The Emerald Princess

Other Decadent Fantasies

Félicien Champsaur

Translated by Brian Stableford

The Emerald Princess, originally published in 1928 as La Princesse émeraude, is one of the more whimsical productions of a rather self-indulgent period of Félicien Champsaur’s career, deliberately harking back to the stylistic extravagances of the Decadent Movement. In this attempt by the author to go beyond anything he had done before, in producing a kind of ultimate femme fatale, Djila, the snake-woman, was created.

An engagingly bizarre fantasy, full of lurid symbolism, The Emerald Princess is combined in this volume with five other stories, all presented in English for the first time in exquisite translations by Brian Stableford.

About the Author
Félicien Champsaur (1858-1934) was a prolific French novelist and journalist. A core member of Émile Goudeau’s literary club, the Hydropathes, he later became, through his own periodical, Le Panurge, loosely aligned with key figures of the Decadent Movement, such as Jean Lorrain and Rachilde. Though writing novels in a number of different veins, and attempting to establish himself as a “serious novelist” he was never able to shake off his reputation as a composer of risqué romances and erotic fantasies, a reputation that was not at odds with his public image.

Paperback, 178 pages. Release date: December 14, 2017
ISBN-13: 978-1-94381-351-3
Price: US$16.50

Hardcover, 180 pages. Limited Edition 60 copies.
Release date: December 14, 2017
Price: US$30.00