Large Vampire Killing Kit, Late 19th C and Later

Description

Encased in a large felt-lined oak box bearing an inlaid brass cross and with two drawers;
the lid containing two crucifixes, a portrait of Christ with the sacred heart in oval wood
frame, St. Benedict of Nursia 3rd class and St Francis 3rd class relics. The top section
containing a cased Hungarian-language prayer book, silver-hilted dagger with blade etched
“MORTEM et MALUM” and a cross, several decorative containers (empty), and a top-break
double-barrel Amazonia .380 caliber pistol. The first drawer containing several bottles for
Holy Water, 9 tubes for chemicals, a hinged silver container with cross on the lid, and a
hand mirror with Egyptian Revival design. Second drawer contains a wooden mallet with
attached brass cross, four wooden stakes, and a small round brass container (empty). The
oak box measuring 18 ½” long, by 13″ wide, by 8″ high, with an 8 1/2″ spliced repair to the
lid. The included pistol is classified as a “Curio & Relic” firearm and must ship to either an
FFL or holder of a Curio & Relic license.  This is a simple process and we can assist.

There is much mystery and uncertainty about the various vampire killing kits in existence
today. While some have clearly been assembled in the last 50 years as novelties, others
were made during a period in the 19th Century when there was a certain “vampire hysteria”,
largely as a result of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, but existing to some extent long before then.
While today most people might think of vampires as something from imagination, folklore,
and Hollywood, with no basis in fact, this was not the case in 19th Century Europe.
Whether they were ever used or not, vampire killing kits were actually assembled in the
19th C and were not intended merely as a curiosity. When Bram Stoker first wrote his
famous novel “Dracula” (released on May 26, 1897), it was not originally intended as a
work of fiction. His research began in the summer of 1890 and he was collecting
information on actual occurrences. In the original preface, which was published in “Makt
Myrkanna”, the Icelandic version of the story, Stoker included this passage: “I am quite
convinced that there is no doubt whatever that the events here described really took place,
however unbelievable and incomprehensible they might appear at first sight. And I am
further convinced that they must always remain to some extent incomprehensible.” He
also claimed that many of the characters in the novel were real people, some of whom
actually became his friends, whose testimonies he never doubted. However, when he
presented the original manuscript to his editor, Otto Kyllman, of Archibald Constable &
Company, it was returned with the single word “no”. Kyllman believed that with the recent
unsolved Whitechapel murders (of Jack the Ripper fame) its publication might lead to mass
hysteria. In order for the work to be published, many of the events would have to be
omitted and it would need to be rewritten and presented as a work of fiction. In the final
version the first 101 pages had been cut, many alterations had been made, and the
epilogue had been shortened, changing Dracula’s ultimate fate and that of his castle. For
more information see:
https://time.com/5411826/bram-stoker-dracula-history/

In 2019 a vampire kit appeared on the popular TV series “Pawn Stars” and ultimately sold
for $24,995. In 2004, Sotheby’s sold a Professor Blomberg vampire kit for $26,400,
although the catalog cautioned that “Neither the existence of Professor Blomberg nor that
of the gunmaker Plomdeur can be confirmed. Also open to question is whether these kits
were ever employed successfully in the killing of vampires.” In 2011, an unsigned
vampire-killing kit, with 32 components including a map of Transylvania and no less than
two crucifixes, brought $25,000 at Sotheby’s. The Royal Armouries in Leeds (UK) has a
vampire kit in its collection. Whether such kits were actually assembled for their stated
purpose or merely curiosities, the fact is that many have sold for very large sums of money
and they make their own history even as I write this description. The person we acquired
several kits from initially offered us another kit obtained from his father-in-law who had
been a “picker” back in the 70’s and 80’s. We were unable to come to terms on price, but
he eventually sold that kit for $13,500 to a group of self-described “vampires” who said they
were trying to rid the world of such kits.