Tales and Sketches: 1843-1849

Front Cover
University of Illinois Press, 2000 - 1451 pages
Esteemed as a literary critic and poet, Edgar Allan Poe was most highly acclaimed for his tales and sketches. He transformed the short story from anecdote to art, virtually created the detective story, and perfected the psychological thriller. This volume is the second of two, edited by the consummate Poe scholar Thomas Ollive Mabbott, collecting all the tales of this master of the uncanny, the unnerving, and the terrifying.

Poe's stories reflect his professed method of "writing as if the author were firmly impressed with the truth, yet astonished at the immensity of the wonders he related." Marrying grotesque inventiveness with superb plot construction, Poe's strikingly original tales often use only one main character and one main incident. In many of them, horror and suspense, revenge and torture, are laced with hilarious satire. Each volume is enriched with Mabbott's detailed and authoritative notes on sources, the history and collation of all known texts authorized by Poe, and variants of Poe's "final" version.

Volume 2 contains stories written between 1843 and Poe's death, including "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Purloined Letter," and "The Cask of Amontillado."

Promising spine-tingling delights and sleepless nights, this annotated edition of Tales and Sketches is a treasure trove for scholars and general readers alike, confirming Poe's status as one of literary art's "most brilliant but erratic stars."


From inside the book

Contents

THE MYSTERY OF MARIE ROGET
715
THE TELLTALE HEART
789
THE GOLDBUG
799
THE BLACK CAT
847
MORNING ON THE WISSAHICCON THE ELK
860
RAISING THE WIND DIDDLING
867
THE SPECTACLES
883
THE OBLONG BOX
919
SOME SECRETS OF THE MAGAZINE PRISONHOUSE
1201
THE POWER OF WORDS
1206
THE IMP OF THE PERVERSE
1213
THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF M VALDEMAR
1224
THEATRICAL RATS
1240
THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO
1248
THE DOMAIN OF ARNHEIM
1262
TALES 18471849
1283

A TALE OF THE RAGGED MOUNTAINS
935
THE PREMATURE BURIAL
953
THE PURLOINED LETTER
972
THE SYSTEM OF DOCTOR TARR AND PROFESSOR FETHER
997
MESMERIC REVELATION
1024
THOU ART THE MAN
1042
TALES 18441845
1061
THE BALLOON HOAX
1063
UNSIGNED CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PUBLIC LEDGER
1088
THE ANGEL OF THE ODD
1098
PREFACE TO MARGINALIA
1112
THE SWISS BELLRINGERS
1118
BYRON AND MISS CHAWORTH
1121
THE LITERARY LIFE OF THINGUM BOB ESQ
1122
THE THOUSANDANDSECOND TALE OF SCHEHERAZADE
1147
SOME WORDS WITH A MUMMY
1173
TALES 18451846
1200
MELLONTA TAUTA
1285
AND A REMARKABLE LETTER
1306
A PREDICTION
1315
A WOULDBE CRICHTON
1319
LANDORS COTTAGE
1321
HOPFROG
1339
VON KEMPELEN AND HIS DISCOVERY
1351
XING A PARAGRAB
1363
A REVIEWER REVIEWED
1373
THE LIGHTHOUSE
1384
SOURCES OF TEXTS COLLATED
1392
ANTHOLOGIES
1392
GRISWOLDS EDITION OF POES WORKS
1395
LATER BOOKS
1397
OTHER WORKS FREQUENTLY USED
1401
INDEX
1407
Copyright

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About the author (2000)

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809. In 1827, he enlisted in the United States Army and his first collection of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems, was published. In 1835, he became the editor of the Southern Literary Messenger. Over the next ten years, Poe would edit a number of literary journals including the Burton's Gentleman's Magazine and Graham's Magazine in Philadelphia and the Broadway Journal in New York City. It was during these years that he established himself as a poet, a short story writer, and an editor. His works include The Fall of the House of Usher, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Mystery of Marie Roget, A Descent into the Maelstrom, The Masque of the Red Death, and The Raven. He struggle with depression and alcoholism his entire life and died on October 7, 1849 at the age of 40.

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