally declare that there is no objection to the publication of a book. It also has other uses. Publishing The ...
'' and ''
imprimatur An imprimatur (sometimes abbreviated as ''impr.'', from Latin, "let it be printed") is a declaration authorizing publication of a book. The term is also applied loosely to any mark of approval or endorsement. The imprimatur rule in the Catho ...
''). The exception to this was his translation of Saint
Alphonsus Liguori Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (27 September 1696 – 1 August 1787) was an Italian Catholic bishop and saint, as well as a spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, and theologian. He founded the Congre ...
's ''
The Glories of Mary ''The Glories of Mary'' () is a classic book in the field of Catholic Mariology, written during the 18th century by Saint Alphonsus Liguori, a Doctor of the Church. Description The book was written in part as a defense of Marian devotion a ...
'', which appeared in 1938 with the ''imprimatur'' of the
Archdiocese of Paris In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...
. In particular, Summers's work on witchcraft was not sanctioned by any church authority and it attracted very negative public comment from an important Catholic scholar, the English Jesuit
Herbert Thurston Herbert Henry Charles Thurston (15 November 1856 – 3 November 1939) was an English priest of the Roman Catholic Church, a member of the Jesuit order, and a prolific scholar on liturgical, literary, historical, and spiritual matters. In ...
, who wrote in 1927 that Father Thurston also called attention to the fact that Summers did not figure in any English register as either an Anglican or a Catholic priest, but was instead a literary figure with distinctly
Decadent Decadence was a late-19th-century movement emphasizing the need for sensationalism, egocentricity, and bizarre, artificial, perverse, and exotic sensations and experiences. By extension, it may refer to a decline in art, literature, science, ...
tastes. According to Bernard Doherty, Thurston may have been concerned that Summers's writings on witchcraft could have been a "mystification" akin to the
Taxil hoax The Taxil hoax was an 1890s hoax of exposure by Léo Taxil, intended to mock not only Freemasonry but also the Catholic Church's opposition to it. Taxil, the author of an anti-papal tract, pretended to convert to Catholicism (circa 1884) and w ...
of the 1890s, intended to bring ridicule upon the Catholic Church. Thurston publicly challenged Summers to show that he was really an ordained priest, which Summers failed to do. Bernard Doherty notes that, although Summers's belief in the preternatural reality of witchcraft was at odds with the skepticism of Fr. Thurston and other Catholic commentators, it was closer to the views expressed by some prominent English Catholic intellectuals of his day, such as
G. K. Chesterton Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English author, philosopher, Christian apologist, journalist and magazine editor, and literary and art critic. Chesterton created the fictional priest-detective Father Brow ...
and
Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc ( ; ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a French-English writer, politician, and historian. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. His Catholic fait ...
. According to Fr. Brocard Sewell, Summers was well known but also generally ''mal vu'' among English
Dominicans Dominicans () also known as Quisqueyans () are an ethnic group, ethno-nationality, national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusio ...
in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1938 both Mons.
Ronald Knox Ronald Arbuthnott Knox (17 February 1888 – 24 August 1957) was an English Catholic priest, theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an ...
and
Douglas Woodruff John Douglas Woodruff (1897–1978) was the editor of the ''Tablet'' and later chairman of the Catholic publishers Burns & Oates. Biography Douglas Woodruff was educated at Downside School and New College, Oxford. At Oxford, he was a member of ...
objected to having their own essays published in a collection on ''Great Catholics'' edited by Fr. Claude Williamson, after they learned that the book would also include an essay by Summers on
John Dryden John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration (En ...
. Shortly after Summers's death in 1948, the ''
Catholic Herald The ''Catholic Herald'' is a London-based Roman Catholic monthly magazine, founded in 1888 and a sister organisation to the non-profit Catholic Herald Institute, based in New York. After 126 years as a weekly newspaper, it became a magazine ...
'' published a statement by the
Diocese of Southwark The Diocese of Southwark ( ) is one of the 42 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was created on 1 May 1905 from part of the ancient ...
to the effect that Summers had, many years earlier, been a student for the priesthood but that, as far as was known, he had not been ordained. Fr. Sewell, although convinced that Summers had been a priest, declared that his "clerical life seems to have had more in common with the strange semi-fantasy world of the ''
episcopi vagantes In Christianity, an (plural ; Latin for 'wandering bishops' or 'stray bishops') is a person consecrated, in a "clandestine or irregular way", as a bishop outside the structures and canon law of the established churches; a person regularly con ...
'' than with that of a normal priest." In the early 1930s, Summers acted as a private chaplain to Mrs. Ermengarde Greville-Nugent, the widow of Patrick Greville-Nugent, son of
Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...
aristocrat and politician Lord Greville. Mrs. Greville-Nugent was a prominent neo-Jacobite and founder of the Anglican
Society of King Charles the Martyr The Society of King Charles the Martyr is an Anglican devotional society dedicated to the cult of Saint Charles the Martyr, a title of Charles I of England (1600–1649). It is a member of the Catholic Societies of the Church of England, an A ...
before her conversion to Roman Catholicism. Both her only daughter and her husband had died insane, and she was convicted of fraud in 1934 for obtaining money to keep up her elegant lifestyle by writing deceptive begging letters to people whose names had appeared in the newspapers as recent beneficiaries of wills. The Catholic Bishop of Southwark, Peter Amigo,
excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the con ...
Mrs. Greville-Nugent for allowing Summers to celebrate mass in the private oratory at Kingsley Dene, her home in
Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of H ...
.


Death

Montague Summers died suddenly at his home in
Richmond, Surrey Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commis ...
in August 1948. The Catholic rector of St Elizabeth of Portugal Church refused a public
requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...
mass, but conducted instead a private graveside ceremony. Summers's grave in
Richmond Cemetery Richmond Cemetery is a cemetery on Lower Grove Road in Richmond, London, Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. It opened in 1786 on a plot of land granted by an Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom, Act of Parliame ...
was unmarked until the late 1980s, when Sandy Robertson and Edwin Pouncey organised the Summers Project to garner donations for a gravestone. It now bears his favoured phrase "tell me strange things". Summers bequeathed his estate and papers to his long-time personal secretary and companion Hector Stuart-Forbes. This legacy was valued at £10,000 (the equivalent of about £300,000 in 2024), but Stuart-Forbes was already seriously ill and died in 1950, aged 45, and was buried in the same unmarked plot as Summers. An autobiography of Summers was published posthumously in 1980 as ''The Galanty Show'', but it left much unrevealed about the author's life and dealt only with the literary side of his career. In the 2000s, many of Summers's personal papers were re-discovered in Canada, where they had been kept by members of Stuart-Forbes's family. A collection of Summers's papers is now at the
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
library.


Works


Books on the occult

*''The History of Witchcraft and Demonology'', 1926 (reprinted ) *''The Geography of Witchcraft'', 1927 (reprinted ) *'' The Vampire, His Kith and Kin'', 1928 (reprinted by Senate in 1993 as simply ''The Vampire'') *''The Vampire in Europe: A Critical Edition'', 1929 011(reprinted ) (reprinted with alternate title: ''The Vampire in Lore and Legend'' ), edited by John Edgar Browning *''The Werewolf'', 1933 (reprinted with alternate title: ''The Werewolf in Lore and Legend'' ) *''A Popular History of Witchcraft'', 1937 *''Witchcraft and Black Magic'', 1946 (reprinted , ) *''The Physical Phenomena of Mysticism'', 1947


Poetry and drama

*''Antinous and Other Poems'', 1907 *''William Henry'' (play), 1939, unpublished *''Piers Gaveston'' (play), 1940, unpublished


Fiction anthologies edited by Summers

*''The Grimoire and Other Supernatural Stories'', 1936 *''The Supernatural Omnibus'', 1947


Other books

*''St. Catherine of Siena'', 1903 *''Lourdes'', 1904 *''A Great Mistress of Romance: Ann Radcliffe'', 1917 *''Jane Austen'', 1919 *''St. Antonio-Maria Zaccaria'', 1919 *''Essays in Petto'', 1928 *''Architecture and the Gothic Novel'', 1931 *''The Restoration Theatre'', 1934 *''The Playhouse of Pepys'', 1935 *''The Gothic Quest: a History of the Gothic Novel'' 1938 *''A Gothic Bibliography'' 1941 (copyright 1940) *''Six Ghost Stories'' (1938, not published until October 2019) *''The Bride of Christ and other fictions'' (posthumous, 2019)


As editor or translator

*''Works of Mrs. Aphra Behn'', 1915 *''Complete Works of Congreve'', 1923 *''Complete Works of Wycherley'', 1924 *''
The Castle of Otranto ''The Castle of Otranto'' is a novel by Horace Walpole. First published in 1764, it is generally regarded as the first Gothic novel. In the second edition, Walpole applied the word 'Gothic' to the novel in the subtitle – ''A Gothic Story''. Se ...
'' by Horace Walpole, 1924 *''The Complete Works of Thomas Shadwell'', 1927 *''Covent Garden Drollery'', 1927 *''Horrid Mysteries'' by the Marquis de Grosse 1927 (part of an incomplete edition of the '' Northanger Horrid Novels''). *'' The Necromancer; or, The Tale of the Black Forest'' by 'Ludwig Flammenberg' 1927 (part of an incomplete edition of the 'Northanger Horrid Novels'). *''Demoniality'' by Ludovico Maria Sinistrari, 1927 *'' The Malleus Maleficarum'' of Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger, 1928 *'' The Discovery of Witches'', 1928 by Matthew Hopkins (reprinted ) *'' Compendium Maleficarum'' by Francesco Maria Guazzo, translated by E.A. Ashwin, 1929 *''
Demonolatry Black magic (Middle English: ''nigromancy''), sometimes dark magic, traditionally refers to the use of Magic (paranormal), magic or supernatural powers for evil and selfish purposes. The links and interaction between black magic and religi ...
'' by Nicolas Remy, translated by E.A. Ashwin, 1930 *''The Supernatural Omnibus'', 1931 (reprinted ) *''Dryden: The Dramatic Works'', 1931–32 *''Victorian Ghost Stories'', 1936 *''The Poems of
Richard Barnfield Richard Barnfield (baptized 29 June 1574 – 1620) was an English poet. His relationship with William Shakespeare has long made him interesting to scholars. It has been suggested that he was the " rival poet" mentioned in Shakespeare's sonnet ...
'', 1936 *''The Complete Works of
Thomas Otway Thomas Otway (3 March 165214 April 1685) was an English dramatist of the Restoration period, best known for '' Venice Preserv'd'', or ''A Plot Discover'd'' (1682). Life Otway was born at Trotton near Midhurst, the parish of which his father ...
'', 1936 *''Gothic Bibliography'', 1940


References


Sources

* * This publication was limited to 750 numbered copies. "Joseph Jerome" is a pseudonym of the
Carmelite The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...
priest and literary scholar Brocard Sewell. *


External links


The Montague Summers papers at Georgetown University



The Demonologist: Montague Summers
* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Summers, Montague 1880 births 1948 deaths People educated at Clifton College English short story writers English non-fiction writers English Roman Catholics 20th-century Anglican deacons Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Vampirism Werewolf fiction Witchcraft in England English male dramatists and playwrights English male short story writers 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 20th-century occultists 20th-century English short story writers 20th-century English clergy Burials at Richmond Cemetery 20th-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers