"MADMAN! I TELL YOU THAT SHE NOW STANDS WITHOUT THE DOOR!": FIRST EDITION OF POE’S TALES, 1845, IN ORIGINAL CLOTH
POE, Edgar Allan. Tales. New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1845. Octavo, publisher's green cloth gilt expertly recased with original endpapers retained, custom clamshell box.
First edition, third printing of “the first important book of detective stories, the first and the greatest, the cornerstone of cornerstones” (Queen’s Quorum 1). Includes Poe’s greatest tales, among them “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Gold-Bug.”
As the originator of the detective story, Poe's Tales is undoubtedly one of the most important prose works in the history of American fiction. Several of the dozen stories in this remarkable collection are among the best known in literature: "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," "The Gold-Bug," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Purloined Letter," and the terrifying "Descent into the Maelstrom." "These tales have been so pregnant with suggestion, so stimulating to the minds of others, that it may be said of many of them that each is a root from which a whole literature has developed" (Conan Doyle). "Of the 12 stories in the book, in fact, at least six have come to be among the best known in the language. What other great collection of short stories can show anything like that proportion?" (Winterich, 258-59). Third printing, with 3-line copyright statement and no imprint on copyright page, and two leaves of advertisements beginning with "German Romance." Disagreement continues to exist over the first three issues, with Heartman & Canny reluctant to assign any priority whatsoever. "Impressions from the plates of several pages vary in an anomalous way" (BAL). This copy has battered letters on page 160; broken "E" in "ROGET" in the running title on page 187; and the "S" missing from "TALES" in running title on page 224. BAL 16146. Heartman & Canny, 90-97. Biondi, 50. Grolier 100 American 55.
Text block expertly cleaned, publisher's cloth with expert restoration. An attractive copy.