Zanoni
by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Before Orlando, to Highlander, to the elves in The Lord of the Rings, there was Zanoni in front of all fictional immortals. Through magical alchemical potions and mysterious rites of the Rosencreuzer Brotherhood, Zanoni was gifted an immortal life; he decides to sacrifice this gift for the love of a beautiful and talented young woman and the family he wants to have. Along with Edward Bulwer Lytton's other works, such as Vril: The Power of the Approaching Race, Zanoni's deep archetypal and symbolic history has a ring of Truth that influenced the New Thought and Theosophical movements of his time, which, in turn, laid the foundation for the modern New Age movement and enabled a resurgence of interest in the issues of alchemy and physical immortality.
