Antedating of "Vampire"

[Shapiro, Fred]

vampire (OED 1734)

1732 _Grub Street Journal_ 16 Mar. (17th-18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers)  _Medreyga_ in _Hungary_, Jan. 7, 1732.  Upon a current report, that in the village of Medreyga certain dead bodies (called here _Vampyres_) had killed several persons by sucking out all their blood, the present enquiry was made by the Honourable Commander in Chief ... about 5 years ago a certain Heyduke, named Arnold Paul, was killed by the overturning of a cart load of hay, who in his life-time was often heard to say, that he had been tormented near Caschaw, and upon the borders of Turkish Servia, by a _Vampyre_.

Fred Shapiro





Fred Shapiro

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