1842 British novels

Zanoni is an 1842 novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, a story of love and occult aspiration. By way of framing device, the author says: "... It so chanced that some years ago, in my younger days, whether of authorship or life, I felt the desire to make myself acquainted with the true origins and tenets of the singular sect known by the name of Rosicrucians." A manuscript came into his hands written in what Bulwer-Lytton described as an "unintelligible cipher", a manuscript which through the author's own interpretation became Zanoni.