"ONE OF THE FOUNDING WRITERS OF MODERN LITERATURE": EXCEEDINGLY RARE AND IMPORTANT 1840 FIRST EDITION OF POE'S TALES OF THE GROTESQUE AND ARABESQUE, ONE OF ONLY 750 COPIES, MOST DESIRABLE IN ORIGINAL CLOTH

POE, Edgar Allan. Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque. Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard, 1840 [i.e. 1839]. Two volumes. 12mo (4-5/16 by 7-9/16 inches), original purple cloth recased (Volume I) or rebacked with spine laid down (Volume II), replica printed paper spine labels. $37,500.

First edition of Poe's first collection of tales, one of only 750 copies, one of the most important and influential collections of short stories in the history of both horror and mystery and an indisputable high spot in American literature, most rare in original cloth.

Edgar Allan Poe is "one of the founding writers of modern literature" (Sova, Critical Companion, 11). The publication of these 25 stories marked "a milestone in [Poe's] career as a prose writer" (Heartman & Canny, 49-54). Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque includes all of the stories Poe had published to that point in magazines and periodicals, as well as one, "Why the Little Frenchman Wears His Hand in a Sling," appearing here for the first time. Two stories—"Fall of the House of Usher" and "MS. Found in a Bottle"—are among the most enduring in American literature. Only "three collections of the shorter fiction were issued during the lifetime of Poe" (Ollive, Tales and Sketches I:xxvii). With page 213 of Volume II correctly numbered; "i" in "ing" below text line on page 219 of Volume II. According to the Bibliography of American Literature, "signature 20 of Vol. 2 occurs in several states due to the progressive loosening of type during the course of a single printing." It has been theorized, however, that the various states of this quire were bound up and issued indiscriminately; therefore, there is no point of priority of issue. With the four pages of publisher's advertisements present at the front of Volume II. BAL 16133. Heartman & Canny, 49-54. Biondi, 50.

Volume I with light expert cleaning to text; text block professionally recased with expert restoration to spine and cloth extremities. Volume II rebacked with spine laid down, cloth expertly restored.