The Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe [Hardcover]

Edgar Allan Poe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 1977

Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most original writers in the history of American letters, a genius who was tragically misunderstood in his lifetime. He was a seminal figure in the development of science fiction and the detective story, and exerted a great influence on Dostoyevsky, Arthur Conan Doyle, Jules Verne, and Charles Baudelaire, who championed him long before Poe was appreciated in his own country. Baudelaire's enthusiasm brought Poe a wide audience in Europe, and his writing came to have enormous importance for modern French literature. This edition includes his most well-known works--"The Raven," "The Pit and the Pendulum," "Annabel Lee," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"--as well as less-familiar stories, poems, and essays.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most original writers in the history of American letters, a genius who was tragically misunderstood in his lifetime. He was a seminal figure in the development of science fiction and the detective story, and exerted a great influence on Dostoyevsky, Arthur Conan Doyle, Jules Verne, and Charles Baudelaire, who championed him long before Poe was appreciated in his own country. Baudelaire's enthusiasm brought Poe a wide audience in Europe, and his writing came to have enormous importance for modern French literature. This edition includes his most well-known works--"The Raven," "The Pit and the Pendulum," "Annabel Lee," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"--as well as less-familiar stories, poems, and essays.

About the Author

Edgar Allan Poe was born in 1809 in Boston, the son of traveling actors. He published his first book of poems Tamerlane and Other Poems in 1827, followed by Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (which included "The Fall of the House of Usher") in 1839, but he did not achieve appreciable recognition until the publication of "The Raven" in 1845. He died in 1849.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Modern Library (August 12, 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394604083
• ISBN-13: 978-0394604084
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.7 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,111,906 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What of the competing editions?, February 15, 2008

By 

Ben Hodges (Atlanta) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (Modern Library) (Hardcover)

I have an inexplicable attraction to the Modern Library hardbacks. Inevitably, if a Modern Library hardback version of some book that I want exists, I'll end up buying it. I really don't know why. Anyway, case and point: Edgar Allan Poe.

The benefits of this edition are evident:

a) All the short stories--yes, even the uproariously funny ones that most paperbacks leave out, as well as Poe's bizarre "hoaxes" and inexplicably contrived "articles" that don't really pass very well as stories

b) All the poems--including poetry written in childhood as well as posthumously discovered

c) ...and a couple of essays--most importantly, "The Rationale of Verse."

However, the book still lacks most of Poe's criticism and other essays. I suggest you purchase Dover's little paperback _Edgar Allan Poe: Literary Theory and Criticism_ (kind of a "Greatest Hits" collection of Poe's critical work which, in reality, spans over 1500 pages) to complete your library. There you will find the great classic "The Philosophy of Composition" accompanied by dozens of ingenius (and at times ascerbic) reviews of books you may know from elsewhere. It's an invaluable resource.

Moreover, the same Modern Library problems afflict this edition--thus, herein lies another reason I cannot explain why I must keep on buying and reading Modern Library hardbacks:

A) There is no textual or intertextual editing, nor are there any critical footnotes. Moreover, there is no critical introduction by a Poe scholar. This bytes.

B) There is no margin room. There never is in a Modern Library hardback. This gets really annoying when you're reading "The Fall of the House of Usher," and you're trying to tie together pieces of evidence (all part of Poe's perfect conceived "totality" of content) to form a of cohesive, critical interpretation of the story with about a centimeter of margin room in which to write! Your handwriting will quickly show itself illegible, and your hand mercilessly cramped.

C) Modern Library hardbacks are customarily printed on cheap (although smooth and aesthetically pleasing) paper. Thus, when you write in your book, the ink is very likely to bleed over onto the converse page. Also quite annoying.

However, however, however--I must not forget that the goal of Modern Library is not to print the best book possible, but the best _affordable_ book possible. And at $18.00, this 1000 page hardback is hard to beat.

So, if you have the money, do actually buy _the best_ edition: the Library of America edition. ISBN 0940450186. It's over 1400 pages, is printed on paper that will last forever, and is edited by a prominent Poe scholar--but it's almost $40.00!

But, more importantly for those of us on budgets: This edition is in direct competition with both the DoubleDay and Castle editions of Poe's collected stories and poems. Under no circumstances would I recommend the other two editions due to their typesettings. I know that may sound ridiculous, but a humane typesetting has a lot to do with the pleasure and utility that a book can and will proffer its reader. The print on the other two editions is inordinately overloaded (too much packed on each page) and serves to burden the eyes. For sooth, the Modern Library version is packed too--but it's a huge improvement on the other two editions.

If you've got $40, get the Library of America edition. If you've only got $20, get this one.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book I could never bring myself to get rid of, December 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (Modern Library) (Hardcover)

I had always liked what I had read of Poe's work, but it had always been the more popular works, not enough to really feel his style of writing. This book, however, got me reading all of his writing and I immediately, and still increasingly, fell in love with Poe's style of writing, and most of all his humor and sarcasm, which can be quite subtle. My only regret is that I don't know latin, which would help the reader understand more of his side comments and quotes, French would be good too, but neither are necessary.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poe is an underappreciated genius, February 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (Modern Library) (Hardcover)

Poe has been overlooked by today's literary order, but the man was one of the finest American authors ever. His stories paved the way for other great and popular authors--everyone from Conan Doyle to Stephan King. This book is an outstanding collection and should be read not for its literary value (which is tremendous) but for the sheer fun of it.