Timeline

Life

Born at 15 Marino Crescent, Clontarf, the third of seven children.

Life

Bedridden with an unexplained illness until about the age of seven.

Life

Enters Trinity College Dublin.

Life

Named University Athlete; wins the seven-mile walk in College Park. Borrows books from Marsh’s Library.

Life

Joins the civil service at Dublin Castle.

Life

BA, Trinity College Dublin.

Writing

Becomes unpaid theatre critic of the Dublin Evening Mail. Starts the journal later published as The Lost Journal.

Writing

Composes the Whitman letter later sent in 1876. “The Crystal Cup” published.

Life

Briefly edits The Irish Echo, later renamed The Halfpenny Press.

Life

Founder member of the Dublin Sketching Club.

Life

MA, Trinity College Dublin.

Theatre

Sends the earlier letter to Whitman. His father dies. The Irving Hamlet review and dinner begin their friendship.

Theatre

Becomes Inspector of Petty Sessions. Irving takes over the Lyceum and offers Bram the post of acting manager. Marries Florence Balcombe on 4 December and moves to London.

Writing

The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland published. Son Irving Noel Thornley Stoker born on 30 December.

Writing

Under the Sunset published (dated 1882).

Life

Awarded the Royal Humane Society’s bronze medal for a Thames rescue attempt. The family is living at Cheyne Walk, Chelsea.

Theatre

First Lyceum tour of North America.

Life

Meets Walt Whitman for the first time, at Thomas Donaldson’s home in Philadelphia, in March 1884.

Writing

A Glimpse of America published.

Writing

Begins Dracula notes; visits Whitby. The Snake’s Pass and the newspaper story Gibbet Hill published. Called to the English Bar at the Inner Temple.

Life

First of at least 13 summer holidays at Cruden Bay.

Writing

Irving knighted, the first actor to be so honoured. The Watter’s Mou’ and The Shoulder of Shasta published.

Writing

Copyright reading of Dracula: or The Un-Dead at the Lyceum.

Writing

Dracula published by Archibald Constable.

Writing

Charlotte Stoker writes to Bram praising Dracula. Read the surviving letter.

Writing

Jane Stoddard’s interview with Bram about Dracula appears in the British Weekly. Read Bram on Dracula.

Writing

Fire destroys the Lyceum’s stored scenery. Miss Betty published.

Writing

Irving hands the Lyceum to a syndicate. First US edition of Dracula (Doubleday & McClure).

Writing

Abridged paperback Dracula. His mother Charlotte dies.

Writing

The Mystery of the Sea published. Lyceum closes as Irving’s theatre.

Writing

The Jewel of Seven Stars published.

Theatre

Irving’s last American tour.

Writing

Irving dies in Bradford. The Man published.

Writing

Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving published. Bram suffers a first stroke. Moves to 4 Durham Place, Chelsea.

Writing

Interviews Churchill, Conan Doyle, Gilbert and Pinero for the New York World and Daily Chronicle. Snowbound and Lady Athlyne published.

Writing

Bram’s interview with Arthur Conan Doyle is published in The World, New York.

Writing

The Lady of the Shroud published.

Writing

Famous Impostors published.

Writing

The Lair of the White Worm published. Writes to the Royal Literary Fund on 25 February requesting help; receives £100, with a signed receipt dated 9 March. Read about the letter.

Life

Dies at 26 St George’s Square, Pimlico. Cremated at Golders Green.

Life

Florence sells Bram’s library and Dracula notes at Sotheby’s.

Life

Dracula’s Guest and Other Weird Stories published by Florence.

Writing

Further Sotheby’s sales disperse books, manuscripts and pictures. Explore the archive history.

Stage and screen

Nosferatu released; Florence sues for copyright infringement and wins.

Stage and screen

Hamilton Deane’s licensed stage Dracula opens in Derby.

Stage and screen

Broadway Dracula with Bela Lugosi.

Stage and screen

Universal’s Dracula with Lugosi.

Life

Florence Stoker dies.

Legacy

Hammer’s Dracula with Christopher Lee.

Life

Noel Stoker dies; his ashes join his father’s at Golders Green.

Legacy

Rosenbach Museum buys Bram’s Dracula notes.

Legacy

In Search of Dracula by McNally and Florescu popularises the link with Vlad III (a link later challenged by other scholars); a wave of scholarship follows.

Legacy

Blue plaque unveiled at 18 St Leonard’s Terrace.

Stage and screen

Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Legacy

Dracula centenary.

Life

Centenary of Bram’s death. The Lost Journal published. First Bram Stoker Festival in Dublin.

Stage and screen

Gibbet Hill rediscovery announced. Dracula Returns to Derby marks a century of the licensed stage adaptation. Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu released.

Stage and screen

Montblanc’s Writers Edition Homage to Bram Stoker (1 July). Dior’s Dracula Book Tote. Hammer’s 4K restoration of the 1958 film. Cynthia Erivo’s Dracula in the West End. Leeds University’s Quite Shameless exhibition opens.