Search Results: Books by poe

New York: Wiley & Putnam, 1845. First Edition; first printing (BAL 16146). Bound with the front and back blanks, the half-title and the integral four pages of ads (but not with the additional 16 pages of advertisements) in dark burgundy morocco, decorated in gilt and blind; all edges gilt; raised bands and gilt decorations in compartments; titled in gilt “Poe’s Tales.” Later bookplate; the original owner’s name, J.A. Cassedy, is gilt stamped at the bottom of the front inner dentelle; his 1856 Ohio pencil owner’s inscription on the half-title confirms that this was bound in America not long after the book’s publication. Aside from some foxing and minor page stains, overall an excellent copy with wide and tall margins; in a custom clamshell box. The Bibliography of American Literature, a thorough, detailed and authoritative work, notes three printings of this book (although cautioning that the presumed second and third could prove to be states of a single printing), and notes that the… Read More

Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard, 1840. First Edition. Two volumes in original cloth, housed in a custom morocco case. Very Good. 8vo. Pp. 243; 228. Both volumes bound in original muslin with original paper spine labels. With the four pages of advertisements bound directly before the title page, as corresponds with the copy in the Yale University Library cited by Heartman. With p. 213 misnumbered 231 in Vol. II; the "i" of "ing" and hyphen properly aligned on p. 219. Spine labels deteriorated. Contemporary ownership signature (M. T. Willard) on FFEPs of both volumes. Interiors quite fresh. Pastedowns of both volumes with the red morocco bookplate of Academy Award-winning lyricist and noted book collector Paul Francis Webster ("The Shadow of Your Smile"). Half-morocco slipcase and chemises. First edition of Poe's first substantial collection of tales, of which research suggests only 750 copies were printed. In 1834 Poe had hoped to publish his first collection, to be called Tales of the Folio Club,… Read More

New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1845. First editions of both titles. Raven with half title, "Wiley and Putnam's Library of American Books", name of stereotyper T. B. Smith on the title verso; Tales, third printing with three-line copyright. Raven: [i-viii] [1]-91 [92, blank] [93-96, ads]. Tales: [i-v] [1]-228 [229-232, ads]. 1 vols. 8vo. Three quarter blue morocco gilt, t.e.g., by Riviere & Son. Binder's endsheets with foxing, text with slight toning and a few stray traces of foxing. First editions of both titles. Raven with half title, "Wiley and Putnam's Library of American Books", name of stereotyper T. B. Smith on the title verso; Tales, third printing with three-line copyright. Raven: [i-viii] [1]-91 [92, blank] [93-96, ads]. Tales: [i-v] [1]-228 [229-232, ads]. 1 vols. 8vo. Students all over the world know of the title poem, and many know others as well: "The Conqueror Worm", "Eulalie", "Leonore" "To Helen", etc. "The most important volume of poetry that had been issued up to that time in… Read More

New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1845. Rare first editions of Poe's two great collections of stories and poems, bound together in the original publisher's cloth. Octavo, original publisher's dark green cloth elaborately stamped in blind with gilt titles to the spine, publisher's advertisements at rear of each volume which are most often lacking with both volumes bound together. Wiley and Putnam issued both titles separately in paper wrappers, but bound the two together for additional appeal to readers. The Raven is bound first in this copy (the order varies); that work is arguably the widest read and best-known in the American canon. Tales includes "The "The Black Cat", "The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Descent Into the Maelstrom" and other tales of horror and adventure, as well as the three Dupin stories contained here for the first time in book form and considered "the first important book of detective stories, the first and greatest, the cornerstone of cornerstones...the highest of all high spots"… Read More

New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1845. First edition. Very good plus.. Rare first printing of this selection of Poe's tales, including "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." Included in these twelve tales are the pieces that are often anointed as the first modern detective stories: "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," "The Mystery of Marie Roget," and "The Purloined Letter," all featuring his famed character C. Auguste Dupin. It is item number 1 in QUEEN'S QUORUM, which spares no fanfare: "the first important book of detective fiction, the first and the greatest, the cornerstone of cornerstones in any readers' or collectors' guide, the highest of all highspots." The works were selected out of Poe's various magazine publications for printing as the second number in Wiley & Putnam's Library of American Books. Despite the author's private complaints and general grumbles (Poe lamented the number of "analytic" stories in the collection as unrepresentative of his full capacities),… Read More

First English edition, comprised of American first printing sheets from the same year with a cancel title-page bearing a London imprint - the subsequent 1846 English edition used second printing sheets. There were perhaps 1500 copies of these first printing sheets with an unknown number sent overseas for this English edition - it's a noted rarity. No other copies in the sales records since the height of the second World War. I've seen only one copy in the trade, and its pages were so foxed that it could have had a place in a grotesque Poe story. An exceptionally scarce copy of an iconic book.

228 pp. and (4) pp. of advertisements. Late 19th century half-calf, browned title page repaired, another leaf with a tiny corner restoration, tear to last ad leaf repaired. Old owner signature in red pencil on title page. Minor sporadic smudges at the margins, otherwise the pages are quite clean. The text block is entirely untrimmed. Overall, a Very Good copy housed in a custom slipcase.

Ex-Vincent… Read More

New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1845.

First edition of Poe's first published collection of tales, one of only 750 sets printed. Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque contains many of Poe's finest tales including "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "MS. Found in a Bottle."The publication of these twenty-five tales marked the culmination of Poe's long struggle to get his prose tales into book form. In 1833-34, Poe had failed to see into print his planned Tales of the Folio Club. Most of these tales, with additions were published as Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque. The title is derived from Sir Walter Scott's 1827 essay "On the Supernatural in Fictitious Composition: "the tales of the arabesque are the product of an intense imaginative effort and the tales of the grotesque tend toward satire or burlesque." In the preface to the collection, Poe defends himself from those critics who have charged him with 'Germanism' and gloom, writing, "If in many of my productions, terror has been the thesis, I maintain that terror is not of Germany,… Read More

Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard, 1840. FIRST EDITION, from a printing of perhaps only 750 copies. With page 213 in the second volume numbered correctly, and page 219 with the "i" in "-ing" and the hyphen in "attributes" both misaligned. 200 x 117 mm. (8 x 4 1/2"). Two volumes.. Publisher's brown muslin, very expertly re-cased, preserving most of original backstrip and cloth covering, replica printed paper labels, new (well-chosen) endpapers. BAL 16133; Heartman & Canny, pp. 49-54; Day, "History of American Literature" I, p. 148. ◆Spines and heads of boards faintly sunned, extremities a little rubbed, with minor fraying in spots, but the expertly restored bindings very tight and generally pleasing. First volume with lower third of each leaf lightly dampstained (a bit darker at very front and back, otherwise faint), intermittent foxing and occasional minor stains elsewhere in both volumes. Not without significant internal condition issues, but still appealing when judged against competing copies of… Read More

New York: George P. Putnam, 1848.

New York: W. Jennings Demorest, c. 1869-1870.

New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1845. Very good.. First edition in book form of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven," the single most famous American poem of the nineteenth century. Partly inspired by the early lyrics of Elizabeth Barrett (later Browning), to whom he dedicated this volume of poems, Poe composed "The Raven" in trochaic octometer, with a deranged lyricism all his own. The elements are familiar even to those who don't read poetry: the "midnight dreary," the silk-curtained chamber, the raven perched upon the bust of Athena, the relentless refrain that drives the narrator mad. Even before publication, Poe knew he had a sensation on his hands. When a friend described an early reading of the poem as "fine, uncommonly fine," Poe responded: "Is that all you can say for this poem? I tell you it's the greatest poem ever written." Poe's fame only increased with the appearance of contemporary parodies like "The Owl" and "The Polecat." First published earlier that year in the NEW YORK EVENING MIRROR (under… Read More

New York: George P. Putnam, 1848.

New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1845. First edition in book form of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven," the single most famous American poem of the nineteenth century, first published earlier that year in the New York Evening Mirror (under Poe's own name) and The American Review (under a pseudonym). Partly inspired by the early lyrics of Elizabeth Barrett (later Browning), to whom he dedicated this volume of poems, Poe composed "The Raven" in trochaic octometer, with a deranged musicality all his own. The elements are familiar even to those who don't read poetry: the "midnight dreary," the silk-curtained chamber, the raven perched upon the bust of Athena, the relentless refrain that drives the narrator mad. "'Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken! / Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door! / Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!' / Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore.'" Even before publication, Poe knew he had a sensation on his hands. When… Read More

New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1845. Beautiful, extremely informative and entertaining 8-volume set. First ever printing of "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe printed on page 143 under the pseudonym "Quarles." This pseudonym was in keeping with the American Review’s practice of publishing poetry unsigned or under a pen name. Also includes Poe's story "Some Words With a Mummy" (363-370), and the poems "The Valley of Unrest" and "The City in the Sea" (392-3). Set in type from Poe’s manuscript, The Raven was first printed in the American Review in January 1845 (issue dated February, 1845) and struck an immediate chord with the public and was reprinted in magazines and newspapers throughout the country. Includes bound volumes 1-8, 1845-1848 of The American Review: A Whig Journal, published monthly. Each volume with marbled boards w/moderate rub, black conditioned leather spine wrap, gilt spine titles, moderate shelf wear relevant to age.… Read More

SUCHIER, RALPH, 1979. 1.. hardcover. Phantastische und unheimliche Geschichten

Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1843. 4to. 3 engraved plates in no. 2 (plates to nos. 1 & 3 in facsimile). 1-48; [49]-96; [97]-144 pp. Later 19th-century half red morocco and marbled boards, no. 1 rear wrapper and no. 2 wrappers bound-in (upper portion of no. 2 front wrapper filled in, no. 1 front wrapper in facsimile); covers lightly rubbed and faded, a few small tape repairs, light staining to margins of no. 2, foxing and toning to no. 3. The complete run of this short-lived periodical edited by James Russell Lowell with contributions by Poe in each volume, including the first printings of "The Tell-Tale Heart" (no. 1, pp. 29-31) and "Notes Upon English Verse" (no. 3, p. 102-112). Other contributions include short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne ("The Hall of Fantasy" and "The Birthmark") and poems by Jones Very, John Greenleaf Whittier, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and James Russell Lowell. "The Tell-Tale Heart" was first rejected by the Boston Miscellany with the editor's request that "if Mr. Poe would… Read More

London: Wiley & Putnam. G : in good condition. Cover rubbed and marked. Spine faded. Some foxing. 1846. First UK Edition. Green hardback cloth cover. 190mm x 130mm (7" x 5"). 228pp. Includes 'The Fall of the House of Usher' and The Murders in the Rue Morgue', &c. .

New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, [1884]. The Amontillado edition of the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Octavo, 8 volumes bound in full morocco by P.B. Sanford with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in 6 compartments within raised gilt bands, double gilt ruling to the panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, tissue-guarded engraved frontispiece to each volume by R. Swain Gifford, Frederick Church and others, etched engraved vignettes to the title pages. One of 315 numbered copies signed and dated by the publisher on the limitation leaf of each volume, this is number 290. In fine condition. Rare and desirable. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, American Romantic writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe is credited with inventing the genre of detective fiction and contributing to the genre of science fiction, only just emerging at the turn of the 20th century. Poe was the first well-known American writer to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in… Read More

This book is over 122 years old. "The Raven" in particular—Poe investigates the loss of ideal beauty and the difficulty in regaining it. These pieces are usually narrated by a young man who laments the untimely death of his beloved. "To Helen" is a three stanza lyric that has been called one of the most beautiful love poems in the English language. The subject of the work is a woman who becomes, in the eyes of the narrator, a personification of the classical beauty of ancient Greece and Rome. "Lenore" presents ways in which the dead are best remembered, either by mourning or celebrating life beyond earthly boundaries. In "The Raven," Poe successfully unites his philosophical and aesthetic ideals. In this psychological piece, a young scholar is emotionally tormented by a raven's ominous repetition of "Nevermore" in answer to his question about the probability of an afterlife with his deceased lover. Charles Baudelaire noted in his introduction to the French edition of "The Raven": "It is indeed the… Read More