"Melmoth the Wanderer, Vol. 1" by Charles Robert Maturin is a Gothic novel published in 1820. The story follows a scholar who sold his soul to the devil for 150 extra years of life, now desperately searching the world for someone to assume his cursed pact. Through nested tales within tales, the novel reveals Melmoth's encounters with various souls in distress—from asylum inmates to monastery prisoners to an innocent island castaway. Each story explores temptation, suffering, and the terrifying question of whether damnation can be transferred.