Edgar Allan Poe: Poetry and Tales (Library of America) [Hardcover]

Edgar Allan Poe (Author), Patrick F. Quinn (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 1984

Poe's complete poetry and fiction, collected for the first time, including his remarkable and haunting poems, his classic tales of mystery, horror, and suspense, and his humorous sketches. Includes famous stories such as "The Fall of the House of Usher," and "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," along with his most popular poems such as "Annabel Lee," "The Raven," and lesser-known works, and his unusual prose-poem "Eureka." This volume displays Poe's extraordinary range and technique, as well as his gift for revealing the darker possibilities of human experience.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An Acrostic
Al Aaraaf
Alone
Annabel Lee
The Bells
Bridal Ballad
Catholic Hymn
The City In The Sea
The Coliseum
The Conqueror Worm
Deep In Earth
A Dream
A Dream Within A Dream
A Dream Within A Dream, Or Imitation
Dreamland
Dreams
Eldorado
Elizabeth
Enigma
An Enigma
Eulalie; A Song
Evening Star
Fairyland (1)
Fairyland (2)
For Annie
The Happiest Day, The Happiest Hour
The Haunted Palace
Introduction
Israfel
The Lake (version 2)
Lenore (3)
Lines On Joe Locke
Mysterious Star! (a New Introductioin To 'al Aaraaf')
Oh, Tempora! Oh, Mores!
The Raven
Romance
Scene 3
Scene 4
Scene 6
Scene 7
Scene 9
Serenade
The Sleeper
Song
Sonnet To Zante
Sonnet: Silence
Spirits Of The Dead
Stanzas
Tamerlane (4)
To - (1)
To - (4)
To - (5)
To F - (mrs. Frances Sargent Osgood)
To F---s S. O---d
To Helen (1)
To Helen (2)
To Isaac Lea
To M.l.s.
To Margaret
To Miss Louise Olivia Hunter
To My Mother
To One In Paradise
To Science; Sonnet
To The River
Ulalume - A Ballad (2)
A Valentine To --
The Valley Of Unrest (2)
Song Of The Broad-axe
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

No one can ask for more. -- American Literature

From the Publisher

The Library of America is an award-winning, nonprofit program dedicated to publishing America's best and most significant writing in handsome, enduring volumes, featuring authoritative texts. Hailed as "the most important book-publishing project in the nation's history" (Newsweek), this acclaimed series is restoring America's literary heritage in "the finest-looking, longest-lasting edition ever made" (New Republic).

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 1408 pages
• Publisher: Library of America (August 15, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0940450186
• ISBN-13: 978-0940450189
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #171,482 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #56 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > 19th Century

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For the SERIOUS Poe lover., September 28, 2004

By 

George H. Soule (Edwardsville, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Edgar Allan Poe: Poetry and Tales (Library of America) (Hardcover)

If you want the real Poe, the Library of America version of Poe's Poetry and Tales is the best bargain going. This volume should give either a lover of Poe or a serious scholar a handy volume of the Poe canon. I am not going to extol the virtues of Edgar Allan Poe. He was one of our most important national authors and an innovator of forms and genres. Master of the macabre, inventor of the detective story, explicator of the psychotic soul-Poe was the father of psychological horror literature as well as an accomplished satirist, critic and poet. If you want all of the poems and tales all in one place, go buy this book. Apparently the two volume Borzoi Poe (Knopf) edited by Arthur Hobson Quinn and Edward H. O'Neill is out of print. That was certainly a respectable edition of the poems and stories, and it included, the marvelous metaphysical Eureka as well as all the tales and poems and a respectable cross-section of the criticism in a handsome two-volume edition. The Modern Library and Doubleday complete Poe's are good enough to read for pleasure. But if you want a version of Poe that can be used as a reading text as well as a scholarly resource (meaning serious stuff) then this Library of America volume is just the thing for you. It is edited by Patrick Quinn, a highly respected Poe scholar, and its texts are good-and you get all of them. It's certainly a bargain when compared to the Thomas Ollive Mabbott/Burton Pollin variorum edition, a multi-volume extravaganza. And most of us don't need all that detail anyway. This is a nice volume because it encapsulates the canon of the fiction and poetry-clean and compact. Here you get all the poems and tales (short stories) as well as The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, the timely Poe version of Lewis and Clark called The Journal of Julius Rodman, the cosmological extravaganza/ metaphysical tour de force that Poe called Eureka. This is all of Poe that you might want to read. And the texts are all derived from the real authoritative readers' texts defined by the best Poe scholars. There is a second volume in the series that contains criticism that brings it all back home.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars STOP YOUR SEARCH- You've found the definitive Poe collection, November 16, 2006

By 

HG82 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Edgar Allan Poe: Poetry and Tales (Library of America) (Hardcover)

There's no point whatsoever in reviewing the work of Poe. As you know, or soon will know, it is the work of genius & above reproach, particularly from a mere mortal Amazon reviewer like myself.

So instead I am reviewing this collection of his works specifically. Safe to say there a hundreds of books out there containing his work, many of which are misleadingly titled 'the complete...' or 'the definitive...'. Nonsense. None of these books have been anywhere near complete. On top of that, few, if any, are attractively presented or pieced together with some logical thought process evident.

This thick, hefty (but not large-sized) 1984 Library of America edition tips the scales at over 1500 pages(!) and has all of his mesmerising short stories, all of his fascinating poems, and his other sought after works which other reviewers here detail more closely. Better yet, for once they are in chronological order, which gives the reader the opportunity to follow Poe's own development.

Yes, it is expensive, but this is an absolute essential for your library, and assuming you bring up your children to love reading, will be in your family for many generations. This is not an expensive book, this is an investment for you and your family that will give you decades of pleasure (150 years after his death and we're still reading Poe!)

THIS my friends, is the absolute and comprehensive collection of the works of Poe, contained within a beautiful and fittingly gothic-styled hardback. Don't sell yourself short and look for a cheaper & inferior book, snap up one of the remaining copys of this book, it will outlive you...

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best Poe book available, April 3, 2000

By 

Nigel (Springfield, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Edgar Allan Poe: Poetry and Tales (Library of America) (Hardcover)

There are few american authors as good as Edgar Allen Poe. From the grotesque to the sublime his poetry is among the most enjoyable ever written. His tales continue to excite both young and old alike. One of the things that I enjoy most about Poe is that many of his tales are designed not only for suspense but also to challenge the intellect of the reader. This edition of Poe is one of the finest available. It is made to Library standards and is the version of choice for all who want to enjoy Poe's writings over a lifetime. In addition to the books superior binding and quality it includes the works not commonly found among other so called complete editons. They include: The unparalled Adventure of One Hans Pfall, The Journal of Julius Rodmen, and Eureka:Aprose poem. The book also includes a complete index of titles and of first lines, and notes on the text. For anyone looking for a definative edition on Poe I couldn't make a stronger recommendation.