Almost every page of Melmoth the Wanderer has a biblical reference. They are sometimes differentiated from the rest of the text using italics, but more often they are simply woven into the narrative in a way that suggests they were integral to Maturin’s vocabulary, thought processes, and store of cultural references.

Maturin was particularly drawn to the Old Testament, which he saw as a historical document that ‘puts all other history to the blush for its powerful appeals to the heart, its searching calls on the strongest sympathies of our nature.’

Citation:
The Holy Bible ... appointed to be read in churches (Dublin, 1714).,
Marsh's Library Exhibits: ‘Ragged, Livid, & On Fire: The Wanderings of Melmoth at 200’ curated by Christina Morin and Jason McElligott,
accessed November 21, 2024,
https://web.marshlibrary.ie/digi/exhibits/show/Melmoth/item/755