Marquis de Sade surrounding Matthew Lewis' "The Monk", Minerva Press released "The New Monk" as a supposed indictment of a wholly immoral book. It features the sadistic Mrs. Rod, whose boarding school for young women becomes a torture chamber equipped with its own "flogging-room". Ironically, "The New Monk" wound up increasing the level of cruelty, but as a parody of the genre, it illuminates the link between sadism and the Gothic novel. Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814), was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer, famous for his libertine sexuality.
Alphonse Hasselmans Alphonse Hasselmans Alphonse Hasselmans (5 March 1845 – 19 May 1912) was a Belgian-born French harpist, composer, and pedagogue. Hasselmans was born in Liège, Belgium. He studied initially at the Conservatory in Strasbourg, which was led since 1854 by his father Joseph Hasselmans (1814–1902). He continued his studies with Gottlieb Krüger (1824–1895) in Stuttgart and with Ange-Conrad Prumier (1820–1884) in Paris. He began his performing career in the orchestra of the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. A series of eight solo concerts in Paris in 1877 resulted in contracts for performances as a soloist with several Paris orchestras.