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The Great God Pan — cover
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Aeneas Press edition Victorian First published 1894

The Great God Pan

by Arthur Machen 1863–1947

The book, and the century it came out of.

A surgeon performs a small operation on a young woman’s brain so that she may see the god Pan, and years later a series of London gentlemen begin killing themselves. Machen grew up among the Roman ruins of Gwent and never wrote about anything else, really; this novella was denounced as degenerate in 1894 and has been quietly feeding horror ever since — Stephen King calls it one of the best in the language. Illustrated with 53 full-page plates — paintings by Friedrich, Turner and Davis among them.

“I am glad you came, Clarke; very glad indeed.
The first sentence of The Great God Pan
A note on this edition

The Great God Pan, by Arthur Machen, complete and unabridged. Spelling and punctuation follow present-day American usage; the sentences, the paragraphs and the voice are the author’s, word for word.

It was written in another era and may carry attitudes a reader today will find dated. They are kept for the sake of the work and do not reflect the views of this house.

The edition
Format
Ebook
Extent
about 64 pages
Reading time
about an hour
Illustrations
Full-page plates, credited
Text
Complete, unabridged
Language
en
This edition
2026
ISBN
9785486612398
The plates

53 paintings are bound into this edition

Six of them are shown here, taken from the volume itself. Each is reproduced full page and named with its painter and year.

Mountains in the Rising Fog, Caspar David Friedrich
Mountains in the Rising Fog Caspar David Friedrich 1835
Church Interior (Sermon at Santa Bibiana), François Marius Granet
Church Interior (Sermon at Santa Bibiana) François Marius Granet 1834
Interior of the Church of San Giovanni e Paolo, Venice, James Holland
Interior of the Church of San Giovanni e Paolo, Venice James Holland 1835
Paysage urbain - Fantaisie, Bartholomeus van Hove
Paysage urbain - Fantaisie Bartholomeus van Hove 1836
Godstow Bridge near Oxford, Edward William Cooke
Godstow Bridge near Oxford Edward William Cooke 1835
Landscape by a Lake in Bavaria, Germany, Christian Morgenstern
Landscape by a Lake in Bavaria, Germany Christian Morgenstern 1835
The setting

A page from this edition

Not a mock-up: this page is taken from the finished volume. The ornament above the chapter belongs to its shelf and to no other, the opening letter is set as a drop capital, and the plate below carries the name of the painter and the year.

A page of The Great God Pan as set for this edition
The opening of a chapter
A page of The Great God Pan as set for this edition
A page where a plate falls

Both photographed from the finished volume.

Colophon

The Great God Pan, first published 1894, issued in this edition by Aeneas Press in 2026 on the Gothic & Horror shelf. Newly set, with the ornament of its series above each chapter and a drop capital on the opening page. Illustrated with full-page plates, each named with its painter.

Published as an ebook and not issued in print by this house; it carries one ISBN, 9785486612398, and is supplied worldwide. This edition — its setting, its ornament, its cover art, and the selection and attribution of its plates — © 2026 Aeneas Press.

Before you buy

Questions readers ask

Is this the whole of The Great God Pan?
Yes — complete and unabridged. Nothing is cut, condensed or paraphrased. This is the book, not a summary of it.
What exactly did you change?
The spelling and the punctuation follow present-day American usage. Arthur Machen's sentences are untouched — same words, same order, same rhythm.
Are the pictures really in the book?
Yes. The edition carries full-page plates bound into the text, each one named with its painter and the year it was made. Six of them are shown on this page.
How long is it?
About 64 pages, which is roughly about an hour of reading.
What do I actually get?
An illustrated ebook with its own ISBN, sold worldwide. One file, yours to keep, readable on any device.
If this one suits you
The Great God Pan
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